The NAVBO Meritorious Awards Committee has named Dr

Only six days prior to his untimely passing, I telephoned Dr. Thomas Maciag with news of NAVBO’s naming him as the recipient of the 2005 Earl P. Benditt Research Career Award. He was humbly thrilled with this news, and we spoke for some time about the latest research developments in his lab (and some playful banter about Bob Dylan’s versus John Lennon’s contribution to Western culture). Dr. Maciag was selected as this year’s Benditt Award recipient for his seminal work relating to endothelial cell growth factors and angiogenesis.

Dr. Maciag received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. Following some post-doctoral training at U Penn and biotech work at Collaborative Research, Dr. Maciag went to Harvard where, in 1979, he quickly established himself as a major force in the nascent field of growth factor biology. He was essentially the first to purify endothelial cell growth factor, aka FGF1 (1), which he and others subsequently cloned (2). During this explosive time in growth factor biology, Dr. Maciag paved the way for the continuous culture of such cells as keratinocytes (3), smooth muscle cells (4), and endothelial cells (5,6). In another landmark study, Dr, Maciag showed how heparin binds FGF1 (7), which we all appreciate now to be essential for FGF ligand-receptor interaction and activity. Then in 1985, Dr. Maciag’s team showed that FGF1-heparin was potently chemotactic for endothelial cells (8). The latter finding was an important advance for the newly emerging field of angiogenesis, as it rapidly accelerated interest in this critical biologic process. Subsequent work from Dr. Maciag and his colleagues showed site-directed neovessel formation in vivo (9) and the involvement of FGF1 in this process (10). Dr. Maciag’s early work in angiogenesis inspired an entire generation of scientists who continue to make important contributions in this field of science.

Dr. Maciag was an accomplished artist. His scientific interests reflected his creativity in art. So it was no surprise when Dr. Maciag created the Center for Molecular Medicine at Maine Medical Research Institute to attract a number of talented scientists, many of whom are NAVBO members. The work initiated by Dr. Maciag and his team span the spectrum of developmental vascular biology to the biochemistry of protein processing to the role of copper metabolism in vascular pathology. Thus, beyond the greater than 150 publications, 12 patents, and over 13,000 citations, Dr. Maciag was still advancing new frontiers in biology. His legacy is rich and will endure for generations.

Dr. Robert Friesel, a longtime collaborator of Dr. Maciag, will deliver the Benditt Award Lecture entitled, “Remembering Tom Maciag: A Life in Science and Art“ on Friday, June 17, 2005 at the Vascular Biology and Medicine Meeting in Chicago.

1. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:5674-5678, 1979
2. Science 233:541-645, 1986
3. Science 211:1452-1454, 1981
4. Science 212:818-820, 1981
5. Blood 58:788-796, 1981
6. J Cell Biology 91:420-426, 1981
7. Science 225:932-935, 1984
8. J Cell Biology 101:2330-2334, 1985
9. Science 241:1349-1352, 1988
10. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 86:7928-7932, 1989
(From the NAVBO Newsletter - February 2005; written by Joseph Miano)