Lois B. Epstein, MD, an emeritusmember of the AACR, died February 6, 2015, at the age of 81. She first joined the AACR in 1977 and was an associate editor of Cancer Research.
Epstein was known for her pioneering research on interferons. Together with her husband, Dr. Charles Epstein, and another colleague, Dr. David Cox, she developed the first mouse model for Down syndrome.
Born Dec. 29, 1933, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1955 and entered Harvard Medical School later that year, as one of only eight women in the class.
Upon receiving her medical degree in 1959, she completed a residency in pathology at what is now Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, an internship in medicine at the New England Center Hospital, and a series of fellowships with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Epstein joined the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she remained until her retirement until 1996. Initially a research physician at the UCSF Cancer Research Institute, she later became associate director, and also a professor of pediatrics.
Her achievements had been recognized with numerous honors, including a NIH MERIT award, the Lifetime Achievement in Research Award from the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research, an honorary doctorate of science, and election to the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame from the YWCA San Francisco and Marin.
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