Nathan Edward Hellman

Nathan Edward Hellman died on February 13, 2010, from a stroke. Nathan was born in Houston, Texas, on December 8, 1973. He spent his early years in Houston, San Antonio and St. Louis, and grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, where he attended Congdon Park Elementary School, Ordean Junior H.S. and graduated in 1992 from Duluth East H.S., where he was the editor of the newspaper and member of the math, Knowledge Bowl, basketball and track teams. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Yale University with a degree in Molecular Biology and Biophysics. He received his MD, PhD from Washington University in St. Louis, where he met the love of his life Claire, and then did a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the Basic Science Research Award. Following residency, he received a Fullbright Scholarship to study the molecular biology of cystic kidney disease at the Hospital Necker in Paris. He completed a Renal Fellowship at Harvard University, where he was on staff as a scientist physician and was board certified in Nephrology. He is the author of numerous scientific publications and creator of the Renal Fellows Blog. He was a kind and compassionate person and physician. Nathan is survived by his wife, Claire; daughter, Sophie; son, Maxime; parents, Patricia (Gregorich) and Richard N. Hellman, MD; sisters, Susan Jean Hellman and Catherine O'Malley; brother-in-law, Timothy O'Malley; nephews, Henry and James O'Malley; and uncles, Joseph and Robert Gregorich. Nathan loved ideas, humor, canoeing and camping in the BWCA, biking, backpacking, basketball, comic books, exploration, writing, Eggo waffles, peanut butter and French culture. Most of all, he loved his wife and two beautiful children. He had the rare ability to live life to its fullest and to also chronicle it, a humbleness that belied his brilliance and the ability to form close friendships. He was a wonderful husband, father, son, brother and uncle. Nathan was a rare individual whose untimely death will be mourned by all who knew him. A memorial service will be held at the Massachusetts General Hospital O'Keeffe Auditorium on Wednesday, February 17 at 2 p.m., and at a later date this summer in Duluth, Minnesota. We would like to thank the staff at MGH Neurosciences ICU for the excellent and compassionate care Nathan received during his brief and tragic illness.