John Steven McDOUGAL

McDOUGAL, Dr. John Steven May 25, 1945 - April 6, 2014. John Steven McDougal, MD, age 68, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, in his Atlanta home on April 6, 2014. Steve was born in Grand Rapids, MI on May 25, 1945 to the late Dr. William & Verna McDougal. After receiving a BA from Amherst College, a MD from Columbia University, and a rheumatology fellowship at Cornell University Medical Center, Steve came to the CDC in 1974 as a medical officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in 1981, Steve's lab was among the first to receive the unusual blood samples from a few immunocompromised patients in Los Angeles. He spent the rest of his career dedicated to HIV/AIDS research at the CDC, and his work contributed greatly to the understanding of HIV infection and diagnosis. He was the first to prove that CD4 is the primary receptor for HIV and identified gp120 as the viral binding protein. Steve considered his work on thermal inactivation of HIV in transfusion blood products his greatest achievement. This work effectively stopped the exploding HIV epidemic in persons with hemophilia, thus having the greatest impact on public health. His contributions to HIV diagnostics included an assay to detect and distinguish between recent and long-term HIV infections to identify high-risk populations to better target treatment resources to reduce HIV transmission. Outside of the laboratory, Steve took a quiet, yet active role in his community. He spent every Monday as a physician volunteer at Grady Memorial Hospital's Rheumatology clinic. He volunteered many nights at Atlanta homeless shelters and many hours coaching his children's baseball teams. As a hobby, he designed and did most of the renovations on the family home in Druid Hills, including crown dentil moldings, custom-made kitchen cabinets, and intricate tiled ceilings. He also loved working outside where he designed and built rock gardens with a fish pond and cascading waterfall. He was a devoted husband and father who is survived by his wife, Linda; his children, Peter, John, and Maggie; his brothers, Scott (Mimi) and Mike (Sue) McDougal; and sister, Martha McDougal. A memorial service will be held for Steve McDougal this Friday, April 11 at 2pm at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Decatur, followed by a reception at the McDougal's home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to support Parkinson's research at the Emory Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Program c/o Office of Gift Records, Emory University, 1762 Clifton Road NE, Suite 1400, Atlanta, GA 30322. A. S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory.