- Email: [email protected]
John McAfee, MD (1926–2008), In Memoriam
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Nuclear Medicine and Biology 36 (2009) 343 – 344 www.elsevier.com/locate/nucmedbio
Obituary
John McAfee, MD (1926–2008), In Memoriam Mathew L. Thakur Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA Received 9 December 2008; accepted 9 December 2008
John McAfee MD, a well-known physician/scientist to the world of nuclear medicine, passed away on July 26, 2008, in Baltimore, MD. He was 82 years old and suffered from hypertension and respiratory failure. I had the opportunity to work with John, shoulder to shoulder for nearly 6 months in 1974 at Hammersmith Hospital in London, England. During this time, we surveyed several radiopharmaceuticals to radiolabel white blood cells. In-111-oxine was the outcome. During this period, I got to know John as a person, a physician and a scientist. My respect for him endures forever. After those six productive months we departed geographically, but our friendship and mutual respect grew exponentially. Even after John's retirement, we often talked about science, particularly about the state of nuclear medicine. It was amazing how
E-mail address: [email protected]. 0969-8051/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2008.12.003
abreast and well informed John was with the current literature, even in his golden years. Frequently, he would make comments that were reflective of his detailed reading and deep thinking. John Gilmour McAfee was born in Canada on June 11, 1927. He received his medical degree in Toronto in 1948 at age 21. He completed his internship at Victoria Hospital and West Minister Hospital both in London, Ontario. John then finished his residency at Victoria Hospital and moved to the John's Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, MD, USA. Dr. Russell Morgan, a Canadian himself, was the Chair of Radiology at the John's Hopkins University Hospital. Dr. Russell was impressed with John's curious and innovative thinking and encouraged him to work with radioactive tracers. Realizing the enormous scope for radioactive tracers to provide information about organ function noninvasively, John welcomed the opportunity to work in what later became the Nuclear Medicine division at Johns Hopkins.
344
M.L. Thakur / Nuclear Medicine and Biology 36 (2009) 343–344
In 1958, Dr. Henry Wagner, Jr., returned from Hammersmith Hospital, London, England, to Johns Hopkins. Their work exploring a variety of ideas created a lot of excitement in nuclear medicine, in such areas as renal scanning with Hg197, brain scanning with Tc-99m04 and liver scanning with Tc-99m colloids. John then moved to State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, NY, where he was a professor and chair of radiology for a quarter of a century. Loaded with ideas and supported by federal funds, John remained most productive and creative at Syracuse and became one of the leading physician/scientists in the world of nuclear medicine. It was in Syracuse where he and Gopal Subrarnanian developed the bone scanning agents that have become the bread and butter of nuclear medicine in many countries around the world. In 1990, John moved to the Washington, DC, area to be closer to his family. First at George Washington University and then at the National Institute of Health, where John continued to contribute to innovations in nuclear medicine. He authored and co-authored more than 300 papers, book chapters and abstracts and held 20 patents. He was the most cited author in nuclear medicine for many years. In addition, he found time and energy to serve on many committees including those at NIH and at the National Academy of Sciences. John was a recipient of many honors and awards. These include the life long honorary President of the International Society of Radiolabeled Blood Elements (ISORBE), the Society of Nuclear Medicine's Paul Aebersold Award, George Charles de Harvey award and the Radiological Society of North America's Gold Medal.
John was a perfectionist in his experiments and always aimed to create a product that can be applied to the practice of nuclear medicine. At Hammersmith, John came to work at 7a.m., too early for his British counterparts. He would come and hide in his office calculating the previous day's results or read in the library, both located several feet away from the laboratory in which we worked. John smoked a pipe, and when I arrived at work, usually at 9 a.m., I would follow the smell of the smoke to locate him. We drew each others blood for cell labeling experiments, nearly every working day for 6 months. When we discussed our results at his or my desk, John always had a pencil in his hand. “I cannot think without a pencil in hand” he once told me. Not only was he a great scientist, but a compassionate physician. He felt sorry for people who had to wait months for a chest x-ray in the British health care system at that time. John was a superb human being. He was serious, but never lost his temperament. While working together, we were true equal partners. He washed and rinsed glass test tubes and kept them in an oven for the next days' use. I do not know of any other chair of radiology doing that. In his retirement days, John enjoyed sailing in Florida and playing the organ. John's legacy is being carried out equally by his superb family, sons David and Paul, daughter Carol, two daughter-in laws and five grandchildren. John loved them all. With his passing, we have lost a great scientist, a superb physician, a pioneer of many useful techniques and the one who contributed so much to the growth and applications of nuclear medicine.
Nuclear Medicine and Biology 36 (2009) 343 – 344 www.elsevier.com/locate/nucmedbio
Obituary
John McAfee, MD (1926–2008), In Memoriam Mathew L. Thakur Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA Received 9 December 2008; accepted 9 December 2008
John McAfee MD, a well-known physician/scientist to the world of nuclear medicine, passed away on July 26, 2008, in Baltimore, MD. He was 82 years old and suffered from hypertension and respiratory failure. I had the opportunity to work with John, shoulder to shoulder for nearly 6 months in 1974 at Hammersmith Hospital in London, England. During this time, we surveyed several radiopharmaceuticals to radiolabel white blood cells. In-111-oxine was the outcome. During this period, I got to know John as a person, a physician and a scientist. My respect for him endures forever. After those six productive months we departed geographically, but our friendship and mutual respect grew exponentially. Even after John's retirement, we often talked about science, particularly about the state of nuclear medicine. It was amazing how
E-mail address: [email protected]. 0969-8051/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2008.12.003
abreast and well informed John was with the current literature, even in his golden years. Frequently, he would make comments that were reflective of his detailed reading and deep thinking. John Gilmour McAfee was born in Canada on June 11, 1927. He received his medical degree in Toronto in 1948 at age 21. He completed his internship at Victoria Hospital and West Minister Hospital both in London, Ontario. John then finished his residency at Victoria Hospital and moved to the John's Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, MD, USA. Dr. Russell Morgan, a Canadian himself, was the Chair of Radiology at the John's Hopkins University Hospital. Dr. Russell was impressed with John's curious and innovative thinking and encouraged him to work with radioactive tracers. Realizing the enormous scope for radioactive tracers to provide information about organ function noninvasively, John welcomed the opportunity to work in what later became the Nuclear Medicine division at Johns Hopkins.
344
M.L. Thakur / Nuclear Medicine and Biology 36 (2009) 343–344
In 1958, Dr. Henry Wagner, Jr., returned from Hammersmith Hospital, London, England, to Johns Hopkins. Their work exploring a variety of ideas created a lot of excitement in nuclear medicine, in such areas as renal scanning with Hg197, brain scanning with Tc-99m04 and liver scanning with Tc-99m colloids. John then moved to State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, NY, where he was a professor and chair of radiology for a quarter of a century. Loaded with ideas and supported by federal funds, John remained most productive and creative at Syracuse and became one of the leading physician/scientists in the world of nuclear medicine. It was in Syracuse where he and Gopal Subrarnanian developed the bone scanning agents that have become the bread and butter of nuclear medicine in many countries around the world. In 1990, John moved to the Washington, DC, area to be closer to his family. First at George Washington University and then at the National Institute of Health, where John continued to contribute to innovations in nuclear medicine. He authored and co-authored more than 300 papers, book chapters and abstracts and held 20 patents. He was the most cited author in nuclear medicine for many years. In addition, he found time and energy to serve on many committees including those at NIH and at the National Academy of Sciences. John was a recipient of many honors and awards. These include the life long honorary President of the International Society of Radiolabeled Blood Elements (ISORBE), the Society of Nuclear Medicine's Paul Aebersold Award, George Charles de Harvey award and the Radiological Society of North America's Gold Medal.
John was a perfectionist in his experiments and always aimed to create a product that can be applied to the practice of nuclear medicine. At Hammersmith, John came to work at 7a.m., too early for his British counterparts. He would come and hide in his office calculating the previous day's results or read in the library, both located several feet away from the laboratory in which we worked. John smoked a pipe, and when I arrived at work, usually at 9 a.m., I would follow the smell of the smoke to locate him. We drew each others blood for cell labeling experiments, nearly every working day for 6 months. When we discussed our results at his or my desk, John always had a pencil in his hand. “I cannot think without a pencil in hand” he once told me. Not only was he a great scientist, but a compassionate physician. He felt sorry for people who had to wait months for a chest x-ray in the British health care system at that time. John was a superb human being. He was serious, but never lost his temperament. While working together, we were true equal partners. He washed and rinsed glass test tubes and kept them in an oven for the next days' use. I do not know of any other chair of radiology doing that. In his retirement days, John enjoyed sailing in Florida and playing the organ. John's legacy is being carried out equally by his superb family, sons David and Paul, daughter Carol, two daughter-in laws and five grandchildren. John loved them all. With his passing, we have lost a great scientist, a superb physician, a pioneer of many useful techniques and the one who contributed so much to the growth and applications of nuclear medicine.