Born London, September 9, 1948. Died New York, December 1, 2008, aged 60.
January 29, 2009 14:29A pioneer in cell biology, Professor Dennis Shields directly contributed to significant medical advances in common diseases and conditions.
With his younger sister, Elaine, who survives him, he grew up in a religious household. His father, Alfred, who died in 2006, was the long-serving secretary to Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs.
After Hasmonean School and a term at Gateshead yeshivah in 1968, Dennis studied biology at York University. He obtained his doctorate in biochemistry from the National Institute for Medical Research in 1974, married Toni Heilpern in London the next year, and then moved to New York, where his work could receive better funding.
From the Rockefeller University, he joined Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978, retiring as professor 30 years later.
His talent for collaborative research was soon recognised. He headed or chaired several major departments and was valued by students and colleagues as a teacher, mentor and thinker.
His invaluable contribution to the treatment of diabetes, auto-immune disease and Alzheimer’s, through his hands-on research leadership in the Shields laboratory, was widely recognised by the US scientific community.
He received numerous awards and citations from the American National Institute of Health and diabetes associations. He was active in international medical symposia, often giving the keynote address.
The couple took dual citizenship in the late 1990s, when they had spent as long in America as in England, which they frequently visited.
A highly respected member of the Hebrew Institute of White Plains, New Jersey, Dennis also enjoyed the arts and athletics. He twice ran the New York marathon in just over three hours.
Following his death from a heart attack, his college set up or renamed an annual memorial lecture, post-doctoral fellowship, international symposium and research prizes in his honour.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.