Harold Ross Roberts, MD: inspirational mentor, consummate physician, superb scientist (1930‐2017)

• Published in: Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis 2018-01, Vol.2 (1), p.14-16
• Main Authors: White, Gilbert C., Blatt, Philip M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Careers; Hematology; Hemophilia; In Memoriam; International organizations; Laboratories; Medicine; Pathology; Students; Thrombosis
• ISSN: 2475-0379; 2475-0379
• DOI: 10.1002/rth2.12059

Harold Ross Roberts, MD Roberts and colleagues at the UNC Comprehensive Hemophilia Diagnostic and Treatment Center and officials from the Chiron Corporation infusing the first in vivo gene therapy on September 14, 1999 in the General Clinical Research Unit at the University of North Carolina. The first was a body of work on hemophilia B, starting with the demonstration that many patients with hemophilia B contained antigen that reacted with a factor IX antibody (cross reacting material or CRM was a term he coined) and going through the cloning of factor IX and characterization of molecular defects in patients. Together with Hedner, Ezban and Kjalke at Novo Nordisk, they used this model to evaluate the mechanism of action of factor VIIa in hemophilia and to make other advances in our understanding of coagulation and the way bypassing agents affected the generation of thrombin ‐ really the burst of thrombin generation ‐ that was hemostatically important. During his career, he received numerous honors, including the French International Prize for Research in Hemophilia, the Kenneth Brinkhous Award from the US National Hemophilia Foundation, the Karl Landsteiner Award from the American Association of Blood Banks, the Medical Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award from UNC, and the Henry Stratton Medal and the Mentor Award from the American Society of Hematology.