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Alan Jobe’s legendary career

Pediatric Research volume 94, pages 1245–1247 (2023)Cite this article

Every generation of physician scientists, regardless of discipline, has provided a unique thought leader who has offered unmatched insight in their field. Such an individual invariably provides the remarkable ability to move their discipline to the next level. This is inevitably complemented by the most enthusiastic mentorship that allows the mentor to challenge his mentees and so provide the most novel and insightful solutions to both biologic and clinical dilemmas. Alan Jobe, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cincinnati, meets every aspect of this description. He is the recipient of almost every award for which a pediatric physician scientist is eligible. However, in this commentary, we do not seek to summarize an incredible resume, but rather highlight four areas in which Alan, our colleague and friend, has hugely influenced progress in neonatal-perinatal medicine.

Alan’s journey of discovery began in Southern California. Having obtained his PhD and MD at UCSD, he joined the medical faculty at Harbor-UCLA in 1977 and rose with remarkable speed through the academic ranks. At the time, there was awareness of the role of surfactant deficiency in the etiology or RDS, however, biologic insights were scarce and surfactant replacement therapy not an option. Alan embarked upon a highly productive series of studies employing animal models to hugely advance the field.1 This included characterization of the various surfactant components and their biologic roles, both molecular and physiologic, during early pre and postnatal maturation. Importantly, his studies played a key role in setting the stage that allowed exogenous surfactant to be introduced and refined as therapy in the 1980’s.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital/Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA

    Richard J. Martin

  2. University of Miami, Miami, USA

    Eduardo Bancalari

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  1. Richard J. Martin
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  2. Eduardo Bancalari
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Both authors contributed equally to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version to be published.

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Correspondence to Richard J. Martin.

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Martin, R.J., Bancalari, E. Alan Jobe’s legendary career. Pediatr Res 94, 1245–1247 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02678-z

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