On Wednesday, October 16, 2002, Friedhelm Hildebrandt, M.D., was installed as the University of Michigan Medical School’s first Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor for the Cure and Prevention of Birth Defects. The professorship, awarded to a distinguished member of the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, was established by a bequest from College of Literature, Science and the Arts alumnus Frederick G.L. Huetwell, who passed away in 1994.

Hildebrandt stands as one of the top scientists in renal genetics in the world. His work on the molecular genetics of renal disease has resulted in several key discoveries, including the identification of the gene responsible for juvenile nephronophthitis types I and IV. His studies of Bartter Syndrome led to the identification of three genes implicated in the phenotypic presentations of the disease. Hildebrandt is now in the process of investigating the genetic origin of familial steroid responsive nephritic syndrome in childhood.

After receiving his medical degree from Germany’s Heidelberg University, Hildebrandt completed a pediatric residency at Marburg University, also in Germany, in 1987 and a postdoctoral fellowship in nephrology at Yale University in 1990. He joined the U-M in 2001 as a joint professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and the Department of Genetics. Hildebrandt is a member of the International Society for Nephrology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among other organizations, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Kidney and Blood Pressure and Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. He is a former fellow of the American Heart Association, a Heisenberg Scholar of the German Research Foundation and the recipient of an Outstanding Research Award from Freiburg University Hospital.

Jon Gandelot (representing Fritz Huetwell), Friedhelm Hildebrandt, Dean Allen Lichter and Jean Robillard Photo: Gregory Fox

Frederick G.L. “Fritz” Huetwell was a great friend to the U-M and the Medical School, and one of the University’s leading benefactors. In 1995 he left a bequest of nearly $17 million to the U-M, with more than $9 million dedicated to endowments in the Medical School. Along with the Professorship for the Cure and Prevention of Birth Defects, Huetwell’s bequest enabled the establishment of four other professorships and one research endowment.

In spite of lifelong disabilities related to cerebral palsy, Huetwell attained a bachelor’s degree in history from the College of Literature, Science and the Arts in 1938. He was an active alumnus who served as executive director of the University of Michigan Club of Greater Detroit, helped conduct many Alumni Association tours, and frequently attended sporting and musical events on campus.

—RS

Also:

James Ferrara Receives Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award

U-M’s 2003 Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching Goes to Medical School’s Tom Gest

Thomas Schwenk, Michael Savageau Elected to the Institute of Medicine

Former Allergy Chief Kenneth Mathews’U-M Career Spanned Four Decades

Medical School Inaugurates the Norman Thompson, M.D., Professorship in Surgery

Albert J. Silverman Pioneered Early Space Psychiatry and Neuroscience Research

U-M Mental Health Research Institute Founder James Miller Is Dead at 86

Friedhelm Hildebrandt Installed as the First Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of the Cure and Prevention of Birth Defects

Second Annual Faculty Awards Dinner