| Departments — In Memoriam | Spring 2008 |
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M. Judah Folkman When Folkman, who was the School’s Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery and professor of cell biology, arrived at Children’s Hospital Boston in 1968 to become chief of surgery, there was electricity in the air. Who, we wondered, was this young surgeon—not even a pediatric expert—who had the temerity to succeed Robert Gross ’31, the Hyperion of pediatric surgery? But Gross had desperately wanted Folkman to succeed him, and Sidney Farber ’27, the Grand Pooh-Bah of Children’s, had his heart set on Folkman as well. A few years earlier, the likelihood that Folkman, the son and grandson of Midwest rabbis and a graduate of Ohio State University—far west of the Dedham line—would succeed Gross was vanishingly small. But a strong recommendation by Robert Zollinger, then chief of surgery at Ohio State, helped Folkman gain admission to Harvard Medical School—and to the Gross dog surgery laboratory, where incredible operations to correct congenital malformations were being devised. Folkman performed brilliantly and gained a coveted post as surgical intern at Massachusetts General Hospital, where Edward Churchill ’20, Oliver Cope ’28, and other fabled surgeons had worked. The work of the house staff was utterly exhausting, but Folkman found the time to meet and, wisely, marry Paula Prial, a beautiful singer whose father was a physician in Fall River, Massachusetts. While serving at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Folkman made one of his many lasting discoveries: the subcutaneous use of semipermeable silastic tubing for the slow delivery of drugs. His technique was later adapted for the delivery of contraceptives. He also began to investigate the control of tumor growth, a subject that would define his career. Upon returning to MGH to complete his residency, Folkman quickly became chief resident and was recruited to the Harvard Surgical Service at the former Boston City Hospital. There, he and his research team began studying the role of blood vessels in tumor growth. While at Boston City Hospital, Folkman was recruited to Children’s. Since Folkman was minimally trained in pediatric surgery, he took a senior fellowship with C. Everett Koop, the master pediatric surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, before assuming his post at Children’s in Boston. He became known as a brilliant biologist and a gifted teacher; crowds would gather when he was on rounds. Folkman set up a laboratory at Children’s to study the biological governors of tumor growth. It was from this laboratory that he issued a paradigm-shifting hypothesis: Tumors secrete a “tumor angiogenic factor” that allows them to induce and maintain a blood supply. From then on, he focused on understanding the stimuli and inhibitors of blood vessel growth—and became the founder of the field of angiogenesis. The biological implications of angiogenesis have had wide scientific impact in such areas as embryonic development, wound healing, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. For years his theory that tumors could be eradicated by choking off their blood supply led doyens of the status quo to ridicule him as a dreamer. But Folkman persisted and ultimately was lauded for his scientific insight. His core group of gifted investigators at Children’s Hospital did too, inspiring future investigators in the field. His group also researched anti-angiogenic substances, the most promising of which, the monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin), is used today with limited effect in the treatment of certain cancers. The antibody has, however, been startlingly effective in the control of wet macular degeneration. Thus Folkman’s major therapeutic contribution may turn out to be in the treatment of blindness. Folkman was devoted to Paula and their daughters, Marjorie and Laura Folkman Steuer. They will miss him dearly, as will all who had the good fortune to know him. David G. Nathan ’55 is president emeritus of Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, physician-in-chief emeritus of Children’s Hospital Boston, and the Robert A. Stranahan Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Photo: Children’s Hospital Boston |
colleagues and unswervingly devoted to teaching and mentorship. Deeply committed to creative medical science and its translation to better diagnoses and treatments, Folkman was considered by many to be a rare innovator in the medical sciences. His death on January 14, 2008, saddened all who knew him—and many who simply knew of him.
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