JOHN WALLEY LITTLEFIELD M.D.

LITTLEFIELD, John Walley, M.D. John Walley Littlefield, M.D., a renowned physician-scientist at Harvard and Johns Hopkins, died peacefully at his home in Maryland on April 20th. He was 91.

Dr. Littlefield was a former chairman of the Pediatrics and Physiology departments at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and pediatrician-in-chief of the children's' hospital at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, as well as a former Professor at the Harvard Medical School. He was also a prolific researcher. He focused on the use of human cells in culture as a valuable tool in scientific experimentation, he discovered the role of the ribosome in protein synthesis, and he developed the technique of using amniocentesis to diagnose genetic disorders in utero. Dr. Littlefield also played a leading role in developing a procedure to map human genes, and he helped pioneer the derivation and study of human stem cells. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island on December 3, 1925, Dr. Littlefield attended Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, graduating from the medical school in 1947 at the age of 21. In 1950, Dr. Littlefield married the extraordinary Elizabeth Lascelles Legge of Charleston, South Carolina. Bringing together the best of the South and the North, they were happily married for 45 years.

During the Korean War, Dr. Littlefield served as a medical officer aboard a hospital ship, the USS Repose. From 1957 to 1958, he and his wife lived in Cambridge, England, where he was a research assistant to James Watson and Francis Crick. In 1966, he was appointed chief of a new genetics unit at the Children's Service at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also co-founded the Genetics Training Program at Harvard Medical School.

Following his retirement In 1992, Dr. Littlefield became an member of a research team at Johns Hopkins that would become the first to report on the derivation of human stem cells capable of forming all cell types in the body.

Throughout his life, Dr. Littlefield was passionate about ethical issues and the health of women and girls, especially in developing countries, as well as about global issues such as nuclear disarmament and climate change. He delighted those around him with his charming and sly sense of humor, his understated practical jokes, and the devilish twinkle in his eye.

He is survived by his three children: Peter Porcher Littlefield of Greenville, South Carolina; John Walley Littlefield, Jr. of Cummaquid, Massachusetts; and Elizabeth Lascelles Littlefield of Washington, DC; as well as his children's loving spouses, his grandchildren, and his friend Nancy Warner. A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. on May 19th at St Thomas' Church in Owings Mills, Maryland.