Susan M. MacDonald M.D.

Susan M. MacDonald, M.D peacefully passed away on September 9 after a lengthy illness, with her husband, David R. Herron, Ph.D., and her sister Karen Fehr by her bedside. Dr. MacDonald was a pioneer, fearlessly advocating for women both within the department and the school. In 2004, she was the 106th woman to become a Hopkins professor, and mentored many of the women who came after her. Some of her most recent articles, published in the Journal of Women's Health, highlighted the discrepancies in research funding and leadership positions between men and women. She gave talks about mentoring and promotion both nationally and internationally. Dr. MacDonald attended undergraduate school at Regis College in Massachusetts where she earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. Before attending medical school, she worked as a research assistant in Dr. K Frank Austen's Immunology Laboratory at Harvard. She earned her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts and came to Hopkins in 1980 to complete her internal medicine residency in the Osler Program. She served as an assistant chief of service and completed fellowships in rheumatology and clinical immunology. As an assistant professor, she initiated a mentoring program for women fellows. In 1997, she became the deputy director for faculty and career development for the DOM, where she spent countless hours coaching individual faculty members on the path to promotion and initiated a department-wide annual review. Clearly a valuable mentor, she began working in the School of Medicine Office for Faculty Development in 2001. Her passion for mentoring was extended to all faculty, and she initiated a book she called, "How to Get Promoted at Hopkins." Her intent was to make the implicit explicit. Working with the vice dean for faculty affairs, they launched the first edition of the Silver Book that still helps faculty members get promoted today. In 2002, Dr. MacDonald was the first woman to be named associate chair of the Department of Medicine. In this role, she met with all assistant professors individually to get a flavor of their academic trajectory and acquaint them with departmental leadership. She received a Women in Leadership Award from Johns Hopkins University in 2002, was a recipient of the David M. Levine Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2003 and named advisor to the Office of Women in Science in 2008. She served on the Advisory Committee on Mentoring for JHU, chaired the Women's Task Force and received the inaugural Vice Dean's Award for the Advancement of Women in 2009. After Dr. Bruce Bochner's departure, she graciously filled the role of interim director of the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology until she retired at the end of 2016. Her research spanned a variety of topics throughout her career. Studies in the Susan M. MacDonald Laboratory led to the cloning of a novel cytokine, termed histamine releasing factor (HRF), which was shown to cause histamine release from a subset of basophils. After deciphering the signal transduction events associated with HRF-induced basophil histamine release, her laboratory made the first inducible-transgenic mouse model of HRF using the Tet-On system. She was a member of the American Association of Immunologists, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum and the Interurban Clinical Club. She served on the editorial board for the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the JAMA Asthma website and peer-reviewed many articles for the leading allergy journals. She served on multiple advisory committees and review groups, including national and international study sections. After retirement, she was named professor emerita and continued to mentor Dr. Antoine Azar, whom she helped recruit. She went on to write pro-bono grants for community foundations. Dr. MacDonald was a transparent communicator, and an effective, well-respected leader. In her 36 years at Hopkins, she mentored generations of faculty members, and her influence will continue as part of her legacy. She leaves behind her loving husband, David R. Herron, Ph.D. in Severna Park, Maryland, her sister Karen A. Fehr and a well-loved niece, Catlin S. Fehr in Lincoln, Massachusetts as well as her brother John F. MacDonald in Arlington, Massachusetts. A memorial service at St. Martins-in-the-Field will take place in the Spring once the quarantine is lifted. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to a memorial fund currently being set up for her in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the Johns Hopkins University's Department of Medicine. Please make the checks out to JHU with the Susan MacDonald Fund noted. Online condolences may be made at www.barrancofuneralhome.com