Dr. Daniel B. Druckmann, one of the world’s foremost authorities on neuromuscular disease and founder of the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins Medical School, helped internationally renowned pianist Leon Fleischer regain use of his right hand. , on the concert stage, died of a heart attack and infection on October 24 at the hospital where he had worked for over 50 years.
Stevenson’s longtime resident was 90 years old.
“Dr. Druckmann was a leading expert in myasthenia gravis and other neuromuscular disorders,” a profile from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine announced his death.
“His 40-year discovery of myasthenia gravis, which he determined to be an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks nerve receptors in muscles, has transformed the disease from a highly fatal disease to a highly treatable disease. His work on botulinum toxin, which he began in the 1970s, also led to the development of Botox as a clinical treatment for neuromuscular disease.”
“Dan was such a fascinating person,” said Dr. Justin C. MacArthur, professor of neurology and director of the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University.
“He was a Physician Scientist who provided the best clinical care, but at the same time he was doing cutting-edge research into therapeutics. have trained.”
Dr. McArthur added: He was the old taciturn doctor who listened, didn’t pay attention to the clock, and sat there typing on the computer. “
Dr. Daniel Bruce Druckmann was the son of Julian Druckmann, the high school’s head of English, and Emily Detschmann Druckmann, who taught Hebrew. His paternal grandfather, Bernard Druckmann, was the founding dean of the Jewish Theology Seminary of America in New York City.
Dr. Druckmann was born as an identical twin in Brooklyn, New York. His brother, David Alexander Druckmann, became a pioneering Alzheimer’s disease researcher and founder of the Department of Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Siblings over 6 feet tall who grew up in the Manhattan Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, Graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Manhattan Beach. They graduated from Columbia University in 1952 and from what was then New York University School of Medicine (now New York Medical College) in 1956.
They completed an internship at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, completed a residency in neurology and neuropathology at the Harvard Neurology Unit at Boston City Hospital, and were researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
“They were very close, created a language that only they could understand, and talked about neurological patients several times a day,” recalled Dr. McArthur. “They were soulmates and brothers.”
Dr. Drachman told The Boston Globe when his brother passed away in 2016.
“Throughout our lives, who would you call if you had a difficult case to discuss? The other, of course. We talked every day, twice a day.”
From 1960 to 1963, Dr. Drachman worked at the NIH and joined the Tufts University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Neurology.
In 1969, he joined Hopkins University’s newly formed department as an assistant professor of neurology and was the founding director of the department’s neuromuscular program. He was promoted to professor in his 1974 and appointed professor of neuroscience six years later.
Dr. Drachman’s research focused on the origins of neuromuscular disorders and the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and autoimmune neuromuscular disorders.
In 1987, his research made national headlines when he revealed that the use of prednisone could delay the need for a wheelchair in patients suffering from muscular dystrophy by two years. . He directed a 2012 study on gene-based therapies to stop the rodent equivalent of myasthenia gravis by focusing on the disease’s destructive immune response.
To call attention to the need for ALS research, Dr. Drachman and his wife Jephta Piatigorsky (married in 1960) embarked on a three-month transcontinental bicycle trip in 1990, traveling 4,605 miles from their Stevenson home. Seattle far away.
Dr. Druckmann helped Baltimore concert pianist Leon Fleischer regain use of his right hand. His contribution was made part of his 2006 short documentary “Two Hands: The Leon Fleisher Story” directed by Nathaniel Kahn.
The pianist discovered that “the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand were useless” while preparing for his 1964 concert tour, The Sun reported in its 2007 film review. .
(Photo International/Getty Images)
Forced to learn left-hand repertoire began a decades-long struggle for Mr. Fleischer, but in 1990 Dr. Drachman diagnosed the pianist’s condition as focal dystonia. The target dose of Botox was also unprecedented.
“For focal dystonias like Leon’s disease,” Dr. Drachman explained in a 2007 Sun article. “
He added: Botox can also be used to avoid dystonia. “
In 2004, Mr. Fleischer was able to return to the concert stage and two-handed repertoire.
Dr. Druckmann continued to see patients and lecture at Hopkins University until he suffered a heart attack in September, despite closing his lab several years earlier.
Dr. Drachman was an accomplished clarinetist in his private life and enjoyed playing chamber music with his father-in-law Gregor Piatigorsky, a famous Russian cellist who owned two Stradivarius cellos.
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“Chamber music was very important to him,” said Seattle’s son, Jonathan G. Druckmann. “He enjoyed playing chamber music at the New Year’s Eve party.”
[ Richard J. Belz, a former Sun reporter who covered Howard County high school sports, dies ]
He is also a professional fly fisherman who shares his passion for fishing with his brother, traveling together to Wyoming, Alaska and Canada to pursue the sport.
He was also an avid reader, with “a wide range of interests ranging from the circus to many other things,” his son said.
Dr. Druckmann was a member of the Beth L. Congregation.
His wife, an accomplished sculptor and former chairman of the Schreiber Hall concert series, passed away in 2019.
A service was held on October 27th at Sol Levinson & Bros. in Pikesville.
In addition to his son, he is survived by two other sons, Evan B. Druckmann of Lutherville and Eric E. Druckmann of Venice, California. and five grandchildren.
