Honoring the Life of an Honored Teacher

‘He’s there, providing an opportunity.’

 

Kenneth Donald McClatchey (M.D. 1975, Residency 1978) — dentist, doctor, researcher and world-famous oral pathologist — grew up on an island in the Detroit River. What was there for a bright, curious young man to do on tiny Hickory Island? His wife, Marty McClatchey, laughs and says, “If you asked me, I’d say ‘I’m not sure,’ but if you asked Ken, he’d say there was muskrat trapping, duck hunting and fishing; there was hiking in the woods with sandwiches made from wild onions.”

That spirit of fun, adventure, optimism — and a resonant respect for the simple things in life — stayed with Kenneth McClatchey throughout his successful career as pathologist and family man. McClatchey earned his Bachelor of Science in 1964 and went on to study at the U-M School of Dentistry; Marty Kruger earned her bachelor’s degree in special education a year later. The two wed in 1968 after McClatchey finished dental school and Kruger earned a degree in social work.

McClatchey realized that dentistry was not going to be a fulfilling career for him but he kept at it, completing a graduate program in oral pathology at Michigan in the meantime. A mentor encouraged him to apply to medical school, but Harvard and Wayne State universities turned him down because he was an older student with a profession. Then came an acceptance from Michigan, where he entered the second-year Medical School class.

The McClatcheys’ love of children and Marty McClatchey’s work in the adoption field, specializing in hard-to-place kids, led them to adopt four children — Sean, Suki, Suni and Stephen — by the time Kenneth McClatchey finished his pathology residency in 1978. McClatchey took a staff position in pathology under the renowned A. James French, M.D. (Residency 1941), who became a treasured mentor. In 1982, he was named associate chair, overseeing clinical laboratories and teaching activities in the Department of Pathology. In 1988, he was named professor of pathology and of otolaryngology in the Medical School and of oral medicine/pathology in the School of Dentistry, as well as associate chief of clinical affairs in University Hospital.

As an expert in head and neck pathology, McClatchey helped patients and doctors with difficult diagnoses, but he truly loved teaching: nurturing, mentoring and stimulating the next generation of physicians and dentists, which he did for the next 25 years before becoming chair of the Department of Pathology at Loyola University in Chicago. The McClatcheys embraced their two-state status, taking turns traveling back and forth.

In 2003, Kenneth McClatchey was diagnosed with an endocrine tumor of the pancreas. After a surgical procedure to remove the tumor, doctors felt confident he could be treated with medication. But in December, routine blood work revealed a severe reaction to the medication, and he died quite suddenly at University Hospital just before Christmas.

Two years later, Marty McClatchey began thinking about a way to honor her husband’s life. “I remembered that medical school wasn’t easy for us, financially,” she says. “So I decided to do a scholarship. After the first scholarship was funded, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat if there could be a scholarship every year!’ For always, there would be a medical student who has a little extra money because of this scholarship.”

In 2006, she established the Kenneth D. McClatchey Scholarship in the Medical School, and recently made another generous gift to support the fund. “He may not be there teaching but he’s there, providing an opportunity,” she says. —WHITLEY HILL

 

Unprecedented Exploration

Phil Jenkins, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has made a significant gift in support of pediatric brain tumor research in the Department of Neurosurgery. Jenkins’ gift includes the purchase of a focused ion beam and scanning electron microscope, which will be located in the new U-M Neuroscience Hospital and will allow unprecedented exploration of how human tumors grow.

Jenkins has been a dedicated supporter of medicine at Michigan, whose generosity has benefited the Comprehensive Depression Center and complementary and alternative medicine. His gift to the neurosciences recognizes the “amazing leadership, accomplishments and inspiring work” of Karin Muraszko, M.D., current department chair and the Julian T. Hoff Professor of Neurosurgery. —RK

 

Stemming the Tide of an Insidious Disease

Schwartzberg family gift advances research into bipolar disorder

 

A $1 million commitment from the Schwartzberg family of New York to the U-M Comprehensive Depression Center will help the U-M continue its mission to unravel the mysteries of bipolar disorder using stem cell lines derived at Michigan.

The gift establishes the Steven M. Schwartzberg Memorial Fund at the Depression Center. Al and Florence Schwartzberg named the fund in honor of their son Steven, who died three years ago after a long struggle with bipolar disorder.

“Steven was a brave, sweet and sensitive soul who had to fight a fight that many others in the U.S. are suffering through today,” says Steven’s brother, Harris Schwartzberg, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in 1989. “We hope that by supporting the work of the dedicated stem cell and clinical researchers at U-M, we will be closer to putting an end to this insidious disease that negatively affects the lives of so many.”

The Schwartzberg family’s gift will further advance the ongoing studies being done in collaboration with the Depression Center’s Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund, where researchers are using an array of approaches, including induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines, to analyze bipolar disorders on a cellular and genetic level and help advance personalized treatments.

Over the past year, scientists at the U-M have developed iPS cells from skin samples donated by adult volunteers from the Prechter Bipolar Study. These cells behave like embryonic stem cells, and will form the starting material to study the characteristics of neurons from the person with the disorder.

In addition to supporting the stem cell research, the Schwartzberg family has worked with the Depression Center to create the “EVEN” program, in honor of Steven. EVEN, whose slogan is “We are all together, We are all EVEN,” is a cutting-edge awareness program geared toward training teachers, school counselors and high school students to identify and address anxiety and depression in teenagers. The program had its kick-off this year at Byram Hills High School in New York. —JUSTIN HARRIS

 

Professorships Recently Inaugurated

The late Thomas and Susan Brown of St. Clair, Michigan, believed that the U-M should be at the forefront of medical discovery for the treatment, management and a possible cure for Parkinson’s disease. The Thomas H. and Susan C. Brown Early Career Professorship in Neurology — established through the Browns’ estate and inaugurated March 28 — recognizes their commitment. The first Brown Professor is Kelvin L. Chou (M.D. 1998), an associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery.

On April 2, Asheesh Bedi (M.D. 2002, Residency 2007), an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery, was installed as the first Harold W. and Helen L. Gehring Early Career Professorsor of Orthopaedic Surgery. Established in 2011 through a gift from the Gehrings’ estate, this is the second professorship in the Medical School to bear their name. The Gehrings had no children, and when Harold died in 1984, it was Helen’s wish to perpetuate his memory and his work in a way that would prepare others to serve society as he did.

A physician once described as “a man who knows more about clinical procedures than anyone in the United States,” George Dock, M.D., was honored April 9 during the inauguration of the George Dock Collegiate Professorship in Internal Medicine. A memorial to the first full-time professor of medicine in the U.S., it honors Dock’s desire to structure an inspiring academic environment for teaching and the clinical practice of medicine, which led to the clinical clerkship in 1899 and changed medical education across the U.S. The first Dock Professor is Sanjay K. Saint, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of internal medicine.

Donita Sullivan’s five decades of service to the Medical School contained many firsts — she trained to become one of the first pediatric rheumatologists in the U.S., and was the holder of the first named professorship in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases. The Donita B. Sullivan, M.D., Research Professorship in Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases recognizes Sullivan’s many contributions to the Medical School. Donna M. Martin (Ph.D. 1992, M.D. 1996), an associate professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and of human genetics, became the first Sullivan Professor on April 19.

Two of the finest physicians to serve the Department of Internal Medicine and Division of Cardiology were honored April 23 during a dual ceremony inaugurating the Franklin Davis Johnston Collegiate Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine and the Park W. Willis III Collegiate Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine. The Johnston Professorship, held by William F. Armstrong III, M.D., serves as a memorial to Johnston, who headed the Cardiology Service from 1952-69. The Willis Professorship serves as a similar tribute to the life and career of Willis, who restructured the Heart Station into the Division of Cardiology. David S. Bach (M.D. 1986, Fellowship 1992) is the first Willis Professor.

On June 6, Assistant Professor of Neurology Ann A. Little (M.D. 2001, Residency 2005, Fellowship 2006) was installed as the first James W. Albers Collegiate Professor of Neurology. Established through gifts from the trust of Edward and Kathryn Bellas, the CSX Corporation, and colleagues and trainees of James W. Albers (M.D. 1970, Residency 1972) — a professor emeritus of neurology, psychiatry, and of physical medicine and rehabilitation — it supports a faculty member who aspires to the highest standards of patient care, research and education in the field of neurological disease, as exemplified by Albers. —KB