John P. Craig, MD, MPH. Physician-Scientist, Educator, and Mentor. 1923-2016.

Abstract

John P. Craig (1923-2016) was an eminent physician-scientist, gifted educator, and greatly valued mentor. Born in West Liberty, Ohio on 29 November 1923, he attended Oberlin College, and received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine. This was followed by an internship at Yale University Medical Center, and then service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was a battalion surgeon, preventive medicine officer, and epidemiologist. While in Korea, he conducted important investigations of hemorrhagic fever among American troops. His observations led to the recognition of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, now called Korean hemorrhagic fever. He also identified a new Hanta virus. Craig received his Master of Public Health degree magna cum laude from the Harvard School of Public Health. He then worked with Nobel Laureate, Max Theiler, at the Rockefeller Foundation. Soon afterwards, he joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, where he established a new research laboratory. Over the years, his research focused on diphtheria infections and cholera. He became internationally respected for his work on cholera, and specifically on cholera toxin and its relationship to vascular permeability. He served for over 6years as the Chair of the Cholera Panel of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Program, and in this position set the direction for future research. The author of over 100 articles published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, he also gave numerous presentations at national and international scientific meetings on a wide range of microbial diseases. Craig was highly regarded by colleagues and students as a superb teacher. He was a leader in initiating patient-oriented problem-solving (POPS) exercises for medical students. He also led curricular reform in the medical school in the 1990s whose purpose was to reduce lecture hours and expand time for small-group interactive sessions. Craig was designated Distinguished Teaching Professor by the State University of New York, and inducted as an Honorary Alumnus of the College of Medicine. The John P. Craig Award for Excellence in Microbiology and Immunology was established in 1993, and is annually presented to a graduating medical student. Following retirement to Tucson, Arizona, Craig devoted time to planning and teaching a tropical medicine course in Costa Rica that was co-sponsored by the University of Costa Rica Medical School and Louisiana State University. He was a member of the Board of Managers of the Wright Nature Center in Trinidad, and an active volunteer in the Herpetology Department of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona. He also had a great interest in ornithology. John P. Craig passed away in Tucson, Arizona on 27 September 2016 in his ninety-third year. He was an eminent success as a research scientist as well as an outstanding educator and mentor. As a result, he had a lasting influence on the lives and careers of both students and colleagues.