Jerold F. Lucey, MD, a driving force in pediatrics and neonatology, died December 10, 2017, at his home in Osprey, Florida, at the age of 91.
Dr Lucey pioneered phototherapy for neonatal jaundice, transcutaneous oxygen monitoring in neonatal intensive care, exogenous surfactant therapy for the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, and played a major role in organizing trials of hypothermia for the prevention of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
Dr Jerold Lucey. Courtesy of University of Vermont
Dr Lucey was professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, where he spent most of his career. He played a key role in promoting the concept of regionalization of perinatal care and established the Vermont Oxford Network in 1987, which now includes collaborating health professionals at more than 1200 neonatal units around the world.
"His extraordinary achievements as a clinician, scientist, editor, and educator have transformed the fields of pediatrics and neonatology and contributed to the health and well-being of children and families around the world," Jeffrey Horbar, MD, Jerold F. Lucey professor of Neonatal Medicine, University of Vermont, and chief executive and scientific officer of the Vermont Oxford Network, said in a statement.
Dr Lucey served as a "catalyst and facilitator for bringing new ideas from the laboratory to the bedside," added Dr Horbar.
For more than 30 years, Dr Lucey served as editor-in-chief of the journal Pediatrics, official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). "Under his leadership, the journal became an internationally recognized forum for the highest quality scientific research and public debate of issues in child health. Jerry's own acclaimed editorials have frequently broken important new ground and inspired others to action," Dr Horbar said.
In 1980, Dr Lucey established "Hot Topics in Neonatology," an international gathering of neonatologists that has become a "model of how new clinical ideas can be subjected to rigorous scientific scrutiny in a public forum. With uncanny insight and intellectual rigor, Jerry never has failed to identify issues that are truly 'hot topics,'" Dr Horbar said.
"Jerry was a gifted teacher. By personal example, lectures, ward rounds, and numerous visiting professorships, he directly influenced countless students and practitioners at all levels of training all around the world," he added.
Dr Lucey received numerous prestigious professional awards including the John Howland Award, the highest honor given to an academic pediatrician who exemplifies distinguished service to pediatrics as a whole; the Virginia Apgar Award in Perinatal Pediatrics, recognizing an individual whose career has had a continuing influence on the well-being of newborn infants; the AAP Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Lienhard Award of the Institute of Medicine, which recognized his application of medical technologies and procedures that have helped save millions of lives.
Dr Lucey was born on March 26, 1926, in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1948, and New York University School of Medicine in 1952. Dr Lucey is survived by his second wife Ingela Barth, four children, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
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Cite this: Neonatology Pioneer Jerold F. Lucey, MD, Dies at 91 - Medscape - Jan 02, 2018.
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