In Memoriam: David A. Flockhart, 1952–2015

Abstract

We lost David Flockhart on Thanksgiving Day, 2015. He was 63 years old, and had battled cancer for more than a year. David Flockhart was a pioneer and innovator in the field of pharmacogenetics. His conceptual contributions to pharmacogenomics date back more than 20 years, when most of us were learning to recognize the word. He is best known for his work on the pharmacogenomics of breast cancer, and the responsiveness of the disease to tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitor treatment. He also made major contributions to understanding the genetic basis for individual variations in pharmacokinetics and clinical response to warfarin, clopidogrel, opiates, antiretroviral drugs, and antidepressants. Despite his conviction of the importance of medical genetics and pharmacogenomics, David retained a critical and questioning outlook, cautioning us about the limitations of the discipline, and the potential downside of widespread or routine genetic profiling. David's scientific work was consistently insightful and of high scientific merit, but his overall objective always was to improve the length and quality of life of ill patients. As such, his impact on both biomedical science and clinical patient care was broad and profound. David was a native of Scotland—the oldest of five children born to D. Ross Flockhart and Pamela Ellison Flockhart. Following his early education in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, he received his undergraduate degree from the University of Bristol in 1973, and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Welsh National School of Medicine in 1976. David came to Nashville in 1976, serving first as post-doctoral research associate, then as assistant professor, in the Department of Physiology at Vanderbilt University through 1984. David's soul was set on becoming a physician—he wanted to assure that the science had an impact on humanity. He enrolled at the University of Miami School of Medicine, graduating in 1987. He did his residency training in internal medicine at Georgetown University, finishing as chief medical resident at the Fairfax Hospital in 1991. His voluntary shouldering of the chief residency position—one of medicine's thankless and relentless tasks—says a great deal about David's dedication to patient care and medical education. The same dedication persisted throughout the rest of his career. Following residency, David stayed on for fellowship training in clinical pharmacology at the legendary Georgetown University Division of Clinical Pharmacology, with Ray Woosley as his mentor. David joined the faculty in 1993, and rose to tenured associate professor in 1999. He was named Chair and Chief of the Division in 2000, and was a consistent advocate for and supporter of the discipline of clinical pharmacology. Craig Brater recruited David to Indiana University School of Medicine in 2001, where he became Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Medical Genetics, and Director of Clinical Pharmacology. He was appointed as the Gladstein Chair in Cancer Genomics in 2007, and Director of the Indiana University Institute for Personalized Medicine in 2011. David Flockhart was a national and international leader in cancer pharmacogenomics. He served on or directed numerous scientific symposia, workshops, and policy-making advisory groups. He served as Principal Investigator for the NIH Pharmacogenetics Research Network, and for the Consortium on Breast Cancer Pharmacogenomics. He participated as visiting scientist or guest speaker at the invitation of numerous academic institutions, medical and scientific societies, hospitals, and government agencies. The quality and impact of David's work has been recognized by his peers through awards such as the Rawls-Palmer Progress in Medicine Award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2011), and the Nathaniel T. Kwit Distinguished Service Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (2009). With no hesitation, he accepted our invitation to serve on the Editorial Board of Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development, despite a number of existing editorial board commitments. Above all, David remained devoted to his patients and his students. He was kind and compassionate to the patients under his care, and spent as much time as necessary to assure their best possible treatment. To his students and trainees he was equally devoted, enthusiastic, careful, and thorough. He always believed that scientific advances had to be translated into improved patient care. David loved his family. He loved music, and took great pride in his Scottish beginnings. He retained the quaint Scottish lilt to his speech. David Flockhart was a great scientist, colleague, and friend. We will miss him.