Dr. Grossman: child welfare advocate, infectious diseases expert
An infectious diseases “giant” and child abuse prevention advocate, Moses (Misha) Grossman, M.D., FAAP, of San Francisco, died Jan. 27 at age 96.
Over his 30-plus-year career at University of California San Francisco (UCSF), he was dedicated to pediatric infectious diseases research. Before vaccines and therapies were available, he cared for patients with leprosy, polio and tuberculosis. When San Francisco became a hotbed for AIDS in the 1980s, Dr. Grossman contributed to the initial understanding and care of affected children. His research also uncovered maternal and infant links between chlamydia and pneumonia.
“He was an infectious diseases giant. He was involved in all the major epidemics in kids,” said Myles B. Abbott, M.D., FAAP, one of about 40 pediatric chief residents whom Dr. Grossman mentored at UCSF.
Dr. Grossman created programs to join community resources and coordinate care for underserved children and prevent child abuse, according to an AAP Oral History (http://bit.ly/grossmanAAPhistory).
In the 1960s, he founded the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center (Safe and Sound). He also was chair of the California AIDS Leadership Committee on Pediatric and Perinatal AIDS.
Among awards, he received the St. Geme Educational Award from the Western Society for Pediatric Research, the UCSF Gold Headed Cane Award and a Mayor’s Citation for Work for Children of San Francisco.
“He was concerned about the welfare of the underserved in San Francisco and in California in general,” Dr. Abbott said.
Born in the Ukraine, Dr. Grossman’s Jewish family fled to China to avoid persecution. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1941, earning his M.D. and completing an internship at UCSF. He served in the U.S. Army for two years, then completed a pediatrics residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York. Dr. Grossman served as chief of pediatrics at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. He also held vice chair and associate dean positions at the UCSF pediatrics department and medical school.
Dr. Grossman was chair and member of the AAP Committee on Research and was a member of the Committee on Fetus and Newborn and Committee on Medical Education. He also was president of the Western Society for Pediatric Research and an American Pediatric Society research council member.
Dr. Grossman was predeceased by his wife, Verle. He is survived by two daughters and two sons, including David Grossman, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Bioethics chair, pediatric surgeon, Dr. Katz
Immediate past chair of the AAP Committee on Bioethics, Aviva L. Katz, M.D., M.A., FACS, FAAP, of Pittsburgh, died Jan. 17. She was 58.
Dr. Katz advocated for her patients to have an active role in their own care, both in practice and her work on the bioethics committee. She served as the lead author of the 2016 AAP policy and technical report on informed consent.
Associate professor of surgery at University of Pittsburgh and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Dr. Katz directed the Consortium Ethics Program and Ethics Consultation Service. She studied the bioethics of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, fetal and neonatal surgery and pediatric transplantation.
She also served on the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protection, and ethics committees within the American Pediatric Surgical Association and American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.
Dr. Katz is survived by her husband, Daniel Weiner, and four children.
Additional deaths
John W. Abbuhl, M.D., FAAP, of Slingerlands, N.Y., died of pancreatic cancer Jan. 6 at age 91.
Thomas M. Brill, M.D., FAAP, of Gainesville, Fla., died Dec. 16 at age 96.
Albina A. Claps-Paglia, M.D., FAAP, of Bozeman, Mont., died of natural causes Jan. 5 at age 95.
Hammond J. Dugan III, M.D., FAAP, of Vero Beach, Fla., died Jan. 4 at age 81.
Paul Dyken, M.D., FAAP, of Mobile, Ala., died of cancer Sept. 11 at age 83.
Frank Horton, M.D., FAAP, of Saco, Maine, died Jan. 7 at age 93.
Peachie E. Scarano, M.D., FAAP, of Bradenton, Fla., died Jan. 1 at age 59.
Hurikadale P. Sundaresh, M.D., FAAP, of Solon, Ohio, died Jan. 17 at age 76.
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