Alan Linn Murphree

1945 - 2022

Alan Linn Murphree, born in Houston, MS, on June 6, 1945 to Maxine Linn and John Alan Murphree, passed away in Pasadena, CA, on March 9, 2022. He graduated from Houston High School in 1963 as valedictorian of his class. He attended The University of Mississippi, where he was president of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, president of Alpha Epsilon Delta, and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Sigma and played saxophone for the Rebel band. After graduating magna cum laude in 1967, he was chosen as a Fulbright Scholar to study human genetics at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark with Dr. Lars Jacobsen.

He entered Baylor College of Medicine in the fall of 1968, and received his M.D. degree in 1972. After a year's fellowship in genetics, he completed an ophthalmology residency at Baylor, serving as chief resident in 1975-76. He was named Heed Fellow in Ophthalmic Genetics and Pediatrics at Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, in 1976-1977. He was Captain in the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps, from August, 1972, until June, 1980.

At the end of his fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he found his first and only professional post. He assumed the Division Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology position at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, University of U.S.C. School of Medicine. Linn, as he was known, was a tremendous force in ocular oncology, recognized for his role in cloning the RB1 gene, and his passion and purpose for treating children with retinoblastoma.

With his first NIH grant, he demonstrated by deletion mapping that the RB1 gene was located in chromosome 13q14. Subsequently, he developed a clinical referral practice focused on ocular oncology, and created the largest retinoblastoma referral center west of the Mississippi at CHLA.

During his retinoblastoma clinical practice, Dr. Murphree recognized an unmet clinical need for a wide-field retinal camera to document the intraocular findings associated with retinoblastoma. He recruited a team of optical engineers and collaborated with others in private industry to develop the RetCam®, a commercially available pediatric retinal camera used worldwide to document retinoblastoma and many other retinal abnormalities.

Dr. Murphree's work on chemo-thermotherapy, published in 1983, was a model for retinoblastoma treatments using intravenous chemotherapy combined with local therapies. He is the author or co-author of more than 70 essential papers on retinoblastoma genetics and retinoblastoma care. He received many accolades during his career, including the prestigious Stallard Award from the International Society of Ocular Oncology in Paris in 2015. In 2018, at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., Linn received the prestigious Helen Keller Award for the impact of RB1 gene cloning.

Dr. Murphree enthusiastically participated in the first One Retinoblastoma World meeting hosted by WE C Hope, held in London, England, in 2012. He led the session "Psychosocial Care: Healing the Whole Child", and presented research on Post Traumatic Stress in children treated for retinoblastoma. This work was completed by his long-time colleague, Nancy Mansfield, founding Executive Director of the Institute for Families at CHLA.

He will be remembered with great affection and gratitude by the WE C Hope team, by hundreds of children, survivors, and their families for whom he cared deeply, and by the many doctors he trained who practice around the world.

Linn leaves behind his sister, Gayle Lindsey (John), his niece, Vicki Klauser Brewer (Hunter), his great-niece Avery Carter Brewer, and his great-nephew, Hunter Townsend Brewer, Jr. along with his 'adopted' granddaughters, Daphne Linn and Lillian Joanna Comas (Jesse & Paul), Mable Carnathan, Kay Carnathan Gammill (Neel), Kneeland, and Emma Gammill. He was preceded in death by his parents, John Alan and Maxine Linn Murphree, his brother, Gary Carter Murphree, and his nephew, Chad Klauser, M.D.

Services will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Houston, MS. Services were also held on Saturday, May 14, 2022 at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California.

The Memorial Funeral Home of Houston is in charge of arrangements. For memorial condolences visit:

www.memorialfuneralhomehouston.com.

In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting Linn's retinoblastoma program at CHLA. Donations can be done online at CHLA.org/donate and annotate "A. Linn Murphree/retinoblastoma" in the memo. Checks can be sent to: CHLA, c/o Mr. Terrence Green, 4650 Sunset Boulevard, Mail Stop #29, Los Angeles, CA 90027.