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Donald J. Fernbach
Donald Joseph Fernbach MD (April 10th, 1925- September 22, 2013) was an American pediatric hematologist oncologist and professor at Baylor College of Medicine. [1] He was a pioneer in the subspecialty of Pediatric Oncology. [1]
Biography
Fernbach was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Floral Park on Long Island, NY.[1] His parents were Jules Fernbach and Dorothy Hever. [1] He served as an antitank gunner in 100th Infantry Division in France from 1944 to 1945. For his courage was awarded a Bronze Star.[1] In 1948 Fernbach received an A.B degree from Tusculum College, Greenville, TN. [1] In 1952 he earned his MD from George Washington University School of Medicine. [1] Fernbach entered his residency in pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine as one of its first residents and then completed a Jesse Jones Fellowship at Baylor. In 1954, he completed a residency in pediatric pathology at Children’s Medical Center in Boston under Dr. Sidney Farber. He then completed a hematology fellowship with Dr. Louis Diamond followed by an oncology and tumor therapy fellowship again with Dr. Sidney Farber. While in Boston, he held a teaching fellowship at Harvard University. [1][2]
In 1957 Fernbach returned to Texas and joined the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine. In 1958, he founded the Research Hematology-Oncology Service at Texas Children’s Hospital, now known as the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center. From 1957 to 1991 Fernbach served as the Head of the Hematology and Oncology Section of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, Chief of the Hematology and Oncology Service at Texas Children’s Hospital, and Director of the Research Hematology Laboratory at Texas Children’s Hospital. During his tenure at Baylor, he became a professor of pediatrics and enjoyed mentoring physician scientists. [2]
In 1957, Fernbach co-founded the Southwest Cancer Chemotherapy Working Group (SWCCWG), a group that consisted of physicians who were previously treating cancer independently. [3] They became a research team, developing protocols for experimental drugs and then combining results to draw statistically significant conclusions. Fernbach, his research team and SWCCWG discovered the value of cyclophosphamide, which became one of the most effective and widely used chemotherapy agents for adults as well as children with leukemia. [1][2][3] This group later became known as the Southwest Oncology Group, SWOG, and eventually the Pediatric Oncology Group, POG, as it grew to 42 medical institution participants around the country. In 2000, the POG became the Cancer Oncology Group, the COG, and is a merger of U.S. and Canadian Cancer Research institutions. [2][3]
In 1959 Fernbach and J. J. Trentin performed the first isologous bone marrow transplant from one identical twin to another to treat aplastic anemia. [1][2]
As the director of the Blood Transfusion Services at Texas Children’s Hospital from 1957-1971, Fernbach was the first physician in the South to use a plastic blood bagging system, and one of the first anywhere to use blood component therapy for children. [4] He divided whole units into mini-units consisting of 50 mls for transfusions in young children reducing the waste of a full pint of blood. He was the first to separate blood into components and make them available in the new plastic bagging system.[4] Because of his efforts, TCH was the first hospital in Houston to give platelet transfusions. [2]
Fernbach led the effort to develop newborn screening for sickle cell disease years before it became a state mandate.[5] He educated pediatricians on how to use blood smears to detect blood diseases early and accurately, saving patients unnecessary added medical and travel expenses and identifying pathologies that need treatment sooner. [6] By 1983, 60,000 blood cord collections of neonates were collected checking for hemoglobin abnormalities such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, hemoglobin E, and hemoglobin C aplastic anemia. [7] To protect the children in his care, he led the movement to ban smoking in the Texas Medical Center.[2] Fernbach assisted heart transplants by determining blood and tissue compatibility with the incoming hearts. [8]
Fernbach co-authored the first textbook on Clinical Pediatric Oncology with Dr.Waturu Sutow and Dr. Teresa J. Vietti. [9] In 1978, he is credited with initiating the Ronald McDonald House in Houston.[2] When Fernbach started his career in 1958, the survival rate for children with acute lymphoid leukemia was less than one percent. By 1982, it had advanced to 60%. At that time, major improvements were made in every disease he studied except for neuroblastomas. [7] By the end of his career, he published more than 200 articles and abstracts.
Honors and Awards
Publications
A partial list of his publications: