Dr. John Bienenstock was a ‘revolutionary thinker’ at McMaster University
Dr. John Bienenstock is being remembered by colleagues as a revolutionary" and influential" thinker in the field of immunology, who made hard work fun and brought international recognition to McMaster.
The Dundas resident - who died July 25 at age 85 - did landmark studies on how the immune system and nervous system communicate with each other.
He was known in scientific circles as one the top five in the world of immunology and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2002 and the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2010. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1992.
He co-authored more than 500 scientific papers and publications and 10 books, including a standard textbook on immunology and allergy.
He officially retired in 1998 after 30 years of working at McMaster, but remained active in research as director of the McMaster Brain-Body Institute at St. Joseph's Healthcare right up until his death.
Bienenstock was also an accomplished artist. He was a member of the Society of Canadian Artists and had a number of exhibitions. He served on the boards of the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Dundas Valley School of Art.
Dr. Paul O'Byrne, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences, said Bienenstock was a visionary as a scientist, as an administrator and as an academic, inspiring generations of scientists and clinicians to look outside the box. He was a friend and mentor to so many of us."
Dr. John Kelton, executive director at the Michael G. DeGroote Initiative for Innovation in Healthcare, called Bienenstock a great researcher" who had the ability to pull together collaborators and scientists to work on a visionary project.
His ability to see the future of science and then help make it happen was remarkable," he said.
University Health Network president and CEO Kevin Smith, former president at St. Joseph's Healthcare, said Bienenstock was the most important mentor he had in his career and the most creative.
He took great joy in the success of others and made hard work fun," Smith said.
Dr. Jonathan Bramson, holder of the John Bienenstock Chair in Molecular Medicine and vice-dean of research at the Faculty of Health Sciences, said Bienenstock was a remarkably creative individual, a revolutionary thinker and pioneer in the study of mucosal immunology. John's impact on our community has been deep and far reaching."
Bienenstock was born to Dr. Maurice Bienenstock and his wife Anne in Budapest, Hungary in 1936. His father owned a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. The family fled to London in 1939 to escape the approaching war. His Jewish grandparents later died in concentration camps.
He excelled in school, but told The Spec he decided to become a doctor for no particular reason.
I decided at 17 to do medicine because I couldn't think of anything else to do," he said in 1996.
Bienenstock graduated in 1960 with a medical degree from King's College and the Westminster Hospital Medical School. He went to work in the United States in 1964, first in Boston and then Buffalo.
He was offered posts at Oxford and in Toronto and Switzerland but accepted a job in 1968 as assistant professor of medicine at the new medical school getting off the ground at McMaster.
From 1978-1989 he was chair of the department of pathology and from 1989-1997 he was vice-president of the university and dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
He told The Spec in 1996, I had a very good existence, a very productive and rewarding scientific career, with lots of international travel and the chance to work with people all over the world."
Bienenstock is survived by his wife Dody, children Robin and Adam, six grandchildren and his sister, Tsultrim Zangmo. His wife was chief of psychiatry at Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals. Bienenstock was predeceased in May by his son Jimson, a well-known Toronto coffee shop owner. He was 59.
Daniel Nolan is a Dundas-based freelance contributor for The Spectator. Reach him via email: news@thespec.com