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 President
Emeritus, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Robert A. Stranahan Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical
School
Dr. Nathan received his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1955, and left Boston
to begin his residency as a clinical associate at the National Cancer
Institute. In 1958 Dr. Nathan returned to Brigham and Women’s Hospital a for
senior residency and faculty appointment. His interest in red cell disorders
brought him into contact with Louis K. Diamond. On Dr. Diamond’s retirement in
1968, Dr. Nathan became chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, a
position he held for 18 years. In 1985, he was called to the chair of the
Department of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and became
Physician-In-chief at Children’s Hospital Boston. He served with immense
distinction in this capacity for 10 years before moving to become president of
the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 1995 to 2000.
Dr. Nathan’s contributions to academic medicine have been immense. He has
defined an important area of scholarship in hematology, trained an entire
school of pediatric hematologists, and made major contributions to the
discipline of pediatrics and residency training. He has built institutions and
training programs for physician/scientists and has been a remarkable national
leader in academic medicine.
His contributions to original scholarship have included elucidation of the
pathophysiology of ß thalassemia, development of the first prenatal diagnostic
test for thalassemia and sickle cell disease, and introduction of constant
subcutaneous infusion of deferoxamine for iron overload. He made many important
contributions to congenital disorders of hematopoiesis. He showed in chronic
granulomatous disease that hydrogen peroxide is deficient, adversely affecting
bacterial killing. Finally, he was among the pioneers initiating bone marrow
transplant in Wiscott Aldrich syndrome. His contributions to hematology are
beautifully captured in his textbook, in its 6th edition, Hematology of Infancy
and Childhood, initially edited with his great friend Frank Oski. His
book Genes, Blood and Courage describes the inquiries into
thalassemia, illustrative of the molecular biology revolution in
medicine.
Dr. Nathan has been an member of the Institute of Medicine and the National
Academy of Sciences since 1989. He has been an Honorary Fellow of the Royal
College of Pathologists sine 1997 and a member of the American Philosophical
Society in 1998. His honors include the National Medal of Science (1990); the
Henry Stratton Medal, American Society of Hematology (1995); the Thomas Hart
Benton Medallion, Indiana University, (1997); the John Howland Medal, American
Pediatric Society (2003); the George Kober Medal awarded by the Association of
American Physicians (2006).
(Biography adapted from: Lovejoy FH Jr., “Introduction of David G. Nathan and
the 2003 John Howland Award.” Pediatric Research 2004; 56(2):167-8. Photo
courtesy of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)
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