Dateline DFCI
Stuart H. Orkin, M.D., of Children's Hospital Boston, named David G. Nathan Professor of Pediatrics and new chair of Pediatric Oncology
Stuart H. Orkin, M.D.
Expressing pride in receiving a title that honored "my mentor and father figure," Stuart H. Orkin, M.D., was recently named the first David G. Nathan Professor of Pediatrics and the new chair of Pediatric Oncology at Dana-Farber.
The endowed professorship — named for Institute President Emeritus David G. Nathan, M.D., was awarded to Orkin in a November ceremony at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Established with $2.75 million in gifts from DFCI trustees, the David G. Nathan Chair was conceived as a partnership between Dana-Farber and Children's Hospital and will provide its recipient with funding and research support for work carried out at both institutions.
A HMS graduate, Orkin was working at the National Institutes of Health when Nathan recruited him in 1976 to return to Children's, where Orkin had interned. He remained there until his latest dual appointment, most recently heading a lab focused on normal and malignant blood cell development.
Orkin pioneered the application of molecular methods to the study of human disease, first examining thalassemia, a condition in which the body fails to make hemoglobin properly. In addition, he has collaborated with Nathan on research into prenatal diagnosis of this disease.
"David Nathan is a mentor and father figure to me, as he is to many others," Orkin said at the HMS ceremony. "We've had a long association that has touched my research at every phase of my career. I expect to continue seeking guidance from him; his experience is legendary, and he has more energy than many people 20 years his junior."
Added Nathan, "I am deeply touched and humbled to join the ranks of Harvard and Dana-Farber physicians with chairs named in their honor. I have long admired Stuart Orkin and his work, and couldn't be happier. At the same time, I hope one day we will find a way to cure pediatric cancers and blood diseases, so there will be no need for such a professorship."
