Dedication: George W. Santos

The Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium on Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplantation, held in Dallas, Texas, July 2000, is dedicated to George Santos, MD, who died January 21, 2001, after a brave battle with cancer. We knew him for over three decades as a great professor and a very fine human being.

After George's graduation from MIT and a relatively short career in the U.S. Navy, it was medicine that became his intellectual and emotional focus. With his background in physics, it was no surprise that he chose a path in medicine where he could combine research and clinical medicine to bring the latest developments in the laboratory to the patient, and that hematopoiesis and transplantation of hematopoietic cells became his field in the sixties. On the basis of his research, he established the bone marrow transplant program in Johns Hopkins in the early seventies, and George and his team became key players in the development of bone marrow transplantation. His and his team's contributions, such as the world-renowned busulphan/cyclophosphamide conditioning regimen and the introduction of cyclosporine as prophylaxis of GVHD after transplantation, were milestones in the field of bone marrow transplantation.

George was one of the founders of the International Society of Experimental Hematology, and we will never forget the founding meeting held in one of the theaters in the middle of Paris in 1970 with Don Thomas, George Matthé, Derk van Bekkum, Rainer Storb, and thirty others. His heart was already set on how to prevent GVHD. He initiated many experimental programs in rodents; and, therefore, it was no surprise that it was George and his team who were first to recognize and develop the cyclosporine approach.

George attended the first five meetings of the ABMT symposia beginning in 1984. The contributions from him and his team were outstanding, especially the AML study in second remission with 4-HC purged marrow presented for the first time in 1986 at the third ABMT symposium.

When he retired in 1995, the bone marrow transplant unit in Johns Hopkins was among the leading programs in the world. He mentored many of the leaders in the field and on retiring he passed the torch to Dr. Rick Jones, who is keeping his legacy alive by continuing and renewing the program. His patients loved him because of his compassion and his positive and innovative thinking.

To his many friends and colleagues he will be remembered most for his generosity, his integrity, his persisting intellectual curiosity, and his extraordinary ability to translate laboratory findings to the clinic. He was a wise counselor and good friend to all his colleagues in the field he helped to create.

Thank you for what you did for medicine. It was a great journey!

Karel Dicke and Armand Keating

Click here to return to the ABMT 10 Home Page.

Copyright 1995-2010 - Carden Jennings Publishing Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. The material available at this site is for educational purposes only and is NOT intended for any diagnostic, clinically related, or other purpose. Carden Jennings Publishing Co., Ltd., assumes no responsibility for any use or misuse of this material and makes no warranty or representation of any kind with respect to the material available at this site.

Featured Resources Multiple Myeloma: A Practical Guide to Current Management BloodLine Image Atlas