Robert Alan Good NAM,

NAS Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, AAAS (May 21, 1922 – June 13, 2003) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who performed the first successful human

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce ...

between persons who were not identical twins. He is regarded as a founder of modern

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 the ...

.In Memoriam: Robert A. Good May 21, 1922–June 13, 2003
by Max D. Cooper, ''

The Journal of Immunology The ''Journal of Immunology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes basic and clinical studies in all aspects of immunology. Established in 1916, it changed its name to ''Journal of Immunology, Virus Research and Experimental ...

'', 2003, 171: 6318-6319.

Early life and education

Good was born in

Crosby, Minnesota Crosby is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,386 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area. Crosby is adjacent to its twin city of Ironton, in the Cuyuna iron range ...

, the second son of Ethel (née Whitcomb) and Roy Homer Good, who worked as educators. He attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

and its medical school, receiving a B.A. degree in 1944, and

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degrees in 1947.Curriculum Vitae: Robert A. Good, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., FACP
, Robert A. Good Archives (accessed January 27, 2008) He was the first student to undertake a combined M.D.-Ph.D. curriculum at Minnesota.
by Robert A. Good, 1997, Robert A. Good Archives (accessed January 27, 2008) While an undergraduate, he developed a

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

-like illness that left him partially

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

. His mother pushed his

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

into his medical school classrooms. He eventually recovered from the illness, but retained a pronounced

limp A limp is a type of asymmetric abnormality of the gait. Limping may be caused by pain, weakness, neuromuscular imbalance, or a skeletal deformity. The most common underlying cause of a painful limp is physical trauma; however, in the absen ...

for the remainder of his life.

Research career

After obtaining his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, Good undertook clinical training in pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Hospitals. After a fellowship year at the

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classi ...

, he returned to the

University of Minnesota Medical School The University of Minnesota Medical School is the medical school of the University of Minnesota. It is a combination of two campuses situated in Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Medical School is also part of one of ...

in 1950, where he engaged in research on the

immune system The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splint ...

. He was promoted in 1962 to the rank of professor in pediatrics, microbiology and pathology, and later also served as head of the Department of Pathology. In 1969 he was appointed as Regent's Professor, one of the highest recognitions of the University of Minnesota. Among his accomplishments, in 1962 he documented the importance of the

thymus The thymus is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or ''T cells'' mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. ...

gland, in 1965 he documented the important role of the

tonsil The tonsils are a set of lymphoid organs facing into the aerodigestive tract, which is known as Waldeyer's tonsillar ring and consists of the adenoid tonsil, two tubal tonsils, two palatine tonsils, and the lingual tonsils. These organs play ...

s in developing the immune defense systems of mammals including humans, and in 1968 he led the team that performed the first successful human bone marrow transplant between persons who were not identical twins.Robert A. Good, 81, Founder Of Modern Immunology, Dies
by Wolfgang Saxon, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', June 18, 2003 The patient who received the transplant was a 5-month-old boy with a profound

immune deficiency Immunodeficiency, also known as immunocompromisation, is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases are acquired ("secondary") due to extrinsic factors that a ...

that had earlier led to the deaths of eleven male members of his extended family. The boy received bone marrow transplanted from his 8-year-old sister. The transplant was successful and the boy grew up to become a healthy adult. In 1972 he went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to become president of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. At Sloan-Kettering he continued his research into the human immune system. He remained at Sloan-Kettering until 1982, but his tenure there was marred by the discovery in 1974 of serious

scientific fraud Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in the publication of professional scientific research. A '' Lancet'' review on ''Handling of Scientific Misconduct in Scandinavian countrie ...

perpetrated by William T. Summerlin, a member of his lab who had previously worked with him at Minnesota. In 1982 he moved to the Cancer Research Program at the

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute. Established in 1946, OMRF is dedicated to understanding and developing more effective treatments for ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, where he remained until 1985, when he became physician-in-chief at the

All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, formerly All Children's Hospital, is a pediatric acute care children's hospital located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The hospital has 259 beds and is affiliated with the USF Morsani College of Medicine and ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, and chairman of pediatrics at The

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

Medical School.

Academy and Institute memberships

Good was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (elected 1970), the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, and a charter member of the Institute of Medicine.

Personal life

Good died from esophageal cancer at age 81 in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was survived at the time by Noorbibi K. Day-Good, his second wife, five children from his first marriage to Jean Good, two step-children and 17 grandchildren.

Awards

*1955 E. Mead Johnson Award *1970 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research *1970

Gairdner Foundation International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a ...

.Gairdner Awardees
*1970 Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

*1972

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a national organization of internists, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults.Sokanu "What is an Internist?" Retrieved October 20, 2014 With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest ...

Award *1975 Cancer Research Institute

William B. Coley Award The William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology is presented annually by the Cancer Research Institute, to scientists who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of basic and tumor immunology and whose w ...

*1987 John Howland Award

References

External links

Robert A. Good ArchivesThe Robert A. Good Papers
can be found at The Center for the History of Medicine at the Countway Library, Harvard Medical School. {{DEFAULTSORT:Good, Robert Alan 1922 births 2003 deaths People from Crosby, Minnesota Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American immunologists American medical researchers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences University of Minnesota Medical School alumni Deaths from esophageal cancer Deaths from cancer in Florida Recipients of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Members of the National Academy of Medicine