Millennium Magazine_2ndEd

A Marquis Who's Who Magazine 151 A s a recognized expert in medical pathology, Dr. Thomas J. Gill has always been inspired by the ways in which people differ. While taking a course on ancient history in the ninth grade, he became especially interested in the conflict between the Greeks and the Persians. This academic curiosity continued to follow him throughout his formal medical training at Harvard University, where he received an MD and Master of Arts in chemistry in 1957. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Gill shifted his focus toward pathology and genetics, which eventually led him to the fields of tissue transplantation and reproductive genetics. Early in his career, Dr. Gill gained recognition as the first person to show that a non-biological substance, such as synthetic polypeptides, could elicit an immune response in an animal, putting to rout all previous notions that only biologically produced products could prompt an immune response. Within the realm of reproductive genetics, Dr. Gill showed that delivering the tetanus vaccine to a pregnant woman would allow the immunization effects to be passed on to the developing fetus. This discovery went on to be usefully applied in African and Caribbean countries. Later on, Dr. Gill worked in animal studies and clinical studies in humans, examining the causes of recurring, spontaneous abortions. Through completing this revolutionary research, he was able to determine that the genes involved in many such cases are linked to the same genes that are involved in transplantation. To this end, Dr. Gill is credited with having a major role in the development of the rat as an experimental animal in genetic studies. Today, Dr. Gill focuses his efforts on trying to develop stem cell cultures that can be used to glue bone together or glue muscle to bone without having to take any parts from anywhere else in the body. A true medical innovator, he is constantly looking for better ways to treat patients and improve their quality of life. Dr. Gill has been honored as a Maud L. Menten Professor Emeritus of Experimental Pathology with the University of Pittsburgh since the turn of the century. THOMAS J. GILL III, MD MAUD L. MENTEN PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY University of Pittsburgh Duxbury, MA