Leading nerve and muscle disease neurologist Dr. Lewis Rowland dies at 91

Lewis Rowland, MD, a neurologist and former chairman of neurology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, died March 16 at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, according to The New York Times.

Here are seven things to know about Dr. Rowland.

1. His son told The New York Times Dr. Rowland died of a stroke March 16.

2. Dr. Rowland's research focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. He and his team discovered the disease was linked to lymphoma in a subgroup of ALS patients, according to the report.

3. He founded and became co-director of the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Center at New York City-based Columbia University Medical Center. He also founded and became co-director of the H. Houston Merritt Clinical Research Center for Muscular Dystrophy and Related Diseases at CUMC.

4. He was born Lewis Phillip Rosenthal in August 1925 in Brooklyn, N.Y. His father later changed the family's surname to Rowland to help his son get accepted into an Ivy League school, all of which held quotas for Jewish students at the time, according to the report.

5. Dr. Rowland attended New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University as an undergraduate student and later received his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine.

6. Dr. Rowland worked at the National Institutes of Health during the 1950s, but was later fired after refusing to be interrogated in connection with his alleged involvement in a pro-Communist organization, according to the report.

7. He served as chairman of neurology at Columbia from 1973 until his retirement in 1998. During his tenure at Columbia, he also served as president of the American Neurological Association and the AmericanAcademy of Neurology.

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Webinars