Arthur Wesley Nienhuis (August 9, 1941 – February 3, 2021) was an American physician who served as fourth director and

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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a pediatric treatment and research facility located in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1962, it is a 501(c)(3) designated nonprofit medical corporation which focuses on children's catastrophic diseases, pa ...

from 1993 to 2004. Prior to joining St. Jude, Nienhuis was chief of the Clinical Hematology Branch and deputy clinical director at the National Institutes of Health's Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. His research interests and expertise in bone marrow transplant, gene therapy and genetic testing paved the way for many advances at St. Jude, including breakthroughs in sickle cell disease and other hematological disorders. Nienhuis also made significant achievements in the fields of cell therapy, HIV/AIDS research and inherited immunodeficiencies. Under his leadership, the hospital completed a $1 billion expansion, which included the addition of a Children's GMP, LLC facility. Additionally, Nienhuis oversaw the creation of the Departments of Developmental Neurobiology and Structural Biology. Nienhuis received numerous awards, including being named by former president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to the National Cancer Advisory Board in 1998. That same year, he was awarded the Stratton Medal by the

American Society of Hematology The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is a professional organization representing hematologists. It was founded in 1958. Its annual meeting is held in December of every year and has attracted more than 30,000 attendees. The society publishes th ...

, one of the society's highest honors for an outstanding body of work in hematology. Additionally, Nienhuis was inducted into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002. After completing his tenure at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Nienhuis returned to the laboratory, where he continued with his research which included the development of gene transfer for the treatment of hemophilia. He went to emeritus faculty status in 2016.

Education

He received his M.D. degree in 1968 from the UCLA School of Medicine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nienhuis, Arthur 1941 births 2021 deaths American medical researchers American health care chief executives David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American nonprofit chief executives American hematologists Presidents of the American Society of Hematology Members of the National Academy of Medicine