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Saturday September 29 2001

Dr. Marion Edward Hodes, PMD Researcher and IU Geneticist, Dies

INDIANA (The Indianapolis Star) - Services for Dr. Marion Edward Hodes, 76, noted Indiana University professor of medical and molecular genetics, will be at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, of which he was a member. Burial will be in Beth-El Zedeck North Cemetery.

Dr. Hodes died Sept. 29. He was born in New York City and received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University, a medical degree from the University of Buffalo and a doctorate from Columbia University. A Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he began his career at Indiana University in 1956. He taught and was involved in genetic research, including quests into the rare Pelizaeus Merzbacher disease, a fatal and debilitating ailment affecting infants, and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, a hereditary disease considered to be as debilitating as Alzheimer's disease. He was a founder of the American College of Medical Genetics and was a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society for Cell Biology, and other professional medical and research organizations, as well as a fellow of the Indiana Academy of Science.

Dr. Hodes was chairman of the executive council of the Israel Cancer Research Foundation, a member of the advisory committee for the Fulbright Award, a Guggenheim Fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovoth, Israel, a cancer research consultant with Eli Lilly and Co., and an assistant editor of Cancer Investigation. He was a past president of the Indiana Jewish Community Relations Council, a past president of the Bureau of Jewish Education and the author of more than 200 scientific publications. He was a member of Sigma Xi fraternity and was past vice president of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Israel Cancer Research Fund, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 550, New York, N.Y. 10104. Survivors: wife Halina Markowicz Hodes; children Marquis Z., Zachary I., Jonathan E., Abigail J. Hodes; sister Roberta O. Hodes; nine grandchildren. Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Meridian Hills Mortuary is handling arrangements.

We Salute, A Hero: Dr. Marion Edward Hodes

by Jeff Leonard

When I first heard about the sudden illness, and then passing of Dr. Hodes...I felt (and still feel) a heaviness on my heart that has yet to go away. September 29, 2001 is a day that PMD has won and the scientific world has lost a brilliant colleague. I only had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Hodes in person once, at the PMD Family Conference in Indiana in July of this year. It was also the first time Dr. Hodes met my son, Jack, in person even though he confirmed the PMD mutation in Jack several months before.

Dr. Hodes was genuinely interested and concerned about Jack and the other PMD families. He gave his time and advice freely - spending hours and hours with the families over a few days, as I'm told he had done every year for many years. To PMD families like ours, he is our hope...our future...our hero. He and his contributions will continue to live on and advance a new generation of PMD scientists.

I am sad at this time, but I am glad I was able to tell him how much he meant to me in an e-mail exchange that was less than a month before his passing. In it, I wrote:

"One of the fondest memories I have of my first Indiana trip was the 'fireside chat' that we had about Jack, about your work and about the future. I truly felt like a student who was sitting next to someone who has achieved great things in his life and has made great contributions to society. I can only hope to achieve some of that in my lifetime and to make a difference where I am capable. For the foreseeable future, I hope that we are all working together."

Dr. Hodes replied, "Many thanks for this most kind letter. I got back Monday from a brief vacation and am swamped. I have to revise our Neurobase contribution (due today!), but hope to get to the stuff for the foundation website next week."

Your contributions are many, Dr. Hodes. From all PMD families, thank you.

Bio: Dr. Marion Edward Hodes, Scientific Advisory Committee, The PMD Foundation

Dr. Hodes received his M.D. degree from the University of Buffalo in New York and his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. He was officer-in-charge of the Department of Psychological Chemistry of the United States Naval Medical School, Bethesda, MD, and served as intern and resident in New York City and on the faculty of Columbia University before arriving at Indiana University. Here, he as also served in the Department of Biochemistry. He is certified in clinical medical genetics, in clinical molecular genetics and in clinical chemistry. Dr. Hodes is a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics. Dr. Hodes has had many years of experience in both clinical and basic research. This has comprised work as diverse as the structure of nucleic acids, studies on deoxyribonuclease and ribonuclease, cloning of human pancreatic amylase, the early work on clinical applications of vinblastine, other cancer chemotheraputic agents and description of a number of genetic disorders. Dr. Hodes founded the DNA repository in 1983. His current interests include Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease/X-linked spastic paraplegia. Dr. Hodes and his group have reported about half the recorded mutations in the latter diseases. Dr. Hodes is currently an associate editor of Cancer Investigation. He has helped educate medical students and graduate students in medical and molecular genetics, pathology and laboratory medicine, and biochemistry.

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