BOSTON-Stanley J. Korsmeyer, MD, a scientific leader at Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute whose landmark discoveries about why cancer cells survive opened a
promising new avenue for cancer treatment, died March 31. A nonsmoker, he died
of lung cancer at 54.
Throughout a stellar career, Dr. Korsmeyer was much-honored and regarded
affectionately by colleagues and junior scientists throughout the cancer
research community. He was a powerful and focused scientific visionary with an
iron core of determination, tempered by a sunny, upbeat disposition. As a
mentor, he guided the early careers of many postdoctoral fellows, graduate
students and technicians.
Nick Powley, a former student in the Korsmeyer Lab, summarized the mentoring he
enjoyed there with these observations: "He led with succinct and respectful
questions that helped others to arrive at their own solutions with a sense of
accomplishment only attainable through discovery and personal achievement. He
was the best role model."
"Stan Korsmeyer was one of the world's great scientists and one of its greatest
people," said Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD, Dana-Farber's president. "He was admired
and loved for who he was even more than for what he accomplished. Even in the
face of his illness, he was determined to take care of and support his family
and those who depended on him in his lab. We will all miss him profoundly."
"Stan Korsmeyer's scientific prowess placed him among the top cancer researchers
in the country, while his commitment to the broader mission of the School made
him a pillar of the Harvard medical community. He was a loyal friend and a
valued colleague, his loss will be deeply felt," said Harvard Medical School
Dean Joseph B. Martin, MD, PhD.
Dr. Korsmeyer burst on the scientific scene in the late 1980s, demonstrating
that a particular form of blood cancer arose because a genetic flaw allowed the
cells to survive the body's normal process for getting rid of them -
"programmed" cell death, or apoptosis. The abnormal gene that blocked apoptosis,
Bcl-2, thus became the first of a new class of cancer-causing "oncogenes," and
Dr. Korsmeyer was credited with spearheading the study of apoptosis in cancer
causation. "The recognition of apoptosis' primary role in cancer was a major
insight that profoundly affected how we thought about cell death and survival,"
said Douglas Green, of the University of California in San Diego, a leading
scientist in the field.
For his trailblazing research, Dr. Korsmeyer was elected to the National Academy
of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received many
noteworthy honors, including the Bristol-Meyers Squibb Award for Distinguished
Achievement in Cancer Research, the General Motors Mott Award, the first annual
Wiley Foundation Prize in Biomedical Science, the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR
International Award, and the Harvard Mentoring Award.
For 19 years, Dr. Korsmeyer was a well-known investigator for the prestigious
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the largest private funder of biomedical
research and science education in the nation. HHMI supports about 300 highly
selected scientists at their home institutions.
"He was everybody's hero - as a scientist and as a human being," said eminent
scientist and close friend, Nobel laureate Robert Horvitz of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. "His contributions were truly major and pioneering, and
they revolutionized the field."
Dr. Korsmeyer joined Dana-Farber in 1998, recruited from Washington University
in St. Louis where he was director of the Division of Molecular Oncology and
Professor of Medicine. David G. Nathan, MD, president of Dana-Farber at the
time, sought him not only for his scientific brilliance, but for a rarer and
perhaps even more valuable asset. "I recruited him because I wanted him in the
Dana-Farber family - his character would shine on us and make everyone a better
team player," Nathan said. "Within a few months of his coming, I felt a surge of
morale in the faculty. He was a team player and an enhancer of other people's
productivity and ability to work together."
At Dana-Farber, Dr. Korsmeyer headed the Program in Molecular Oncology within
the Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS. He was the Sidney Farber Professor
of Pathology and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. As chair of
the Executive Committee on Research, Dr. Korsmeyer was a scientific visionary
and driving force, helping to shape the Institute's new strategic plan for
attacking cancer that emphasizes collaboration among researchers within and
outside of Dana-Farber, while employing the most advanced tools for discovering
new cancer drug candidates. At the time of Dr. Korsmeyer's death, he and his
Dana-Farber colleagues had begun applying what they had learned over the years,
manipulating apoptosis molecules to force cancer cells to self-destruct. They
have been pressing the search for drugs that could counteract the abnormal
survival signals from Bcl-2 that make cancer so hard to treat.
Loren Walensky, MD, PhD, who is working on such a project, said that he was awed
by Dr. Korsmeyer's endurance and persistence through the course of his disease.
"With his diagnosis, he had been dealt a very daunting outlook, yet he came to
work every day he could." Said Walensky, "If he had to come in a wheelchair, he
did. If he was looking or feeling unwell because of the treatment, he still came
to work. He was very tough scientifically, and that toughness applied to how he
fought his disease."
Dr. Korsmeyer was born in 1950 in Beardstown, Ill., the son of a livestock
farmer. With these roots, he became the youngest person ever (at age 14) to show
the Grand Champion pair of Hampshire Hogs at the Illinois State Fair, receiving
the Governor's Trophy as his first piece of "hardware." These same roots led to
an interest in veterinary medicine, but, following the advice of a mentoring
veterinarian, he switched to pre-med.
To gain his MD from the University of Illinois, Chicago, he was mentored by Dr.
Paul Heller and persuaded to pursue hematology. He completed an internship and
residency at the University of California Hospitals in San Francisco. Dr.
Korsmeyer served a research fellowship at the National Cancer Institute from
1979 to 1982. There, he spent time in the laboratory of noted cancer researchers
Philip Leder, MD, and Tom Waldman, MD, learning the then-new techniques of
recombinant DNA to pursue his interest in blood cancers. "You could recognize
about Stan, even as a starting scientist, that he had astonishing intellect,
curiosity, and ability to thoroughly understand a subject, integrate the
knowledge, and act upon it," said Leder, who now heads the Department of
Genetics at Harvard Medical School. "And he was a terrific guy."
Not only was Dr. Korsmeyer a renowned scientist, but a devoted and loving father
to his sons, Jason and Evan. No medical accolade surpassed Dr. Korsmeyer's pride
as a father. Susan, his wife of 25 years, provided constant and steadfast
commitment to their sons and to Dr. Korsmeyer's academic career.
Benz, who was personally close to Dr. Korsmeyer, said, "For all of his
scientific renown, Stan Korsmeyer will be remembered more for his warmth and
collegiality and his passion for making the Institute a better place to conquer
cancer."
Dr. Korsmeyer is survived by his beloved family, including his wife, Susan J.
(Reynard) Korsmeyer; sons Jason Louis and Evan John Korsmeyer; parents Willard
and Carnell Korsmeyer; sisters Lynn (husband, Michael) Hollahan, Janet
Korsmeyer, and Karen (husband, Joseph) Randolla; grandfather, Carl Jolly; three
nephews, five nieces, as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.
The funeral service will be held Thursday, April 7 at 2 pm in The Memorial
Church, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Memorial Fund
at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place, Brookline, Mass.
02445-7295.
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