Edgar Haber (February 1, 1932 – October 13, 1997), was a research physician specializing in

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

, and

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

. He was, at times, Chief of Cardiology at the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

, Higgins Professor of Medicine at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, President of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, and Director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at the Harvard School of Public Health. He published more than 550 research papers in cardiology, immunology, and molecular biology, and edited The Practice of Cardiology (1980, 1988), at the time the definitive text on the subject.

Early life

Edgar Haber was born in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

, to Sigmund (Fred) Haber (June 26, 1897 – July 7, 1960), a physician, and Devorah (Dorothy) Bernstein Haber (March 19, 1904 or 1909 – June 30, 1999). The rise to power of the Nazis soon thereafter led his family to seek to leave Germany, but his mother's Lithuanian origin prevented them from coming directly to the United States. They moved to

British Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

in 1933, where his younger sister Ruth Haber Jonas was born. His family was finally permitted entrance to the United States in March, 1939 where they lived in New York City for nine months while his father studied and took a qualifying exam to be a physician in the US. They subsequently settled in Yonkers, New York, where his father established a medical practice.

Education

Edgar Haber attended the Horace Mann School, graduating in 1949, received an AB from

Columbia College, Columbia University Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King' ...

in 1952, and an MD from the

Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

in 1956.

Family

Edgar Haber was married to Carol Ellen Avery on November 16, 1958, in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

. They had three children: Justin Avery Haber (b. 1961), Graham Stickney Haber (1963-2021), and Eben Merriam Haber (b. 1966).

Medical and research career

Edgar Haber's career included positions at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(1958–1961), the Massachusetts General Hospital (1964–1988), the pharmaceutical companies Squibb and

Bristol-Myers-Squibb The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...

(1988–1991), and the Harvard School of Public Health (1991–1997).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haber, Edgar 1932 births 1997 deaths Harvard Medical School faculty German emigrants to the United States Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni Members of the National Academy of Medicine