Obituaries of Dr. Evald Melo and Dr. John J. Andujar

Dr. Evald Melo: It is our regret to inform you that Dr. Evaldo Melo passed away on September 5, 2003 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As you know well, he was a spouse of Dr. Marilene Melo, President Elect of WASPaLM, and the Congress President of 20th World Congress of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine held in 1999 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Please refer to the following information that we received from Dr. Erlo R. Roth:

SPBC/ML Loses Dr. Evaldo Melo
Translated from www.sbpc.org.br on Sept. 6, 2003

Dr. Evaldo Melo, age 69, passed away on Friday evening, September 5. He was president from 1975 to 1977 and 1993 and 1995. Always a very active member in his terms of office as president and member of the board of directors, Dr. Evaldo gave the Society and Clinical Pathology a great momentum.

One of the greatest accomplishments during his first term as president was the creation and organization of the Program of Excellence for Medical Laboratories (a proficiency testing and quality control program, ed.), currently called Proficiency in Laboratory Assays. This program was launched at the XXI Brazilian Congress of Clinical Pathology, in October of 1977, in Guaruj· State of S. Paulo. It was so well received that it garnered 90 participating clinical pathologists and laboratories on that occasion.

During this term of office, Dr. Evaldo Melo played a major role in the dissemination of knowledge. In March of 1975, the Revista Brasileira de Patologia Cl?ica (Brazilian Journal of Clinical Pathology), edited by SBPC/ML, published a series of articles on "Quality Control and Accreditation for Clinical Laboratories", written in collaboration with Drs. Evaldo Melo, Marilene Melo and Erlo Roth. This series, the first on this topic in Brazil, described the practices of the College of American Pathologists and other sources, adapting them to the situation in Brazilian laboratories.

The following year the Society published its first manual entitled "Fundamentals of In-vitro Radioisotopic Assays", with Dr. Evaldo as the principal author. This publication was approved by the Board to assist clinical pathologists seeking licensure from the National Commission of Nuclear Energy for the performance of radioimmunoassay.

Dr. Melo's efforts were also significant as the SBPC/M representative at the international level. Still in 1976 Dr. Melo was elected as the first president of ALAPAC (the Latin American Clinical Pathology Association), founded during the II Latin American Congress of Clinical Pathology, held in September of that year in Lima, Peru.

During Dr. Melo's first term as president the SBPC/ML purchased its first headquarters in Rio de Janeiro - a house in the section of Rio Comprido. In 1995, again as president, Dr. Melo played a decisive role in moving the offices of the Society to its present location in the section of Flamengo.

Among other activities, in 1999 Dr. Evaldo Melo presided over the XXXIII Brazilian Congress of Clinical Pathology/Laboratory Medicine combined with the XX World Congress of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the IV Congress of Clinical Pathology of Mercosul, held in S. Paulo.

At the opening ceremony of the XXXVI Congress of SBPC/ML last year, in S. Paulo, Dr. Evaldo was awarded special recognition for outstanding service to the Society and to Laboratory Medicine.

Dr. John J. Andujar: It is our regret to inform you that Dr. John J. Andujar passed away at the age of 91 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. As you know well, he was the President of WASPaLM for 1970-1972, and the President of World Pathology Foundation for 1972-1976. Please refer to the following information that we received from Dr.Chris Vaughn:

Dear Colleagues,

Enclosed please find the death notice for a former president of WASP. Though I only met him once, it is clear he had great impact on our profession, especially internationally.

Founder of Carter Blood Center Dies
By Chris Vaughn
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Dr. John J. Andujar, one of the nation's most distinguished pathologists and a pioneer in professionalizing laboratory work in Texas, has died in Fort Worth. He was 91.

Dr. Andujar's sphere of influence ran from the hospitals and health departments of Tarrant County to one of the nation's most prestigious medical schools to national medical societies.

Among his breakthroughs was the development in the 1950s of a finger-prick blood test for syphilis.

"He's considered a giant in pathology," said Dr. Robert McKenna, a professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. "Maybe some of the younger generation of pathologists wouldn't know him, but anybody middle-age or older would immediately know his name, anywhere in this country."

A memorial service for Dr. Andujar will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth.

He will be buried at a later date in the Texas State Cemetery next to his late wife, former state Sen. Betty Andujar, who in 1973 became the first woman Tarrant County voters sent to the Senate.

Dr. Andujar died of heart failure Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he had moved o a nursing home.

Born Jan. 26, 1912, in Chicago, Dr. Andujar received his medical degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. He received his specialty training in pathology at Cornell University Medical College and Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York.

He arrived in Fort Worth in the late 1930s at the urging of Dr. Charles Harris, who had just a few years before founded Harris Methodist hospital. After a few years, he started Fort Worth Medical Laboratories, a business he operated until 1985.

Throughout his career, Dr. Andujar was heavily involved in community work -- working for the Tarrant County and Fort Worth health departments, Carswell Air Force Base and dozens of rural hospitals. He was the "medical examiner" when there was no medical examiner's office.

He helped found the Carter Blood Center, which remained one of his proudest achievements, said his daughter, Linda Lee Andujar. "In those days, people were expected to be community-oriented, to help build a city," his daughter said. "My parents took an interest in that. He was an extraordinarily generous physician."

In 1988, Dr. Andujar -- known to many people as "Andy" -- and his then-wife Betty established a distinguished chair of pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

He served as president of nearly all the major professional organizations, including the Texas Society of Pathologists, the World Association of Societies of Pathology and the American Board of Pathologists.

McKenna said Dr. Andujar's charisma and passion for improving pathology made him well known in medicine, where researchers tend to become household names, not practicing physicians.

"He had good ideas," McKenna said. "He knew where things should go in the profession."

He is survived by his wife, Mary Parker Andujar; daughters, B.J. Andujar and Linda Lee Andujar; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be sent to the Sen. Betty and Dr. Andy Andujar Distinguished Chairmanship of Pathology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, P.O. Box 910888, Dallas, TX 75391-0888.

Chris Vaughn, (817) 390-7547
cvaughn@star-telegram.com

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