Page 4 - CBAC Newsletter 2015

Harry A. Fozzard, M.D. passed away on December 9, 2014. Dr. Fozzard (Harry) had close
ties to Washington University in St. Louis, where he attended medical school and had his
first research experience under the guidance of Earl Sutherland, a future Nobel Laureate
who discovered adenylyl cyclase and cAMP as a second messenger system. Dr. Fozzard
was later appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine and Physiology at Washington Universi-
ty, and established the first coronary care unit at Barnes Hospital. Harry acquired expertise
in cardiac electrophysiology research at the University of Bern, Switzerland, in the labora-
tory of Silvio Weidmann, who was first to record a cardiac action potential. In Bern, Harry
measured the membrane capacitance of cardiac Purkinje fibers in two ways- from cable analy-
sis and from the foot of a propagating action potential, and suggested an anatomical basis for
the existence of two components of the membrane capacitance (many years later, Harry and
I had several discussions centered on the “liminal length” concept, which he demonstrated
to be several times smaller in the Purkinje fiber than in the squid axon). Back in the US, Dr.
Fozzard joined the faculty at the University of Chicago, where he spent the rest of his career as
an outstanding scientist and clinician. He was appointed clinical division Chief of Cardiology
and basic science Chair of the Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences. Dr.
Fozzard and his laboratory have made seminal contributions to cellular cardiac electrophysi-
ology. They investigated properties and effects of variations in intracellular concentrations of
ion species using ion sensitive microelectrodes, characterized the transmembrane Na and
Ca currents, and in later years, made important contributions to our understanding of the
molecular structure basis of Na channel function. Harry was also an esteemed teacher and
mentor to many trainees, who went on to become prominent members of our community. In
his role as an educator and communicator of science, he served as editor in chief of Circula-
tion Research from 1986 to 1991.