In memory of Murray Feingold (1930–2015)
On July 17, 2015 the medical genetics community lost a wonderful friend. Dr. Murray Feingold (Fig. 1) passed away 3 days before his 85th birthday. Up until the end he was still working on a 50 year career in medicine, pediatrics, and genetics. Though Dr. Feingold is admired for his contributions to syndrome delineation and dysmorphology, he contributed so much more. From early in his career, Murray was known as a pioneer, an entrepreneur, and a visionary. He was a man of tremendous compassion, generosity, and humor. His greatest passion and the driving force in all of things he did was as an advocate for children and their care. It is impossible to know how many children, families, trainees, and colleagues Murray influenced. What is known though is that the medical genetics community has lost a champion.
THE PERSON
Murray was born July 20, 1930 in Hazelton PA to David and Molly Feingold. David was co-owner of a dress shop in downtown Hazelton and Mollie helped with the business while also raising four children. As a youngster, Murray loved basketball. At only 5′9″, Murray was a skilled basketball player and captain of his high school basketball team which was called “The Feingold Aces.” He was accepted to Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA largely on the basis of his basketball prowess. He played on the college team until junior year when he decided on pre-medical studies and no longer had time to play. Murray was also a great tennis player and was clutch in any competition: horseshoes, corn hole, HORSE. If he needed a shot to win the game, he would get it.
His career choice was influenced by Dr. Ed Dessen, his hometown physician whom Murray described as a “true Renaissance man.” Dr. Dressen mentored Murray throughout his career and they remained in touch until Dr. Dressen passed away a few years ago. After Murray earned his undergraduate degree in psychology in 1952, he served with the US Medical Corps during the Korean War. Through the GI Bill, he earned his medical degree in 1959 from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and interned in Allentown, PA. He then moved to Massachusetts where he spent his entire career.
His son only heard him lose his cool just once: when Murray discovered that a young doctor had let a patient sit alone in an exam room for an hour. “It was the one time I heard him really yell. He truly cared about kids.” Murray was somewhat notorious for having less than an ideal diet. His favorite was French fries. In the early days of traveling to satellite clinic locations, he drove a beat up station wagon named, “the Murray Mobile” and its seats would be littered with hot balls, circus peanuts, and yogurt-covered pretzels. When called out for these unhealthy snacks, he would quip, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
EDUCATION/TRAINING
- 1952 Franklin and Marshall College, BA in Psychology (Lancaster, PA).
- 1959 Thomas Jefferson Medical College, MD (Philadelphia, PA).
- 1960 Rotating internship, Allentown General Hospital (Allentown, PA).
- 1961 Internal Medicine Resident, New England Deaconess Hospital (Boston, MA).
- 1963 Pediatric Resident, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA).
- 1964 Pediatric Chief Resident, Boston City Hospital (Boston, MA).
- 1965 Fellowship Rheumatology/Connective Tissue Disorders (Boston, MA).
Through the course of much of his training, Murray was fortunate to be mentored by renowned Pediatrician Sidney Gellis. It was during this time with Dr. Gellis that Murray developed a shared interest in genetic syndromes. In his own words, Murray said that it was “unbelievable to be part of the forefront of the development of the disciplines of medical genetics and dysmorphology.” He described it as being in the “halcyon days” in the development of these fields.
ACADEMIA
Across the span of his career Murray held many faculty appointments. These included appointments at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.
For many years, he was the Chief of Ambulatory Services and Chief of Genetics at Boston Floating Hospital. He was also the Physician-in-Chief at the Franciscan Children's Hospital and Rehabilitation Center as well as the Chairman of the Department of Genetics.
- The dangers of mercury in house paint (which prompted federal legislation) [Hirschman et al., 1963].
- Viral causes of otitis media [Feingold, 1965].
- The establishment of a public health information center for children with special health care needs [Feingold et al., 1970].
- A call for protest on television violence as a risk for children [Feingold and Johnson, 1977].
As with most academically accomplished scholars, Murray sat on multiple advisory and editorial boards. A few of the more notable ones were as Editor of the “Picture of the Month” for the American Journal of Diseases of Children, Editor of the Journal of Syndrome Identification, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Exceptional Parent Magazine.
He trained 11 clinical genetics fellows, many of which are quite prominent names in the genetic community.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENETICS
Murray was one of the early dysmorphologists. Like many in this field he was a keen observer and a “quantifier.” Some of his early work provided normal values for selected physical parameters used to delineate and diagnose syndromes [Feingold and Bossertt, 1974]. While this particular reference may not be familiar to many, all of us have used Smith's Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformations text [Jones et al., 2013]. In this text, we have referred to the familiar tables in the back, which in part came from this work and other such projects that Murray published. Murray wrote one of the first descriptions of Trisomy 9. He helped with the development of the original cardiac evaluation protocols for Down syndrome.
Perhaps the pinnacle of accomplishment for a dysmorphologist is to have an eponymic designation of “your syndrome.” In 1975 Murray published “Case Report 30” in Syndrome Identification of three individuals in a three-generation kindred with microcephaly, hand abnormalities, tracheoesophageal fistula, duodenal atresia, and normal cognition [Feingold, 1975]. This culminated in the delineation of a new syndrome of microcephaly, facial and hand abnormalities, tracheoesophageal fistula, duodenal atresia, and variable developmental delay [Feingold, 1978]. This syndrome is now recognized as the Feingold (or MMT) syndrome. It was heartwarming to see this all come together at a recent meeting of the American College of Medical Genetics when Murray was able to present a clinical platform session on the “Cardinal Signs of Feingold Syndrome (MMT Syndrome).”
A couple of years before Murray described Feingold syndrome, he published the first case of another unique phenotype [Pelletier and Feingold, 1973]. A second case was published 2 years later [Leisti et al., 1975]. This condition was eventually termed the “Floating-Harbor” syndrome because of the description of the two original patients at Boston Floating Hospital and Harbor General Hospital in California [Robinson et al., 1988].
A CHAMPION FOR CHILDREN
Pediatricians almost by definition should be child advocates. Murray was as strong an advocate for children and their health as anyone we have ever known. His dedication to children was readily apparent to his patients and their parents. You can fool a lot of people but you can't fool the children. They knew that Murray cared deeply for them. His work in his practice was characterized by warmth and humor. He was known for his magic tricks that he used to reassure and entertain his patients.
Murray was one of the early champions for interdisciplinary care. His vision of a multidisciplinary clinic relied on the expertise of administrative coordinators to organize appointments for harried parents. His vision of integrated and coordinated care predated the AAP initiatives on the Patent-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). With the goal of coordinated care in mind Murray developed the National Birth Defects Center (NBDC), merging primary care pediatrics with clinical genetics. The Genesis Fund for Clinical Services was subsequently founded in 1982 to address an “unmet need of providing genetic and birth defect evaluation services to patients in their community.” In 1984, the NBDC was transitioned to the Feingold Center for Children. The Center consists of physicians and consultants in pediatrics and genetics with ready access to orthopedics, cardiology, neurology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, craniofacial surgery, plastic surgery, and other specialties. One of the highlights of the National Birth Defects Center was the establishment of a large network of satellite genetic clinics which reached patients throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Other efforts sponsored by the Genesis Fund included a Pregnancy Exposure InfoLine and a fund for Therapy and the Performing Arts.
A PIONEER IN MEDIA
From the 1970's, Dr. Feingold was a familiar voice and face on the airwaves and television screens of Boston area homes. He used the media with ease to communicate a wide range of medical topics ranging from the treatment of common cancers to causes of birth defects. As he mingled with television reporters, he became acquainted with sports celebrities. Many of Boston's greatest stars from basketball to hockey, have photos adorning his office or a specialty clinic named in their honor. He was the first physician in New England to utilize the television medium to help educate the public regarding health and medical issues. He was the medical editor for over 30 years for stations such as CBS Broadcasting Boston WBZ-TV and CBS Broadcasting Boston WBZ-Radio. He continued his weekly radio segment, “Medical Minute” right up until his death. He had a syndicated newspaper column, “Second Opinion” that appeared in 70 newspapers. Other organizations that he worked with included the Child Health column of The Boston Globe, New England Health—Lawrence Eagle, WHDH TV as a medical consultant and WXKS Radio.
He was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame for his medical reporting in 2014. He received the New England Chapter—National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences award for outstanding in depth reporting in 1984. Tufts University School of Medicine and Emerson College established the Drs. Murray Feingold and Timothy Johnson Health Communication Academic Achievement Award to communication students who demonstrate the highest level of academic and professional achievement. He also received an honorary PhD in Journalism from Northeastern University (Boston, MA).
In 1991 Dr. Feingold received a grant from the Welch's Company to create a network of computer-assisted telecommunication. This system was a first generation tele-video medical conferencing system. From this grant a national teleconferencing service for dysmorphology emerged. This teleconferencing network was developed with Jaimie Frias and Brad Schaefer to provide consultation on patients with unknown diagnoses [Feingold et al., 1993]. This conference has involved geneticists from over 20 institutions and is entering its 25th year. It has been hugely successful in networking geneticists, helping with difficult diagnoses, and in peer-to-peer education—besides being a whole lot of fun! We will miss Murray and his insight, wisdom, and humor on these conferences.
THE LEGACY
Without a doubt, the greatest legacy that any of us leave is our influence on other people. Murray impacted countless lives of his peers, his trainees, his patients, and the public. We want to close this tribute to Murray with excerpts from thoughts selected from just a few of the people he has impacted.
Catherine Nowak
Dr. Feingold was many things to many people: trusted physician, founder of The Genesis Foundation for Children, media spokesperson, family man, and friend. I knew him best in his role as physician and advocate for children with genetic conditions. Additionally, he acted as a mentor for physicians-in-training and over the past 50 years, he has instilled in countless medical students and residents his compassionate approach to these most precious and fragile children—these doctors are now scattered around the country and sharing these “Murray lessons” with more and more trainees. What a fabulous legacy. I was the last of a long line of physician's to have the privilege of training directly with Dr. Feingold. I would like to share with you some of his pearls of wisdom.
Murray was very precise about language—he championed the idea that the parents and children who came to him were very vulnerable and that simple changes in the way things were described could make a huge difference. He did not like the words “birth defects” or disability—these words do not let the world see these children as the unique individuals they are with so much to offer. He understood that parents come not just for a medical opinion, but also need someone to listen and someone to simply ask how everyone in the family is doing. He had a way of helping kids and families relax and feel like they were the most important people in the world at that moment. He traveled all over the state and into NH and Maine so that patients could be seen close to home and not have the additional burden of having to get in to Boston to see him. Through the Genesis Foundation, he was able to help families with equipment needs and special therapies. He tracked every aspect of his patient's lives—knowing about all their many medical appointments as well as their lives in “the real world.” When a patient was honored in the paper or won a Special Olympics medal, the family would send the clipping to Dr. Feingold. And at Christmas, I swear he received more cards than Santa. I recently came across a quotation from Hippocrates which said:
“It is far more important to know what PERSON the disease has, than what disease the person has.” This sentiment was central to Dr. Feingold's practice and one of the first lessons he taught his students.
Murray was known particularly for his magic tricks which patients looked forward to every year—he never told his secrets. But Murray's magic was not just in the disappearing penny or the card tricks, it was truly in him and his whole way of being. Jessica Douglas, the genetic counselor who worked side-by-side with Dr. Feingold for the past 8 years, talks about how parents would look so relieved after meeting with him, having him reach out a caring hand, and provide words of encouragement. This, she said, was the true Murray magic.
Like many physicians, Murray faced the challenge of raising his own children while juggling the demands of a busy practice. His wife of 51 years, Lorinda, bore the lion's share of keeping the family life running smoothly. Murray sheepishly recounts the story of a time when his three children, Rachael, Justin, and Matthew were young and he was away one evening guest hosting a call-in radio program about health topics. A woman called the show to ask Dr. Feingold if he was able to spend enough time with his children given his busy medical practice. Murray spoke of “quality time” with his family. When he arrived home, his son told him that he had listened to the show and asked if his dad remembered this caller. When Murray said he remembered it, his son informed him, “That was mom calling in!”. As much as Murray cared for the patients in his practice, his own family was the source of his truest joys. To those of us who worked with Murray, day-to-day, he was clearly very proud of his family frequently sharing stories of their accomplishments—first of his kids and then of the six grandchildren (Zoe, Jack, Joshua, Phoebe, Mollie, and Tyler).
Murray seemed to know at least a little bit about practically everything. So I was not surprised to come across another of his “Pearls of wisdom” that will help all who knew him to cope with his death. Last year, one of Murray's newspaper columns was about Grief. He quoted Queen Elizabeth who said, “Grief is the price we pay for love.” In Murray's words, he reminds us “To grieve the loss of someone means that you loved that person. Yes, that person is gone, but you did have the wonderful experience of loving and respecting him.”
He wrote, “If people could concentrate on how fortunate they were to have such a person in their life, it could help lessen the amount of grief they undergo. Recalling happy memories of the deceased to the family is not only appropriate but usually brings them much joy.”
Dr. Feingold is sorely missed by all of us. And while we can not perform his magic tricks, we will strive to honor his life's work and to carry on the “Murray magic” through the Genesis foundation for children and the Feingold Center for years to come.
I will end with another Hippocrates quotation that Murray lived by: “Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always.”
Brad Schaefer (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)
I was first introduced to Murray in 1992 by Jaimie Frias as they were testing their newly purchased equipment for tele-diagnostic conferencing. While I had known of Murray by reputation for a long time this was my first chance to “meet” him. This, of itself was such a hoot as I could see his great humor as he and Jaimie played with the system. I can remember them showing pictures of an ear of corn the size of a tractor and playing with the editing functions much like a sports commentator would do. Clearly all of the things I had been told about his wit and humor were spot on.
As the teleconferencing network developed, my admiration for Murray grew. I learned so much from his years of experience and especially the stuff that is not in textbooks. It was always fun to challenge him on a statement. He loved to be put to the test and was always asking for someone to keep track of our “bets” and find out ultimately who was right.
In my opinion, the greatest attribute I saw in Murray was his generosity. He loved to treat our group to dessert whenever we could convene at the ACMG meetings. For me personally, I will never forget one thing he did for me. I like to collect books. I like the history of genetics and looking at how our field has evolved. On one of our tele-conferencing sessions I mentioned to the group that I was looking for first edition copies of Smith's Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformations and Syndromes of the Head and Neck by Gorlin and Pindborg. Two weeks later I got a package in the mail. Murray had sent me his own copies of both of those books—and the Smith's book was a signed copy. In the book, David Smith had scribed “To a very valued colleague—many thanks for your help in this book.”
Ann Haskins Olney (University of Nebraska Medical Center)
I first met Murray when he visited Nebraska during my fellowship in clinical genetics. He was in town to see his friend and Chair of Pediatrics, Dr. Jaime Frias, and a group of us had dinner at a steakhouse where the décor featured walls of bookshelves lined with old books. On the bookshelf beside us was a charming 1939 text, You and Heredity, by Scheinfeld. I will never forget how Drs. Feingold and Frias wheedled the waiter until they finally convinced him to give the book to the genetics fellow, to help further her education. It is been a wonderful source of historical information for teaching purposes, and every time I saw Murray I reminded him of how much the book meant to me.
Murray established a monthly teleconference for discussion of unknown cases, and our group has been one of the participating sites since its inception 30 years ago. Murray organized gatherings for dinner or dessert at the ACMG meetings every year, so I have had the huge benefit of getting acquainted with geneticists in Boston and many other locations. Through the years Murray became a fast friend and mentor, a kindred spirit in the world of dysmorphologists. He offered wisdom and guidance along the way, was an advocate and advisor for me professionally, and provided as much training as my fellowship did, in many ways. His dedication to his patients was exemplary. What a gentleman. I will miss him very much.
Hilton and Linda Abbott (Parents of Dr. Mary Alice Abbott, a Clinical Geneticist) December, 2015
In 1973, we brought our newborn son Mark to Tufts New England Medical Center where he was seen by Dr. Feingold. Mark had a genetic bone disorder that produced a significant bowing of his legs. We were, of course, very concerned about the impact on Mark's future development and sought Dr. Feingold's advice. After an examination he spoke in a soft voice, “Well, they could perform an operation to straighten Mark's legs. It would be an interesting operation, but it would require months in a body cast. However, I think the problem will resolve itself naturally over time. Let's not operate but simply watch and wait.” We continued monthly visits and over time Mark's legs straightened. As an adult Mark has no residual evidence of this childhood problem (and runs for exercise). The advice not to intervene was perhaps the best medical advice we ever got. The experience at Tufts Medical Center with Dr. Feingold had a profound effect on Mark, his parents, and his older sister who accompanied us. She is now the pediatric geneticist at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Edward J. Hart, MD
Murray Feingold was an inspiring physician. He was an exemplar of all that we in this profession strive to be: intelligent, industrious in his pursuit of knowledge, and productive academically. Above all, however, he was a truly compassionate physician; he cared about the children whom he served, and equally, about their families. He pioneered in developing multidisciplinary clinics (such as the myelodysplasia clinic, the craniofacial abnormalities clinic), so that a family would not need to go from one specialist to another, in different settings and at different times, disrupting their own work lives, and needing to make alternative arrangements for their other children's schedules. In these clinics, not only was there more efficiency, but more importantly, a parent could meet with all the subspecialists, and the physicians could communicate about the child's medical and surgical needs, all done in face to face encounters, to everyone's advantage. He tirelessly made trips to outreach clinics in other parts of this state and in neighboring states, to further provide efficient care without needless disruption of a family's day to day life. His academic accomplishments in genetics need not be listed here by me, especially to this audience of medical geneticists, who are better equipped to understand the trailblazing work he accomplished in these academic pursuits. Above all, Murray was compassionate and caring—a true humanistic physician.
My acquaintance with Murray began in 1966, when I was the pediatrician at the US Public Health Service Hospital in Brighton, MA and he and his chief at Tufts Floating Hospital for Children, Dr. Sidney Gellis, were my consultants. I was for most of my 2 year service there, the only pediatrician for both an outpatient and an inpatient service, and being fresh out of residency at CHOP, I needed and greatly appreciated their willingness to come to my hospital and consult on my patients. That was the beginning of a professional relationship that, on and off, lasted until his passing, so recently.
I returned to New York in 1968, trained in Child Neurology at Columbia and returned to Boston in 1974, to the Kennedy Memorial Hospital, where our paths crossed again. When Murray left Kennedy (now Franciscan Children's Hospital) to establish his center in Waltham and I left to go to MGH, I continued to consult on his patients, visiting Waltham once a month.
Not the least of our commonalities was a shared interest in performing magic tricks for the kids we would treat. Nothing in my experience establishes a close trusting relationship with a youngster than showing a slight of hand coin, rope, or card trick! I would come to Waltham a bit early and we would mystify each other with our latest acquisition. Our practice would be to buy two of each new trick, with no hard feelings if either of us rejected the trick!
