We mourn the premature death of our valued and distinguished colleague, Professor Jeffrey Pollard, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of DMB, who passed away on May 1, 2023, after a lengthy illness. Jeff received a B.Sc.Hons degree from Sheffield University in 1970, and a Ph.D. from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London in 1974. After a post-doctoral period at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto, he joined the faculty of King’s College, University of London, in 1980. In 1988, he joined Einstein as Associate Professor of DMB and was cross-appointed to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1991. He rose through the ranks, becoming Director of the Center for the Study of Reproductive Biology and Women’s Health in 2000, Deputy Director of The Albert Einstein Cancer Center in 2002 and the Louis Goldstein Swann Chair in Women’s Health in 2008. In 2013, he moved to Edinburgh to assume Directorship of the Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health. Among many honors, Jeff was awarded the Medal of Honor for Basic Science Research of the American Cancer Society in 2010 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. Jeff’s work focused on women’s reproductive health and was seminal in two important areas: The first, on the mechanism of progesterone in negatively regulating estrogen-induced uterine epithelial cell proliferation and preparing the uterus for blastocyst implantation and the second, on tumor-enhancing roles of macrophages in promoting metastatic disease. While at Einstein, Jeff was an outstanding mentor, who for many years organized our international training course in mouse genetic engineering. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Dr. Ooi-Thye Chong and his family. To commemorate his legacy at Einstein and his valuable contributions to science, a memorial fund has been established in his name. The Jeffrey W. Pollard Memorial Fund will be used to support basic scientific and medical research and training within the Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, as well as to support an annual Jeffrey Pollard Memorial Lecture, presented by an outstanding scientist.
To contribute to this fund, donations should be made payable to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with the words "Jeffrey Pollard Memorial Fund" on the memo line of the check or in an accompanying note and sent to the following address, marked to the attention of Allyson Fraser:
Allyson Fraser,
Office of Development
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1300 Morris Park Ave., Block Building 7th floor
Bronx, New York, U.S.A. 10461