HERBERT TANOWITZ MD

TANOWITZ -- Herbert B., MD

We mourn with deep sorrow the passing on Tuesday, July 17, of our dear friend and esteemed colleague Herbert B. Tanowitz, MD, professor of Pathology and of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) at Montefiore Einstein. A world-class physician-scientist, Dr. Tanowitz was renowned for his pioneering research on the pathogenesis of Chagas Disease, a tropical parasitic infection caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. He embodied the role of the academic physician and was beloved by his patients, fellows and students alike. After graduating from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1967 and completing his residency in internal medicine at Lincoln Hospital, he joined the Einstein faculty in 1975 and served as an attending physician at Jacobi and Montefiore Medical Centers. He went on to serve as director of the Diagnostic Parasitology Laboratory and associate director of the Parasitology Clinic at Jacobi. A frequent lecturer at the medical school, he served as director and principal investigator of a Fogarty International Training Grant to train students and postdoctoral fellows from Brazil in research methods in infectious diseases and geographic medicine. He was senior associate editor, the American Journal of Pathology; managing editor, Frontier Bioscience; and founding co-editor-in-chief, Journal of Neuroparasitology. Dr. Tanowitz also served as a captain in the United States Navy Reserve through 2008. He received numerous awards for his contributions to the field of medicine, including Einstein's Dominick P. Purpura Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Brazilian Society of Protozoology's Walter Colli Award, and was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Herb was a rare person and spirit. His joie de vivre will continue to guide us and provide a model for the role of an engaged scholar. We will never forget his laugh, his passion and all the ways he made us better. Our hearts go out to Pam, Meredith, Jill and his entire family. Yaron Tomer, MD, FACP Chair, Department of Medicine Michael B. Prystowsky, MD, PhD Chair, Department of Pathology Albert Einstein College of Medicine Montefiore Health System