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William Barry Wood, Jr, MD
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William Barry Wood, Jr, MD Dr. Wood graduated from Harvard University in 1932 and his record there was unbelievable. He earned nine varsity letters as a quarterback, center on the hockey team, star shortstop and first baseman and captain of the football team. He was a unanimous choice as All-American quarterback. He earned a tenth letter in tennis. He graduated summa cum laude and was first marshall of the senior class. During his student days at Harvard, Dr. Wood worked with L.J. Henderson in the fatigue laboratory, studying the effects of strenuous exercise on the leukocyte count. He found that the count frequently doubled in short-distance runners, but quickly returned to normal. In football players, with more sustained exertion, the count might increase by a factor of three or four and remain elevated for hours. With this work began a lifelong scientific interest in the role of the leukocyte. After graduation from college, Dr. Wood decided to go to medical school at Johns Hopkins and while there, he worked in the laboratory of W. Mansfield Clark investigating oxidation-reduction potentials. He then went on to internship and assistant resident appointments at Hopkins, on the medical service headed by Warfield Longcope. While still a resident physician, Dr. Wood encouraged by Longcope, visited Oswald T. Avery at the Rockefeller Institute in New York. He was fascinated by Avery’s account of the whole story of the pneumococcus capsule and the polysaccharides. Upon completion of his residency, he returned to Boston as a fellow in the bacteriology department of Hans Zinsser and was launched upon studying the role leukocytes play in recovery from pneumococcal pneumonia. Wood returned to Johns Hopkins for two years (1940-42) with the title of assistant in the department of medicine. In 1942, at the age of 32 and only six years after receiving his M.D. degree, he accepted the position of professor and head of the Department of Medicine at Washington University. He was, in his own words, “flabbergasted” at the offer. He was only three years beyond house-officer training, and the heavy professional responsibilities would make it difficult to do research. Despite the pressures of the job, Dr. Wood built an outstanding department, attracting an excellent young faculty and a steady flow of superior house officers. During 13 years in St. Louis, Wood published 47 scientific papers, including 21 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, two in the Journal of Immunology, and two in Science. He managed to make time for research despite a great many competing activities. He continued to work on the mechanism of recovery from pneumonia, including the importance of surface phagocytosis and became interested in the pathogenesis of fever. He was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1959. Dr. Wood served as President of the Central Society for Clinical Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He also served on the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, the Armed Forces Epidemiologic Board, the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation, and the President’s Science Advisory Committee. Dr. Wood responded to an urgent call from his medical alma mater and accepted the vice presidency at Johns Hopkins in 1955. After successfully fulfilling his commitment to being an administrator, he returned to research as chairman of the Department of Microbiology at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Summarizing Dr. Wood’s position in American medicine, Dr. Robert Glaser said: “In his era Barry Wood was one of the most respected individuals in American academic medicine. Those who knew him at Washington University regarded him as a superb clinician, a stimulating teacher and a productive investigator. Nationally, he was widely respected as a wide councilor and role model. Barry Wood died suddenly on March 9, 1971 in Boston where his career had begun. He was there to attend a dinner honoring the retirement of Nathan Pusey, president of Harvard University.
Division of Infectious Diseases
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