The research community lost a leader in the field of nonmalignant hematology. Hal E. Broxmeyer, PhD, passed away on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at the age of 77 from complications due to thyroid cancer.
Broxmeyer’s research was instrumental in pioneering the field of cord blood transplantation. Dr. Broxmeyer was a Distinguished Professor, Mary Margaret Walther Professor Emeritus, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He was a native of Brooklyn, New York. He received his M.S. from Long Island University in 1968 and his Ph.D. from New York University in 1973. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario in 1975 before working at Sloan-Kettering Institute from 1976 to 1983. Dr. Broxmeyer joined the faculty of IU School of Medicine in 1983. His innovations quickly made lasting impacts on the world of medicine. His work led to the first umbilical cord stem cell transplantation, which took place in Paris on October 6, 1988. His lab did the basic scientific proof-of-concept research in advance of the transplantation. Since then, more than 40,000 people worldwide have benefitted from this procedure. Throughout a long and productive career, Dr. Broxmeyer received distinctions of the highest order. He tackled science with a passion for research, a love of discovery, and a desire to advance human knowledge through commitment, collaboration, and creativity. In the words of a long-time friend and a colleague “Hal’s work ethic was second to none, and his integrity was off the charts.”     Â