Eugene A. Stead, Jr.
October 6, 1908 - June 12, 2005
Reprinted from the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) Website (http://www.dcri.duke.edu/)
. Tuesday, June 14, 2005.
Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD Dies at 96
By Pat French
Dr. Eugene A. Stead, Jr., the driving force behind development of the
DCRI, has died at the age of 96.
Dr. Stead, who also is considered the “father” of the physician assistant
(PA) profession, died in his sleep Sunday at his home on Kerr Lake.
Dr. Stead came to DUMC in 1947, accepting the position of chair of the
Department of Medicine. He had previously served as the chair of the
Department of Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine at Emory
University. He stepped down from his Duke post in 1967, but his involvement
with Duke continued for another 38 years.
In 1969, Dr. Stead led a group of DUMC statisticians, physicians, and
computer programmers in an effort to capture data from patients undergoing
coronary angiography, with the goal of using this information to improve the
care of future patients. The Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease,
forerunner of the DCRI, remains the world's oldest and largest database on
the outcomes of cardiovascular care.
The DCRI, formally created in 1996, now has more than 850 employees and
more than 110 Duke physician-investigators. The group has conducted more
than 270 clinical trials and outcomes projects that have involved more than
half a million participants around the world.
Dr. Stead was a major force for innovation in medical education in the
latter half of the twentieth century. In 1966, for example, he directed a
revision of the Duke Medical School curriculum, to include half the
requirement of basic sciences and expansion of research time to a full year,
a practice unique to Duke at that time. This innovation appears to have been
a wise choice: 33 of Stead’s trainees have gone on to lead their own
departments of medicine.
Dr. Stead also established the Duke PA program, the first of its kind in
the world, to provide staff trained to address a range of patient needs
without the time and resources required for traditional medical education.
The first three graduates of this program matriculated in 1967. To honor the
PA profession and its founder, Dr. Stead's birthday, October 6, is now known
as Physician Assistant Day.
Dr. Stead was a past president of the American Society for Clinical
Investigation and the Association of American Physicians and a founding
member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science. He
was editor-in-chief of Medical Times, Circulation, and the
North Carolina Medical Journal. Among his many awards was the
William G. Anlyan, MD, Lifetime Achievement Award from Duke.
Dr. Stead maintained a
personal Web site for sharing his thoughts about issues in medicine and
life. The Durham Herald-Sun also has published a
review
of Dr. Stead’s life, in addition to a traditional
obituary.
|
