Dr. James W. Fisher

James W. Fisher passed away on May 1, 2016. He was born in Startex (formerly Tucapau), South Carolina on May 22, 1925. He was a pharmacologist, medical educator, scientist and genealogist. Dr. Fisher received the Experimental Therapeutics Award from the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) in 1992 for his lifetime work on erythropoietin and educating medical students in pharmacology. He was President of the Association of Medical School Pharmacology Chairmen (AMSP), 1990-92. His other ASPET Service is as follows: Sollman Awards Committee, 1981; Experimental Therapeutics Awards Committee, 1982, 1994; Otto Krayer Awards Committee, 1990; Educational Affairs Committee, 1986-89; Alerting Network Committee, 1986-90; and nominating Committee, 1997. His service with AMSP is as follows: President, 1990-92; Executive Committee, 1979-82; Nominating Committee, 1975, 86, 94, 96, 99; Founding Chairman, Essential Knowledge Objectives Committee, 1984-95, which develops the knowledge objectives for teaching pharmacology to students in medical schools in the United States and Canada and is still used today; member of the National Board of Medical Examiners Pharmacology Test Committee, 1988-92. Welcome Professors Committee, 1976, 93, 94, 95. He was the son of Ernest Amaziah Fisher and Mamie Viola Turner, Startex, S.C. He married Carol B. Brodarick (deceased) on June 5, 1947 and Maryann Hillyer on September 30, 2006. His children by Carol B. Fisher were Candis Loreen Fisher Smith of Houston, Texas; Richard William Fisher of Oklahoma City, OK; Patricia Eileen Fisher Valladares of New Orleans; William Ernest Fisher of Baton Rouge, LA; John Charles Fisher of Baton Rouge, LA ; Elaine Marie Fisher Spurr (Deceased). He had 8 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He served to the rank of Lt JG in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the South Pacific Theater. He received a B.S. Degree in Chemistry/Biology from the University of South Carolina in 1947 and the PhD degree in Pharmacology from the University of Louisville, School of Medicine in 1958. He worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry for a few years during his career prior to receiving his Doctorate. Dr. Fisher rose from Instructor to Professor of Pharmacology at The University of Tennessee Medical Units in Memphis ,TN (1958-68) before moving on to become Regents Professor and Chairman of Pharmacology at Tulane University, School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA (1968- 1996). He served as Regents Professor of Pharmacology at Tulane from 1996-99 and became Regents Professor and Chairman, Emeritus in 1999, Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University, School of Medicine. Dr. Fisher has received numerous Awards, some of which are: Purkinje Medal, Czech Medical Society; Who's Who in America, USPHS Research Career Development Award, Distinguished Lectureship established at the Tulane Medical School in his name in 1992, member of Hematology Training Grants Committee at the NIH, President of the Southern Blood Club, Experimental Therapeutics Award, ASPET; Golden Sovereign Award, Univ. Louisville; Distinguished Alumni Award, Univ. Louisville, School of Medicine; Elected to AOA for outstanding teaching, Tulane Univ., School of Medicine. He received the Owl Club Award from the medical students at Tulane for his outstanding teaching. He has taught over 5,000 medical students and trained 64 pre-and postdoctoral fellows during his career at Tulane and the University of Tennessee. He was Visiting Professor/Scientist at Universdad del Nordeste Medical School in Corrientes, Argentina for a month 4 different times in collecting the urine from patients with anemia of hookworm disease on an NIH program for the purification of human erythropoietin and for teaching medical students pharmacxology under the sponsorship of The Pan American Health Organization. Dr. Fisher's hobby is genealogy. He was President of Snipes Family of America for 2 years in the early 1990s and Director of Research for Snipes Family of America for almost 25 years. Dr. Fisher has published 2 books on his research on the Snipes Family. He has also published books on the Fisher, Allison and Turner families He carried out research on erythropoietin (EPO), which is a hormone produced by the kidney and is now used (trade name, Procrit) to treat patients with anemia of end stage kidney disease, the anemia associated with chemotherapeutic agents used for the treatment of HIV infection and cancer. Dr. Fisher carried out work which proved that the kidney was the site of production of erythropoietin and subsequently identified the cells in the kidney which produced EPO. He is the author or co-author of 400 scientific publications and 6 books. He served on the NIH Erythropoietin and Hematology Committees. His career in developing erythropoietin as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of anemia has been described in an article published in the Trailblazer at the University of Louisville Medical School on September 20,2008 and "A Quest for Erythropoietin over Nine Decades" in Annual Reviews in Pharmacology and Toxicology in 1998. He is a member of The American Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, American Society of Hematology, The American Society of Nephrology and several other scientific societies. Dr. Fisher's career philosophy was "Creativity and brilliance are very important in science but in order to test one's ideas these qualities must be adequately supplemented by the necessary amount of work at the bench." Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Memorial Service in the Chapel of Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 12 Noon. Visitation will begin at 9:30AM until 11:30AM, when eulogies will begin. Inurnment will follow in All Saints Mausoleum. To view and sign the family guestbook, please visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com.