Donald Lowell Price M.D.

1935 - 2023

PRICE

DONALD LOWELL PRICE M.D.

Donald Lowell Price, M.D., passed away with family at his side on May 5, 2023 after a long illness. A private service will be held in Woods Hole, MA; and a celebration of his life will take place on November 10 by Johns Hopkins Medical Institution. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Edith Price of Stamford, CT. He is survived by Helen A. Price, his wife of 67 years; two brothers, Robert L. Price and Richard W. Price, M.D.; children, Elaine Price Schwartz, M.D. (Josh Schwartz, M.D.), Donald Lowell Price Jr., M.D., William Louis Price, M.D. (Erika Price, CRNA); grandchildren, Benjamin P. Schwartz, M.D., Jonathan J. Schwartz, Donald L. Price III, Charles M. Price, Andrew B. Price, William F. Price, Helen F. Price, and Amelia E. Price. Dr. Price was born in Stamford, Connecticut on June 16, 1935. He went to Wesleyan University in Connecticut for his undergraduate studies and then on to graduate school at Albany Medical College where he graduated AOA in 1961. He trained in medicine for two years at Tufts in Boston and subsequently completed a Neurology Residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital (1963-1966). He served as a staff Neurologist at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland (1966-1968). After his military service, he was a Senior Fellow in Neuropathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital for one year, and a research fellow in cell biology with Keith Porter, PhD. He was an Assistant Professor at Harvard when he was recruited to Johns Hopkins Medical Institution in 1971. At the start of his tenure at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Price at the age of 35, became the Founding Director of the Division of Neuropathology. Subsequent to becoming Professor in 1978, he started the Brain Resource Center. In 1984, he was the Founding Director of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer Disease Research Center which he led for three decades. As a clinical neurologist, neuropathologist and neurobiologist, Dr. Price made significant contributions to the understanding of a variety of human neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer Disease, Parkinson Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In this role, he was the author of more than 400 publications. His work focused on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly the development and analysis of genetic animal models. His research and training programs were well supported for over 40 years. He received numerous honors and awards; among them, two Javits Neuroscience Investigator Merit awards (NINDS) (1986 and 2000), the Metropolitan Life Foundation Award (1989), Leadership in Alzheimer Disease Award from NIA (1989-1995), Soriano Award for Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience (1991), the Potemkin Prize for Alzheimer Research (1992), the Wartenberg Award (2001), Awards for Meritorious Contributions to Neuropathology (2012), and AAIC Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer Disease (2015). Dr. Price was a member of the following organizations: National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, Founding Director of the Alzheimer Research Center(JHMI), Society for Neuroscience (President 2000-2001), and the American Association of Neuropathologists (President 1989-1990). He also served as a board member and scientific advisor to numerous organizations and companies. Always teaching, he was mentor to many young people who were supported by a variety of grants either federal or private. Over the past four decades, he trained hundreds of medical and graduate students, house officers, and post graduate fellows. His trainees included Chairpersons of Departments and many prominent basic scientists and clinicians in a variety of institutions including medical schools, universities and government departments. During the "Decade of the Brain" (1990-2000), Dr. Price was ranked among the top ten Neuroscientists as "authors of high Impact" in Neuroscience (Science Watch 12:102-2001). Dr. Price remained at Johns Hopkins as a full Professor until 2010. At the time of his death, Dr. Price was Professor Emeritus of Pathology, Neurology and Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution. Dr. Price's interests extended well beyond sciences to include literature, poetry, music and history. He was extraordinarily well read and, it was this, as well as his outgoing nature and charisma, that lead him to have conversations with anyone on any number of diverse topics. As he prepared manuscripts, the music of Puccini or Wagner often played softly in the background. His scientific presentations often included cultural references, particularly to Shakespeare and Dante. In addition to his skills as an academic, he was an accomplished athlete. Growing up on Long Island Sound led him to be an avid swimmer, an activity he continued throughout his whole life. During his early years, his competitive spirit took him into sports such as football, baseball and basketball and, later, into running and triathlons races. In addition to being an athlete, he was a fan, particularly of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles. He was a dearly loved husband, father and grandfather. His greatest passion in life was his family including his children and grandchildren and his loving wife, Helen, with whom he shared everything in a long and fulfilling life. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Donald L. Price, M.D. Research Fund Department of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution; https://pathology.jhu.edu/donate/. Arrangements by Wilkerson Funeral Home & Crematory. Online condolences available at

www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com