SAMUEL WILSON

1939 - 2021

WILSON-- Samuel H. Jr., M.D., passed away quietly in his home in Chapel Hill, NC on Friday, April 23, 2021. He received a BA degree from the University of Denver and an MD from Harvard. Dr. Wilson devoted his career of over 55 years to medical research, most of which was done at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). After 22 years at the National Cancer Institute (NIH), he was recruited by UTMB, Galveston, TX to establish the Sealy Center for Molecular Science which is dedicated to understanding stress responses and human disease. He moved to NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in 1996 as Deputy Director and then Acting Director where he maintained an active laboratory for the rest of his life. Through Dr. Wilson's leadership, NIEHS developed initiatives to create more precise measurements of human exposures to harmful pollutants. He received many national and international awards for his leadership and contributions. As a protein biochemist, his research helped create a new scientific field, DNA repair. His group was the first to completely reconstruct the complex process of repairing damage to DNA using cell extracts. During his quest to understand these processes, he mentored and influenced a generation of scientists from around the world who now follow in his footsteps. Dr. Wilson is survived by a loving family. A Celebration of Life Memorial will be held in the coming months. An announcement of the date and location may be found at: www. walkersfuneralservice.com