Dr. E. Donnall Thomas was a pioneering physician and medical researcher who revolutionized the treatment of blood cancers and disorders through the development of bone marrow transplantation. Born on March 15, 1920, in Mart, Texas, he earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1946 and completed his residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He established his groundbreaking research program at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where he served as director of the clinical research division. Dr. Thomas's career spanned over four decades of dedicated medical research and clinical practice before his retirement in 1990, though he remained active in scientific advocacy until his death. He passed away on October 20, 2012, in Seattle, Washington, leaving behind a legacy that has saved countless lives worldwide.
Dr. Thomas performed the first successful bone marrow transplant between identical twins in 1956, demonstrating that transplanted marrow could regenerate healthy blood cells in a recipient. He subsequently developed sophisticated tissue matching techniques and methods to minimize graft-versus-host disease, enabling the first successful bone marrow transplant from a non-identical relative to a leukemia patient in 1968. His meticulous research transformed acute lymphocytic leukemia from a virtually fatal diagnosis to a treatable condition, with survival rates reaching approximately 85 percent for patients with good human leukocyte antigen HLA matches. The development of hematopoietic cell transplantation established a new paradigm in cancer treatment that extended beyond leukemia to include aplastic anemia and other genetic blood disorders. His work created an entirely new medical specialty that has since evolved into a standard therapeutic approach for numerous previously untreatable conditions.
In recognition of his transformative contributions, Dr. Thomas shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph E. Murray in 1990, cementing his place among the most influential medical researchers of the twentieth century. He also received the U.S. National Medal of Science in 1990 and numerous other prestigious awards including the American Cancer Society Award for Distinguished Service in Basic Research. Dr. Thomas co-founded the pioneering journal Stem Cells in 1981 and served on its editorial board for thirty years, helping to establish stem cell research as a legitimate scientific discipline. Even after retirement, he remained a vocal advocate for stem cell research, supporting efforts to expand federally funded human embryonic stem cell research. The thousands of successful bone marrow transplants performed worldwide stand as enduring testament to his groundbreaking work, which continues to inspire new generations of medical researchers pursuing cellular therapies for previously incurable diseases.
