Pediatr Blood Cancer 2015;62:i–ii
OBITUARY Robert J. Arceci, MD, PhD, 1950–2015
Robert J. Arceci, MD, PhD, 1950–2015. Editor-in-chief, Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 2004–2015. Photo by Corey Schwartz, courtesy Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
A giant in the field of pediatric hematology/oncology, Robert J. (Bob) Arceci, M.D., Ph.D., died in a tragic traffic accident on his beloved motorcycle the morning of June 8, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. Bob had just turned 65 years old. He had recently moved to Phoenix where he was Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Director of the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and the first Director of the Ron Matricaria Institute of Molecular Medicine at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Bob was born in Massachusetts in 1950. He was an AllAmerican high school football player and excelled in three sports. Bob attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT, graduating in 1972, Phi Beta Kappa with a major in biology, and then spent the next nine years in the MD/PhD program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, graduating AOA with a PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology, with a thesis on histone synthesis and chromatin structure during sea urchin development. Bob moved to Boston and completed a residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital in 1983 and a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in 1986. He remained at Harvard as an attending physician in pediatrics, quickly rising in the ranks from instructor to associate professor. In 1994, he moved to Cincinnati to become the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Professor and Director of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine recruited him as Director and King Fahd Professor of Pediatric Oncology in 2000. He relocated to Phoenix two years ago. Throughout his career, Bob maintained a basic research laboratory, practiced clinical oncology, and taught students in both the laboratory and the clinics. His laboratory research started out examining the role of histones in animal models, and transitioned to the study of P-glycoprotein and multidrug resistance in cancer cells. He was actively involved in his well-funded laboratory up until his death, with ongoing interests in developing
C
2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI 10.1002/pbc.25657 Published online 18 June 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
monoclonal antibodies against Langerhans cells; Diamond Blackfan anemia, where he collaborated on the identification of ribosomal gene defects; and most recently as the co-principal investigator of the NCI TARGET initiative in childhood AML genetics and epigenetics. Bob was an exceptional mentor, gifted editor, and leader in national and international professional organizations. His graciousness to all, especially younger faculty was legendary, and he probably touched hundreds of pediatric oncologists worldwide, being described as “larger than life.” His singular and favorite professional activity was to serve as the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and then the SIOP/ASPHO fusion journal Pediatric Blood and Cancer. He increased the circulation and impact factor of “PB&C,” provided provocative editorials, negotiated page increases with the publisher without cost to the society, and moved from paper to completely online publication. His annual presentations at ASPHO and SIOP meetings were both informative and hilarious. Bob was always helpful to contributors, especially those for whom English was not a first or even second language. Often he would write privately, showing unconditional respect, after sending the official news to the author: “Unfortunately we cannot accept your manuscript. I hope our comments will be helpful.” He was known to then volunteer to conduct a workshop in the author’s country about how to develop manuscripts and publish scientific papers. To mention only a few of his international activities: Chair of the Children’s Cancer Group and subsequent Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Myeloid Disease Committees, Chair of the COG Biotherapeutics and Research Committee, NCI Steering Committee Chair representing Pediatric Oncology, President of the Nikolas Symposia Board and Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Histiocytosis Society, Scientific Advisor Chair of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and Chair of the NCI Pediatric Hematologic Malignancies Steering Committee. Bob has been cited as one of the Best Doctors in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in US News and World Report, and won a Directors NIH Merit Award for work on the PDQ Pediatric Treatment Editorial Board. He has published over 140 original articles and given 215 invited lectures worldwide. A unique award that Bob cherished was an Emmy for the initiation and development of A Lion in the House, a documentary film on childhood cancers by filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar. It was selected for competition at the Sundance Film Festival, aired on PBC in 2006, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Oscar in 2007. The spirit of Bob lives on in this movie.
Correspondence to: William G Woods, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University, Atlanta, GA. E-mail: [email protected] Received 12 June 2015; Accepted 12 June 2015
ii
Woods and Lange
Bob was much more than the sum of these parts. He was a magnanimous, eager, energetic pursuer of all things interesting, always with more energy than any of us, and all with a twinkle in his eye. He managed and mastered so many divergent activities. In the outpouring of grief after his death, he was accurately described as a master clinician, a relentless advocate, a panoptic intellectual, an ardent scientist, an admired colleague, and a cherished friend to so many of us. One of his passions was opera, Italian of course, and we can visualize him now at many of the world’s great opera houses, often in conjunction with meetings. Bob is survived by his wife Jeanie, a public health nurse, and his two sons, John, a public defender in Denver, and Andrew, a talented viola da gamba musician. He leaves a huge void that cannot truly be filled. Bob valued, perhaps above all, collegial collaboration and respect, and forward progress. His legacy is nothing short of a mandate for discovery and innovation to cure
Pediatr Blood Cancer DOI 10.1002/pbc
childhood cancers. Bob provides a lesson to us all, that we will not be remembered for what we did, but for how we did it, and for who we were. Bob, your presence and wisdom on this journey will be greatly missed. The authors would like to thank the many colleagues who offered up very meaningful thoughts about Bob. William G. Woods, MD Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University Atlanta, Georgia Beverly J. Lange, MD Department of Pediatrics, Division of Oncology Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
OBITUARY Robert J. Arceci, MD, PhD, 1950–2015
Robert J. Arceci, MD, PhD, 1950–2015. Editor-in-chief, Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 2004–2015. Photo by Corey Schwartz, courtesy Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
A giant in the field of pediatric hematology/oncology, Robert J. (Bob) Arceci, M.D., Ph.D., died in a tragic traffic accident on his beloved motorcycle the morning of June 8, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. Bob had just turned 65 years old. He had recently moved to Phoenix where he was Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Director of the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and the first Director of the Ron Matricaria Institute of Molecular Medicine at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Bob was born in Massachusetts in 1950. He was an AllAmerican high school football player and excelled in three sports. Bob attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT, graduating in 1972, Phi Beta Kappa with a major in biology, and then spent the next nine years in the MD/PhD program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, graduating AOA with a PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology, with a thesis on histone synthesis and chromatin structure during sea urchin development. Bob moved to Boston and completed a residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital in 1983 and a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in 1986. He remained at Harvard as an attending physician in pediatrics, quickly rising in the ranks from instructor to associate professor. In 1994, he moved to Cincinnati to become the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Professor and Director of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine recruited him as Director and King Fahd Professor of Pediatric Oncology in 2000. He relocated to Phoenix two years ago. Throughout his career, Bob maintained a basic research laboratory, practiced clinical oncology, and taught students in both the laboratory and the clinics. His laboratory research started out examining the role of histones in animal models, and transitioned to the study of P-glycoprotein and multidrug resistance in cancer cells. He was actively involved in his well-funded laboratory up until his death, with ongoing interests in developing
C
2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI 10.1002/pbc.25657 Published online 18 June 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
monoclonal antibodies against Langerhans cells; Diamond Blackfan anemia, where he collaborated on the identification of ribosomal gene defects; and most recently as the co-principal investigator of the NCI TARGET initiative in childhood AML genetics and epigenetics. Bob was an exceptional mentor, gifted editor, and leader in national and international professional organizations. His graciousness to all, especially younger faculty was legendary, and he probably touched hundreds of pediatric oncologists worldwide, being described as “larger than life.” His singular and favorite professional activity was to serve as the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and then the SIOP/ASPHO fusion journal Pediatric Blood and Cancer. He increased the circulation and impact factor of “PB&C,” provided provocative editorials, negotiated page increases with the publisher without cost to the society, and moved from paper to completely online publication. His annual presentations at ASPHO and SIOP meetings were both informative and hilarious. Bob was always helpful to contributors, especially those for whom English was not a first or even second language. Often he would write privately, showing unconditional respect, after sending the official news to the author: “Unfortunately we cannot accept your manuscript. I hope our comments will be helpful.” He was known to then volunteer to conduct a workshop in the author’s country about how to develop manuscripts and publish scientific papers. To mention only a few of his international activities: Chair of the Children’s Cancer Group and subsequent Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Myeloid Disease Committees, Chair of the COG Biotherapeutics and Research Committee, NCI Steering Committee Chair representing Pediatric Oncology, President of the Nikolas Symposia Board and Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Histiocytosis Society, Scientific Advisor Chair of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and Chair of the NCI Pediatric Hematologic Malignancies Steering Committee. Bob has been cited as one of the Best Doctors in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in US News and World Report, and won a Directors NIH Merit Award for work on the PDQ Pediatric Treatment Editorial Board. He has published over 140 original articles and given 215 invited lectures worldwide. A unique award that Bob cherished was an Emmy for the initiation and development of A Lion in the House, a documentary film on childhood cancers by filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar. It was selected for competition at the Sundance Film Festival, aired on PBC in 2006, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Oscar in 2007. The spirit of Bob lives on in this movie.
Correspondence to: William G Woods, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University, Atlanta, GA. E-mail: [email protected] Received 12 June 2015; Accepted 12 June 2015
ii
Woods and Lange
Bob was much more than the sum of these parts. He was a magnanimous, eager, energetic pursuer of all things interesting, always with more energy than any of us, and all with a twinkle in his eye. He managed and mastered so many divergent activities. In the outpouring of grief after his death, he was accurately described as a master clinician, a relentless advocate, a panoptic intellectual, an ardent scientist, an admired colleague, and a cherished friend to so many of us. One of his passions was opera, Italian of course, and we can visualize him now at many of the world’s great opera houses, often in conjunction with meetings. Bob is survived by his wife Jeanie, a public health nurse, and his two sons, John, a public defender in Denver, and Andrew, a talented viola da gamba musician. He leaves a huge void that cannot truly be filled. Bob valued, perhaps above all, collegial collaboration and respect, and forward progress. His legacy is nothing short of a mandate for discovery and innovation to cure
Pediatr Blood Cancer DOI 10.1002/pbc
childhood cancers. Bob provides a lesson to us all, that we will not be remembered for what we did, but for how we did it, and for who we were. Bob, your presence and wisdom on this journey will be greatly missed. The authors would like to thank the many colleagues who offered up very meaningful thoughts about Bob. William G. Woods, MD Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University Atlanta, Georgia Beverly J. Lange, MD Department of Pediatrics, Division of Oncology Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
