Dr. Richard Burt, Northwestern University
Pre-Medical Society’s Outstanding Service Award in Medicine Award — This year’s recipient is John F. Tisdale, Class of 1986 and the son of Belton and Sara-Gantt Tisdale, Class of 1956. After completing his degree in chemistry at the College, John received his medical degree from MUSC in 1990 and did his internship and residency at Vanderbilt in internal medicine. In 1994, he joined the National Institutes of Health as a hematology fellow and has been there ever since. In 2007, he became a tenured investigator in the Molecular and Clinical Hematology Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. In his role as principal investigator in a new trial using a blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen, John has been able to effectively reverse sickle cell disease in 9 out of 10 adults who had previously been severely affected by this debilitating disease. There is hope that this regimen may have broad applications to other non-malignant diseases and can be performed at most transplant centers. While reluctant to call this regimen a cure for sickle cell, 9 out of 10 patients are symptom — free and leading normal lives. John’s patients feel as though a cure has been found.
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