In Memoriam

Sam L. Pool, MD 1937–2013

T

he telemedicine community has lost a true pioneer. Dr. Sam Pool was at the forefront of telemedicine in the very early 1970s with NASA’s Space Technology Applied to Rural Papago Advanced Health Care (STARPAHC) project. As a NASA flight surgeon, beginning during the Apollo Program in 1968, Dr. Pool supported the notion of treating patients at a distance. While this concept was a necessary tool for astronauts in space, it was the development of the Integrated Medical and Behavioral Laboratory Measurement System (IMBLMS) and Dr. Pool’s role that began a significant shift in the concept of telemedicine. IMBLMS, while developed for long-duration human spaceflight, could also be used in terrestrial settings. This system was used in the development of a testbed in southern Arizona in which a telemedicine link was established between the Papago Indian Reservation (now the Tohono Od’ham) and a clinic in Sells, AZ. Dr. Pool, as the project officer of this new NASA program, STARPAHC, worked closely with tribal leaders and representatives of Lockheed Missile and Space Company and the Indian Health Service. According to Dr. Rashid Bashshur, ‘‘In order to secure the approval of the Papago community for the project, Dr. Pool arranged for the Executive Health Staff to visit the Medical Station at Logan International Airport, directed by Dr. Kenneth Bird, and to witness telemedicine first-hand. He was known for his sharp thinking, together with a strong caring attitude, soft and friendly manners and an abiding concern for the wellbeing of the Papago, a concern he maintained long after the conclusion of the

STARPAHC.’’ In 2010, he participated in a special commemoration of the STARPAHC project held on the Tohono Od’ham reservation. Dr. Arnauld Nicogossian recalls, ‘‘I worked very closely with Dr. Pool since I joined the medical community at the NASA Johnson Space Center ( JSC) in 1972. This collaboration spanned almost 40 years and resulted in many spinoffs to health on Earth from the space program. Dr. Pool and Mr. Norm Belasco were strong advocates for telemedicine, telescience, and tele-education both for spaceflight and applications on Earth.’’ In addition to STARPAHC, Dr. Pool was also involved in NASA’s telemedicine activities, including the Spacebridge projects between the United States and the USSR/Russia and the flight evaluation of the Telemedicine Instrumentation Pack on the Space Shuttle flight STS 89. His contributions to space medicine and to telemedicine built a foundation for human spaceflight and for the tools we all use today in the delivery of healthcare at a distance. In the mid-1990s, Dr. Pool worked closely with Drs. Michael DeBakey and Nicogossian and Mr. Charles Doarn, among others, to establish the Space Biomedical Center at Moscow State University, which had a telemedicine component to it serving as a catalyst of telemedicine growth in Russia and the region. Dr. Pool was also instrumental in deploying an Internet-based to the Russian MIR orbital station. Dr. Pool served as the director of the Medical Sciences Division at the NASA JSC during the Space Shuttle Program and the

Note: Special thanks to Rashid Bashshur for his thoughtful input.

DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2013.9984

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development of the International Space Station program, including the medical management and support systems. All physicians (flight surgeons) who care for astronauts, often using telemedicine, were under his leadership. As his colleagues from his illustrious career attest and Dr. Bashshur states, ‘‘Dr. Pool was a true visionary who forecasted the development of a ubiquitous and inexpensive technology that would propel telemedicine to where it is today and into the future. Yet with all that talent, he was unassuming, soft-spoken,

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and he preferred to let others shine rather than drawing the limelight unto himself.’’ While we will miss his leadership and friendship, we move forward knowing that his contributions in telemedicine have established a strong foundation. —Charles R. Doarn, MBA Arnauld E. Nicogossian, MD

DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2013.9984

Sam L. Pool, MD. 1927-2013.

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