Falecimento de Frank Neva

Foi com grande pesar que soubemos hoje do falecimento do Dr. Frank Neva. Frank era o Chefe do LPD durante o nosso pós-doutorado e tivemos muita oportunidade de convívio desde esta época. Tanto na Bahia, onde esteve diversas vezes, quanto em Bethesda, quando sempre nos recebia para jantar.

Além dos elogios ao pesquisador e chefe do laboratório que o NIH divulgou (transcritos abaixo) devemos acrescentar que Frank era uma excelente pessoa, um grande amigo sempre atento ao que poderia fazer para ajudar os outros a ter um bom desempenho científico.

Perdemos os que o conheceram um grande amigo, perdeu a humanidade uma grande figura humana.

Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 Media Contact: NIAID  Office of Communications
(301) 402-1663
niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov NIH Remembers Dr.  Franklin A. Neva Franklin A. Neva, M.D., a  renowned virologist, parasitologist, clinician and former chief of the  Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and  Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health,  died on Oct. 15, 2011. He was 89 years old.

Dr. Franklin A. Neva   <http://niaid.pr-optout.com/Url.aspx?521095x626367x-148315>

"Frank Neva was an  exceptional scientist and clinician who established a pioneering  biomedical research program focused on the interactions between humans and  parasites," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "He built the NIAID  Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases into a world-class team, hiring and  training future leaders in clinical parasitology for more than 30 years.  He was widely admired as a person, mentor, clinician and scientist, and he  will be greatly missed."


After medical school and  an internship, Dr. Neva began his research career in 1947, studying  typhoid fever and schistosomiasis at Naval Medical Research Unit-3 in  Cairo. He then spent three years at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.,  where he first described Boston exanthem disease, an echovirus infection  in children characterized by mild fever and widespread rash. After an academic appointment in the laboratory of Dr. Jonas Salk at the University  of Pittsburgh, Dr. Neva returned to Harvard to work in the newly created  Department of Tropical Public Health. In 1962 he and Dr. Thomas Weller  co-discovered rubella virus, the cause of German measles. An independent  group at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research, Washington, D.C.,  also isolated the virus around the same time.


Dr. Neva was recruited to  NIAID in 1969 to become chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Parasitic  Diseases (LPD). He helped coalesce LPD research sections scattered from  Hawaii to Georgia to Bethesda, Md., and from the beginning, he emphasized  research on the biology of parasites as well as on the human immune  responses to parasitic infections. In 1971, he hired Dr. Louis Miller, who established a highly productive malaria research laboratory and later  succeeded Dr. Neva as chief of LPD.


"Frank was brought to NIH  to revitalize the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, and he did just that,"  said Dr. Miller, who currently is a section chief in the NIAID Laboratory  of Malaria and Vector Research. "He knew how to bring out the best in his  staff and was deeply respected by all of us."


Dr. Neva hired many future  NIH leaders of tropical disease research, such as Drs. Tom Wellems, Tom  Nutman, David Sacks, Ted Nash and Alan Sher. In doing so he shepherded the  growth of parasitology research at NIH from a small area of focus to a program that is now spread among four different NIAID laboratory groups  and involves about 400 NIAID scientific staff at laboratories in Bethesda  and overseas.


Dr. Neva also established  a clinical service for parasitic infections at NIH, which treats patients  from developing countries as well as U.S. citizens whose cases are of  scientific interest. He mentored many LPD trainees who subsequently rose  to leadership positions in universities, government agencies and  international health organizations.


"Frank made major  contributions to the study of malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and  strongyloidiasis," said Dr. Nash, an LPD section chief and Dr. Neva's  first research fellow. "His great love was clinical parasitology," Dr.  Nash said. "There was no one better clinically. I most appreciated his  integrity, humility and unselfishness-traits he used to make considered  decisions for the benefit of his staff."


Among his many honors, Dr.  Neva was the first member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and  Hygiene (ASTMH) to receive its Ben Kean Medal, an award that recognized  his dedication to clinical tropical medicine and his impact on the  training of students, fellows and practitioners of tropical medicine. He  also received the ASTMH Donald Mackay Medal, a highly selective recognition for outstanding work in tropical health relating to  improvements in the health of rural or urban workers in the tropics; the ASTMH Bailey K. Ashford Medal for distinguished work in tropical medicine  early in his career; the Joseph E. Smadel Lectureship from the Infectious  Diseases Society of America; and the Presidential Meritorious Executive  Rank Award for his exemplary leadership and public  service.