The Norman Siegel Pediatric Renal Career Enhancement Fund
The Norman Siegel Pediatric Renal Career Enhancement Fund has been jointly established by the American Society of Nephrology and the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology to honor our dear friend and colleague, Norm Siegel, who died on April 28, 2006. Income from the fund will be used to support the research of a highly promising young investigator in pediatric nephrology. Contributions to this fund are tax deductible and can be sent to the Norman Siegel Pediatric Renal Career Enhancement Fund c/o American Society of Nephrology, 1725 I Street, NW, Suite 510, Washington, DC, 20006
Norman J. Siegel, MD
Dr. Siegel was one of the world's leading pediatric nephrologists and served as president of the American Society of Nephrology in 2002. At Yale, he was the founding director of the Section of Pediatric Nephrology and the former vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics, as well as former interim chair of the department and physician-in-chief at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital.
A Texas native and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Tulane and of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Dr. Siegel came to Yale in 1968 as an intern in pediatrics. He continued on as a research fellow in nephrology in the laboratories of Drs. Michael Kashgarian and John Hayslett and rose through the ranks to become a tenured professor in 1982. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 1983 and held leadership positions in the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, the International Society of Pediatric Nephrology, the National Kidney Foundation, the Society for Pediatric Research, the American Pediatric Society, and the American Board of Pediatrics, among other organizations. He served on numerous scientific review groups of the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Siegel made many contributions to medicine and to the life and governance of the School of Medicine. In his research with Dr. Fredric Finkelstein and others, he established the first classification system for the pathology of kidney transplant rejection, allowing clinicians to predict outcomes based on biopsy results. Dr. Siegel conducted innovative studies of kidney disease in children, particularly in the areas of glomerulonephritis, lupus and minimal change disease. He led research in renal hemodynamics and metabolic alterations of the kidney during acute renal failure, and, with Dr. Robert Shulman, he pioneered the use of nuclear magnetic resonance methods of assessing adenine nucleotide metabolism of the kidney in vivo. His cellular and molecular biological studies of the role of heat shock proteins in ischemic renal injury have provided insight into potential new therapeutic pathways for the management of acute kidney injury. He was the author of more than 200 publications and served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. He was co-editor of the classic textbook Rudolph's Pediatrics.
Dr. Siegel was also an outstanding teacher and mentor, nurturing the early careers of numerous postdoctoral fellows and pediatric residents who continued on to faculty positions around the nation. His teaching went beyond the teaching of medical students and residents to the education of the parents of the children he cared for, making lasting impressions that remained decades after their treatment.
In the Department of Pediatrics, he served as vice chair (1979-2000) and leader of the house staff program. He was acting chair on two occasions and interim chair (2000-2002) following the departure of Dr. Joseph Warshaw. Dr. Siegel was a member of the Board of Governors of the Yale Medical Group (YMG) and the chair of the YMG Finance Committee. In addition, Dr. Siegel spearheaded many YMG initiatives and provided a broad institutional perspective that enhanced the progress of the school's clinical agenda, perhaps best exemplified by his leadership on the committee that created the clinician educator track at Yale. He also headed a school-wide strategic planning process at the request of the Dean.
Dr. Siegel is survived by his wife, Rise, his children Andrew and Karen, his mother Ida and his brother Bryan. The family has requested that contributions be sent to The Dr. Norman Siegel Memorial Fund, c/o American Society of Nephrology, 1725 I Street, NW, Suite 510, Washington, DC, 20006. Dr. Siegel's passing is an irreplaceable loss for the school, his patients and the world of academic pediatrics. He will be missed greatly.
Sincerely,
Robert J. Alpern, MD
Dean and Ensign Professor of Medicine
As sent to the Yale community on May 5, 2006
Article of remembrance written by Dr. Siegel's friend & colleague: Michael Kashgarian, M.D., Professor of Pathology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology