In memorium: Matthew N. Levy, MD: December 2, 1922–March 19, 2012
2012; American Physical Society; Volume: 303; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1152/ajpheart.00425.2012
ISSN1522-1539
Autores Tópico(s)Health and Medical Research Impacts
ResumoEditorialIn memorium: Matthew N. Levy, MD: December 2, 1922–March 19, 2012Mark E. DunlapMark E. DunlapHeart and Vascular Center, MetroHealth Campus of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OhioPublished Online:15 Aug 2012https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00425.2012This is the final version - click for previous versionMoreSectionsPDF (157 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInWeChat matthew levy was a pioneer in cardiovascular research and the teaching of physiology and served as the inaugural editor of this journal (1977–1980). Matt was born December 2, 1922, and grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. At an early age he showed a love for sports of all kinds, which was to prove central to his family life as well as pivotal in some of his close professional relationships. One of three boys, the family vacationed regularly in Miami, FL. His father so loved Miami that he moved the family there in 1938 just two weeks before Matt's high school graduation. However, job prospects there for his father were not favorable, so that summer they moved again, this time to Cleveland, OH, where his father followed a business opportunity to open a shoe store. Having graduated from high school and not sure what he wanted to do, Matt began working at his father's shoe store. Despite aptitudes in multiple areas, working in a shoe store was not among them, and his father fired him in relatively short order. The family had moved into the Commodore Hotel, a residential hotel on Cleveland's near east side, so his mother suggested to him that he apply to the school across the street. When he went to register at the then Western Reserve University (WRU), he saw a line of new students and asked the young man in front of him what the line was for. When the answer came back “premed,” Matt thought that sounded good, so he signed up.Matt was only 16 when he started his premedical education studies at WRU. The youngest in his class, some of his classmates thought that they might take advantage of him, so they challenged him to tennis. Having been an athlete from a young age, Matt handily trounced his older classmates. They soon discovered that it was the same with handball, most other sports, and carried over into academic coursework. While he loved school from the start, he did not take to all courses equally, excelling in science but getting a “C” in English, a particular irony given that he became a highly skilled and prolific scientific writer.Matt was only 19 years old when he was accepted to WRU Medical School in 1942, so he did not earn his undergraduate degree (Chemistry) until he was in his first year of Medical School, graduating summa cum laude and elected to Phi Beta Kappa membership. My own father, Robert Dunlap, was a classmate of Matt's in medical school and remembers him as being one of the brightest members of their class.Dr. Carl Wiggers served as Chairman of Physiology from 1918 to 1953, and Matt began working in his laboratory during medical school. He thoroughly enjoyed research from the start, and this began a lifetime love for scientific investigation. Following graduation in 1945, Wiggers encouraged Matt to take a surgical internship at University Hospital, not to become a surgeon but to learn the techniques that would serve him well in his investigations. Since the war had broken out during the time he was in Medical School and the Army had taken over WRU Medical School, most students had an obligation to serve in the Armed Forces following school. He had met Ruth Joseph during medical school, and they were married and moved promptly to Chillicothe, OH, where he served two years along with several of his classmates at the Veterans' Administration Hospital, there performing surgical procedures. Their first son Don was born during that time. Following the two-year stint in Chillicothe, they moved back to Cleveland in 1948 where Matt was thrilled to resume his research investigations in Dr. Wiggers' laboratory as an instructor of Medicine at WRU for about $2,000/year. Their second son Garry was born in Cleveland in 1950.Dr. Wiggers was a highly disciplined mentor, but he recognized Matt's penchant and talents for research and treated him well. In 1948 Robert Berne had also come to work in Dr. Wiggers' laboratory. The day Matt met Bob Berne he came home and proclaimed to Ruth, “In my life I've never met such a wonderful man, it's going to be so much fun!” Matt and Bob formed the relationship that was to last the rest of their lives, in the laboratory, on the tennis and squash courts, and socializing together with their wives on a regular basis. For their socializing, one of their favorite haunts included a downtown Cleveland restaurant that served lobster dinners for about a dollar. Matt wrote more details about their lives and work together in a Berne obituary (3).Carl Wiggers retired as Chairman of the Department of Physiology in 1953. His son Hal Wiggers was a Professor at Albany Medical Collage, and Matt decided to pursue his research career by working in the younger Wiggers' laboratory in Albany. He became Associate Professor of Medicine while in Albany, and Matt and Ruth's youngest son James was born there. The Levys returned to Cleveland in 1957, taking up residence in the house in University Heights where he was to live for the remainder of his life. Upon his return to Cleveland, he became Director of the Research Division at St. Vincent Charity Hospital, a position he held for 10 years.The Physiology curriculum for WRU medical students had been based for many years on Wiggers' textbook, which proved to be quite challenging for many students. In the early 1960s when the curriculum was being revised, Matt and Bob offered to write the syllabus for the course. The students took immediately to this new syllabus, and from that syllabus came their first book, published as a monograph for the Mosby Corporation. Berne and Levy's Cardiovascular Physiology, dedicated to Carl Wiggers, “who introduced us to cardiovascular physiology and to each other,” was published in nine editions between 1967 and 2001 and served as one of the few textbooks dedicated to cardiovascular physiology. Other Berne and Levy textbook collaborations included Physiology, as well as Principles of Physiology, still being published, now having been taken over by Bruce Koeppen and Bruce Stanton. All told, Berne and Levy textbooks have been published for over 40 years and into eight different languages and have educated thousands of medical and physiology students worldwide.Despite a busy professional career with all of his accomplishments, Matt always placed great importance on family life. He taught his sons tennis and was active in their sports activities. Photography became an important hobby both for him and for teaching his sons. He built a darkroom in their basement with capabilities for developing and printing both black and white as well as color photographs. Matt's photographs, many from their international travels, still adorn the walls of their home.In 1967 Matt was asked to become Chief of Investigational Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland (also a WRU institution) and served in that position until Mount Sinai Hospital closed its doors in 1996. After that time he pursued collaborative research at MetroHealth Medical Center and eased into retirement, having become Professor Emeritus in 1993.During his retirement he continued to serve as editor of Berne and Levy textbooks for several years. He also enjoyed more time with his family, especially his grandchildren, and on the tennis court, which he played until the age of 82. In 2000 his son Garry developed a terminal illness, requiring hospice care toward the end. Matt was affected deeply by Garry's illness and eventual death the following year and was at his side almost daily.During the last few years of his life, Matt's memory faded progressively. But even during the final few months when he could barely remember the names of his family members, his grace, humor, and concern for other people's well-being continued to illuminate those around him (see Fig. 1).Fig. 1.Matthew N. Levy, MD.Download figureDownload PowerPointScientific achievements.Matt has been referred to as “the Father of Neurocardiology.” Indeed, early in his career he began investigating mechanisms of neural control of the circulation in both normal and pathological states. Early experiments with Bob Berne included making a model of acute circulatory failure by graded pulmonary artery constriction (5). In 1952 they together examined the effects of catecholamines on the normal and denervated kidney (1). Shortly thereafter he began to examine the effects of cardiovascular reflexes on cardiac output and peripheral resistance (6) and published a series of articles on mechanisms important in maintaining flow to various circulations. He also investigated the ischemic myocardium and the effect of collateral circulation on regional myocardial blood flow.In the early 1960s controversy arose regarding whether or not the vagus nerve exerted independent effects on ventricular myocardium. In 1964 he published a study in Science on the negative inotropic effects of the vagus (2), a finding about which he was particularly pleased. Following that time he began in earnest his investigations on a host of mechanisms whereby the vagus was involved in control of heart rate, contractility, electrical conduction, and the circulation. He also became interested in chemoreceptor influences on cardiac performance and undertook a series of experiments relating to septic shock and in the effects of endotoxin on the heart and the circulation.While previous investigators had noted unique characteristics of interactions between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, in 1971 Matt published a single-author article in Circulation Research describing autonomic interactions in the heart (4). This article described in detail the mechanisms underlying “accentuated antagonism” whereby vagal effects became heightened in the setting of increased sympathetic tone, invoking both pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms for this effect. Another area of investigation about which he took pride involved determining mechanisms underlying the Wenckebach phenomena. He demonstrated that the arrhythmia could be generated by a negative feedback control loop involving baroreceptors and the rapid sinoatrial node response to a burst of vagal activity (8). He also investigated paradoxical increases in heart rate that could be elicited with phase-dependent vagal stimulation in settings of low vagal tone (7). In the late 1980s and early 1990s when the role of neuropeptides in autonomic control was just emerging, Matt published a series of articles on the importance of neuropeptide Y and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide as modulators of vagal and sympathetic effects on the heart. Still other areas that his investigations covered included hemodynamics, hormonal regulation of the cardiovascular system, the autonomic nervous system, cardiac arrhythmias, and reflex control of the heart. Matt authored over 220 original publications, 92 of which were in APS journals, along with dozens of reviews and book chapters.The atmosphere in the Levy laboratory was both highly productive as well as enjoyable, and practical jokes and laughs abounded. Matt guided investigators in his laboratory by gentle encouragement and suggestion rather than coercion and by example rather than intimidation. But about scientific writing he was passionate and precise, and manuscript drafts that were handed to him were returned with copious amounts of red lines and notes in the margins.While his workers and collaborators were numerous, some stand out that worked with him for decades. While in Albany Matt hired Harry Zieske, who had trained as a radioman in the merchant marine. The fact that Zieske had no formal undergraduate or postgraduate education mattered little to Matt, since he realized quickly that he could devise almost any device or apparatus necessary to conduct an experiment or for a teaching demonstration. Zieske, who moved with him from Albany to Cleveland, worked in Matt's laboratory for close to 40 years and became a coauthor on many publications. Another of his longtime collaborators was Paul Martin, who came to work in Matt's laboratory as a PhD student and remained a close collaborator for 30 years.Scores of graduate students and postdocs came to work in the laboratory, and Matt took a personal interest in each and every one of them. The Levys held social events at their house for people in the laboratory on a regular basis. Students came to work in the laboratory from many countries worldwide, especially from China and Japan. Contacts and former trainees often invited him for international lectures and tours, which the Levys parlayed on many occasions into family vacations. These trips, and the manner in which the whole Levy family was welcomed warmly, helped the Levy children recognize that their father was so well known and respected worldwide.Recognition and awards.Matt's awards and distinctions were many. While in Albany he received the Outstanding Young Scientist Award and the Lederle Medical Faculty Award. He was the recipient of the Julius E. Goodman Award from the Mt. Sinai Medical Center and the Maurice Salzman Award from Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation and was inducted into the Cleveland Medical Hall of Fame. Other notable awards included the Carl J. Wiggers Award from the Cardiovascular Section of the American Physiological Society, the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Distinguished Alumnus Award, and a prestigious merit award from the National Institute of Health.He served as Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology and was Associate Editor of Circulation Research, the journal for which his mentor Carl Wiggers had served as Founding Editor. He also was an editorial board member of the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, the Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology, and Section Editor for the Journal of Applied Physiology and served as President of the American Heart Association (AHA) Northeast Ohio Affiliate. He was a member of the AHA's Scientific Publishing Committee and of the Councils on Basic Science and Circulation.DISCLOSURESNo conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the author.AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONSM.E.D. drafted, edited and revised, and approved final version of manuscript.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI would like to thank the following individuals for providing invaluable information for this article: Ruth Levy, James Levy, Paul Martin, and Tianen Yang.REFERENCES1. Berne RM , Hoffman WK , Kagan A , Levy MN . Response of the normal and denervated kidney to L'epinephrine and L'nor-epinephrine. Am J Physiol 171: 564– 571, 1952.Link | ISI | Google Scholar2. Degeest H , Levy MN , Zieske H . Negative inotropic effect of the vagus nerves upon the canine ventricle. Science 144: 1223– 1225, 1964.Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar3. Levy MN . Robert M. Berne. Biogr Mem Natl Acad Sci 84: 36– 51, 2004.PubMed | Google Scholar4. Levy MN . Sympathetic-parasympathetic interactions in the heart. Circ Res 29: 437– 445, 1971.Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar5. Levy MN , Berne RM . Production of acute experimental circulatory failure by graded pulmonary artery constriction. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 72: 147– 153, 1949.Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar6. Levy MN , Brind SH , Brandlin FR . The acute effects of elimination of the moderator reflexes upon cardiac output and total peripheral resistance in the anesthetized dog. Circ Res 3: 415– 421, 1955.Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar7. Levy MN , Martin PJ , Lano T , Zieske H . Paradoxical effect of vagus nerve stimulation on heart rate in dogs. Circ Res 25: 303– 314, 1969.Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar8. Levy MN , Martin PJ , Zieske H , Adler D . Role of positive feedback in the atrioventricular nodal Wenckebach phenomenon. Circ Res 34: 697– 710, 1974.Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google ScholarAUTHOR NOTESAddress for reprint requests and other correspondence: M. E. Dunlap, HF Section, Heart and Vascular Ctr. H350, MetroHealth Medical Ctr., 2500 MetroHealth Dr., Cleveland, OH, 44109 (e-mail: mdunlap@metrohealth.org). Download PDF Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation More from this issue > Volume 303Issue 4August 2012Pages H411-H413 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2012 the American Physiological Societyhttps://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00425.2012PubMed22752630History Published online 15 August 2012 Published in print 15 August 2012 Metrics
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