Franklin H. Epstein

Abstract

Franklin Harold Epstein, MD, died on November 5, 2008. As the William Applebaum Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, he was 84 years old and actively engaged in research, teaching, and clinical care until a few weeks before his death. Frank exemplified the ideal physician: An investigator, a teacher, and a master clinician, and he encouraged this model in his trainees. I first met Frank in New Haven in 1963 while interviewing for an internship in Paul Beeson's Department of Medicine. I was attracted to Yale because of his research, and he invited me to lunch that day. He talked about his new studies on the effects of water diuresis on susceptibility to pyelonephritis1 and his previous articles in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on the mechanism of impaired concentrating ability in hypokalemia and hypercalcemia.2,3 I was struck by his clarity and intellectual rigor, his capacity to probe complex renal and electrolyte disorders, and his sheer brilliance. A few years later, we published together an in-depth analysis of the mechanism of lithium-induced diabetes insipidus in human and the rat.4 Frank was widely considered one of the giants of metabolism and nephrology. Among his more than 400 publications, he published 39 articles in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine . He reveled in the discoveries and accomplishments of others, and his generosity with ideas inspired those who worked with him. He was a cheerful and enthusiastic man who laughed heartily and sang or whistled constantly, always on pitch. Frank entered Brooklyn College at the age of 16 and graduated summa cum laude in 1944. His father was a school principal and his mother a teacher who taught him elocution, at which he excelled. He then entered …