![]() In 2009, I was looking for a chance to apply for a scholarship to pursue my Ph.D training in the US. Dr. Abe gave me that chance and was a great help throughout the application process. I still have all the material he sent me to help with my application. When my application was approved I was finally able to come to the US and study at CRC. The experience completely changed my life. Dr. Abe is a great mentor and often inspired me with his innovative insights. Beyond that, the most unforgettable thing about him is his extremely warm encouragement. I remember when I showed him my first DNA gel while working at CRC; he congratulated me as if I had made a big discovery! It was often that I received enthusiastic comments such as “wonderful,” “fantastic,” “extraordinary,” and “awesome” when we discussed my experimental results. It was that kind of encouragement that helped me through all the ups and downs in my Ph. D. study. Dr. Abe is one of the purest scientists I’ve ever known. I will never forget what happened shortly after I came to work at CRC. One afternoon I inoculated some samples on plates and put them in the incubator and went home. The next morning when I got to CRC and could not find my plates! I asked everyone and they all told me, it must be Dr. Abe who “stole” your plates. He often collects our plates so he can see the results as soon as he wakes up! He keeps this incredible passion for science regardless of time and age. I once asked him the secret of keeping a “young soul” in research. He said, “you are the first and only one in the world to know some new knowledge at the moment you find it, research makes you become unique and important. You contribute to the world and satisfy yourself at the same time, is there anything better than this?” I think his attitude toward science is the most important thing I learned in the US. I’m so lucky and proud to have had the chance to work with Dr. Abe. The Chinese people have a long tradition of respecting teaches, as Confucius has said, “Once your teacher, forever parents.” For me, Dr. Abe is far more than a father (perhaps even grandfather)-like figure. As he celebrates his amazing 95th birthday, I would like to give him best wishes and hope he has good health everyday.
I worked with Abe in the summer of 1961 in Milislav Demerec’s laboratory in Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, LI, NY.
I was a 1st year graduate student from Yale learning bacterial genetics, as it was then called, in Demerec’s lab & Abe was doing a summer sabbatical from Kansas State University, I believe. I learned to treat different cysC mutants of Salmonella with different mutagens to see which mutagens caused reversion mutations of the cysC alleles. I really didn’t understand fully the significance of what I was doing. Abe was doing something similar & he brought all the data together, interpreted them, and wrote a paper which was published in Genetics. It was my 1stpublished paper & I was very grateful to Abe for including me as an author. It was so indicative of his kindness and inclusiveness. In those days, not much was known about lysogeny, i.e., the presence of a prophage. Did the prophage hover over the DNA or was it part of the chromosome. Abe posed the question of whether a prophage “shielded” the cysC region from the effects of the mutagens. Our data indicated that it did not. I thought it was a very creative approach to the question. Whenever I met Abe at scientific conferences, he always greeted me warmly and had time for friendly words. I am so pleased that he is having such a wondeful career and may he continue to enjoy working in the lab just like that time at Brookhaven. Best wishes, Lee Rosner Dr. Judah L. Rosner Dear Dr. Eisenstark : such a thrill to contact you again after quite some time . When i met you in Columbia few years ago i started addressing you "Ab" and i will do so now . Although will never forget those good days when i sat in your classes to learn virology and worked in Bushnell hall third floor with Dick Consigli , yourself and Roma . Abe , Dick left us early but his memories , for ever will remain fresh . Some time back i got a delightfully surprise email from Gordon Lark and exchanged communications for few times . I retired few years ago , however still am active in keeping professional contacts by visiting my shared office in the department and attending most of the seminars . I also keep in touch with friends in Biology , Cancer center and Biochemistry . It was nice to know from Gordon that he was in touch with you ; like yourself he is also active in his research efforts and publications . Abe , it is so heart warming to contact you and will do so again . My wife Ved and i both send our kind regards to you and Joan . Harish
Dear Abe,
Happy Birthday from Joyce, Nick and Paul. If you did not know, I was recruited from NCSU to SUNY-Albany to found a one and only RNA Institute. We have succeeded. www.albany.edu/RNA Joyce is mentoring students, and Nick has a AutoCAD engineering position in Research Triangle Park. Wedding in May. All the best from us all. Warm Regards, Paul With very high regard for Abe as both a scientist and human being. I send my best wishes and congratulations!
Dear Abe,
Congratulations on your 95th. I'm reminded of an occasion about 50 years ago. It was summer and you were in Brookhaven. Dick was in charge of your car (a small Renault?) and we had a horrific hail storm, stones literally the size of golf balls. When it was over, your car had dents all over as if hit with a ball pin hammer. Beautiful round depressions. Dick called in the insurance man who took one look and wrote out a check. Later, after he had left the sun came out and during that warm Kansas summer day all of the dents popped out again. Hope all continues to work as well for you. I'm 83 going on 84 and still doing my latest thing, dog genetics. My life has changed somewhat since Cynthia died and I remarried. A lot more travel--we'll be in France near Bordeaux when you celebrate your 95th. Gordon ![]() Happy birthday Dr Abe! I am so happy to hear that you are still actively researching! I'm sure you're making great discoveries and showing students how to love science as much as you do every single day. I just wanted to let you know that I am currently finishing up my 4th year of med school here at Mizzou and will be a pediatrician in May. I'm so excited! Thanks for all your help and encouragement along the way. Sincerely, Kristin Morrison A Friend Turns 95 and Keeps Working in the Lab
By Elio Schaechter and Stanley Maloy Categories:Odds and Ends. TC: none Abe Eisenstark is an old friend of both of us. Elio was a graduate student in the Midwest when he first met him. Abe was then a young faculty member at nearby university and was an inspiring mentor to whom Elio gravitated straightaway. The story is a bit different for Stanley, who says: “It is funny but I can't even remember when I first met Abe ... it just seems like we have always known each other.“ Some seven decades later no less, Abe is still at it, helping younger people inside and outside the lab. He is turning 95 this year and is continuing to go to the lab every day where he carries out inspired and challenging research. He is now working on how Salmonella strains may have a role to play in cancer therapy. These bacteria home in on mouse cancers and colonize them, leading to death of the tumor. Obviously, this is not a simple matter, partly because mutants that may be pathogenic to the host may arise. But if someone is equipped to study such questions, it is distinctly Abe. We wouldn't bet against him coming up with a useful modality to treat cancer. For those in the know, Abe and Salmonella are two closely tied biological entities. He has worked on this organisms most of his life, dealing with basic and applied question of its genetics, with a special yen for the effects of radiation. More recently, he has been studying Salmonella evolution by examining old archived culture collections of both bacterial strains and their phages. Given his longevity, you could readily assume that Abe has taken to scientific work with singular passion. You would be right. Few people in our acquaintance have displayed greater love for science. So, we salute you, Abe, and wish you copious and exciting results for years to come. Abe,
I wish you the happiest birthday, and a great year to follow. As always, your are inspirational to me, and I hope you keep going strong for a long time. I am in Israel now. I came for a month to be with my mom, whose health is failing. I ended up experiencing the war here. Not fun. I have been sending "reflections" to the Jewish community, and I am attaching them to this note. I felt like sharing some of the feelings from the ground, and put a face on the conflict. Be well, Hi to Joan, and happy birthday. Hannah ![]() Abe Eisenstark, Mentor and Friend Mary Ann Turner, PhD (1983) I met Abe back in 1978 when I was a Technician at Argonne National Laboratory where we studied the effects of far and near ultraviolet (FUV, NUV) radiation on DNA repair and mutagenesis. My boss, Robert (Bob) Webb, advised me of a collaboration that Argonne had with a number of universities After interviewing almost every professor interested in DNA repair and mutagenesis, I applied to the University of Missouri, Columbia. I really made the decision to apply based on the man who would be my Major Professor, Dr. A. Eisenstark. He had the kindest eyes and I thought he would be both a great mentor and a powerful advocate. I was correct. At the end of my first year in graduate school, in 1980, I was involved in a very serious car accident. I suffered a head injury and fractures in all of the major bones in my right leg. Dr. Eisenstark and his wife were out of the country on one of their famous vacations. After a month in hospital, the doctors said I could go home if I had a team of people in place to take care of me. I didn’t know what to do or whom to ask about my care. Fortunately, several people from my church and from graduate school came to visit. They were going to be the team of people who took care of me. Besides a host of other wonderful friends, Dr. Eisenstark, Chairman of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, met me in the hospital after physical therapy each day and pushed me the half mile from the hospital to the lab. For the next year and beyond, Dr. Eisenstark was there for me every day. He organized my academic care and made sure I was still on target with my research and classes in spite of the accident. I can never thank Abe enough and I will forever remember his advocacy and unwavering friendship. My experience in graduate school was certainly made easier because of Abe. After a time, I healed and went on to receive my PhD in 1983. After Missouri, I completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Biology at the University of California, Berkeley where I studied the SOS Response. I taught for a year at the University of Maryland and then, returned to perform research on HPV-induced cancers at the University of California, San Francisco. After many years at UCSF, I went to Baylor College of Medicine to study protein regulation in HIV infection. Finally, I moved from the research arena to pharmaceuticals where I presented studies to physicians and research scientists about the latest development in specific areas such as osteoporosis, pain, and Multiple Sclerosis. No matter where I am, I always look forward to the yearly letter from Abe telling about his research, travels, and family. And, I always remember the kind eyes of a man who became a great friend. HAPPY 95TH BIRTHDAY ABE!!
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