Obituaries
Dr. John B. Barlow, after whom Barlow syndrome is named, died in his native South Africa on Dec. 10, 2008, at the age of 84.
Dr. Barlow was a professor anddirector of cardiology at the University of the Witwatersrand, in the city of Johannesburg.
He was graduated from the university in 1951 after serving in the South African forces during World War II.
He was appointed a professor of cardiology (ad hominem) in 1970, and served as the director of the cardiovascular research unit from 1971 to 1990, when he retired. According to the University, he continued to see outpatients, do consultations, and supervise registrars up until a few months before he died.
Dr. Barlow's best-known accomplishment, his paper on the mid-systolic click and late systolic murmur syndrome that now bears his name, came about in 1963, but he earned many other accolades during his long career.
These included awards, honors and lectureships from the International Society of Heart Failure, the American Heart Association and the National Heart Hospital in London.
In a tribute, Dr. Tsung O. Cheng, of the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., wrote: “John Barlow's legacy is too expansive to describe fully. But his greatest legacy by far is the discovery of the commonest valve disease in the world. Both his patients and colleagues have benefited so much from his innovative mind, limitless energy, lifelong enthusiasm, great sense of humor and selfless dedication to principles” (Int. J. Cardiol. 2009;133:1-2).
Professor Philip Poole-Wilson died suddenly on his way to work from a suspected myocardial infarction on March 4. He was 65 years old. He was known among his colleagues as the man who put heart failure on the map in the United Kingdom.
Prof. Poole-Wilson studied at Cambridge University and received his medical degree at St. Thomas' Hospital Medical School, London.
In 1973, he was awarded a travel fellowship from the British Heart Foundation that took him to Los Angeles, where he conducted research at the University of California.
Three years later, he returned to London to accept a position as an honorary consultant cardiologist at the National Heart Hospital.
He would remain in London, holding positions through the years at the University of London, the Royal Brompton Hospital and the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London—from which he retired as head of cardiac medicine just last October—for the rest of his life.
At the time of his death, he was still serving as the British Heart Foundation Simon Marks Professor of Cardiology at Imperial College.
Prof. Poole-Wilson gained international notoriety through his posts as president of the World Heart Federation from 2003 to 2004, where he gained an interest in global heart disease prevention strategies.
He also served as president of the European Society of Cardiology from 1994 to 1996, and was the founding chair of the British Society for Heart Failure.
Prof. Poole-Wilson was the recipient of the prestigious “Le Prix Europe et Médecine” from l'Institut des Sciences de la Santé, in Paris, in 2001.
In print, Prof. Poole-Wilson will likely be best remembered for being editor of the well known texts “Diseases of the Heart” and “Hurst's The Heart.”
The day before his death, Circ-ulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association, published “Pioneer in Cardiology: Philip Poole-Wilson” (doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192070).
Cardiologists on the Move
Dr. John “Jack” O'Connell has relocated to Atlanta to become the executive director of the Heart Failure Program at the Heart and Vascular Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital. Dr. O'Connell served previously as a professor of medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago. He was also the director of the Center for Heart Failure at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Dr. O'Connell was replaced at the Bluhm Institute by Dr. William G. Cotts, who is medical director of heart transplantation, and Dr. Edwin C. McGee, who is serving as the surgical director of heart transplantation and mechanical assistance. Both have long held leadership positions at the Institute.
DR. JOHN B. BARLOW