Biophysical Society Newsletter | November 2017

19

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2017

NOVEMBER

Obituary

towards the realization of our scientific goals. Cathy could be counted on to give good advice and to be a source of ac- curate information. And interaction with her went much further: She went the extra mile, she put her personal caring into her interactions, she showed respect for all, and she devoted her own energies to the outcomes. As a grantee, one could feel this when one talked with her, and the personal warmth she exuded helped to keep one’s morale up even in the face of tough odds and obstacles.

Cathy Lewis There are those who give of themselves for others in ways that touch many, yet ask for little in return. The community of biomedical researchers was deprived of such a person on July 12 when Cathy Lewis lost her long battle with cancer. Like others who commit the bulk of their careers to the NIH extramural funding operation, Cathy helped many of us in many ways. She worked tirelessly to help keep the biomedical research enter- prise afloat through hard times and good by optimally managing the resources that the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) had to deploy. She generously offered advice and guidance to investiga- tors young and old. And as she juggled many obstacles behind the scenes, the personal attention she offered grantees and grantees-to-be was always accompanied by a ready smile and encouragement. Cathy Lewis devoted 34 years to NIGMS, having joined the institute in 1983, first as a program director in the Genetics Division, and later in Cell Biology and Biophysics (CBB), where she served as chief of the Bio- physics Branch, and later assumed the division director position, which she held until her January 2017 retire- ment due to the health challenges of cancer. During her time at NIGMS, she touched many, many investigators’ careers as she oversaw portfolios of grants and contrib- uted to a wide array of programmatic initiatives. Her own scientific focus prior to joining NIGMS was on chromatin structure and beta-globin gene expression, which she studied as a staff fellow in National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases with Gary Felsenfeld , after completing a postdoc in Geneva with Ulrich Laemmli on higher order structure of chromosomes in metaphase. She brought her expertise and scientific interests to NIGMS, managing grants in nuclear structure and function and helping to launch programs in epigenetics. Over the years at CBB, she recognized the power of new methods in biophysical science, including single-molecule methods, superreso- lution optical microscopy, and cryo-electron microsco- py, and helped to craft and shepherd new institute and cross-NIH initiatives to support them. She was deeply involved in the Protein Structure Initiative during all of its phases, from inception to wind-down. This listing of contributions is truly impressive, but Cathy Lewis’ impact on NIGMS grantees and biomedi- cal science broadly is so much more. Young investiga- tors do not realize how much influence the NIGMS scientific staff have on our science and our attitudes

Cathy Lewis

The scientific community’s feelings about Cathy Lewis are captured in comments from several colleagues. Rick Horwitz, Allen Institute for Cell Science, said: “I loved Cathy’s efficiency, wisdom, and deep commitment to high standards. All of us who worked with Cathy know that the world of cell biology would be very different without her steady, insightful hand at the helm.” Wah Chu, Stanford University, commented: “Cathy’s deci- sive and fair administrative leadership and continuous advocacy in support of basic biological sciences research will be truly missed by all.” From Ed Lattman , Haupt- man-Woodward Medical Research Institute, “Cathy embodied the sympathetic yet rigorous, knowledgeable program officer.” Karolin Luger , University of Colorado Boulder, offers: “Cathy was my first program director some 18 years ago, and I couldn’t have wished for a better one. As a young PI who was completely new to the system, she took time to help me navigate the many obstacles of NIH bureaucracy and was always available to give advice. I remember being very impressed by the depth of scientific understanding she had for my grants. Later, while serving on NIGMS council, I came to understand that she displayed the same level of under- standing for all of the science in her large portfolio. Cathy cared about the science, but even more so about people. Her competent, fair and caring leadership was exemplary and has contributed greatly to the thriving NIGMS scientific enterprise.” After having the privilege of working with Cathy over three decades as an NIGMS grantee and a Council member, I echo the feelings articulated by these col- leagues and will personally miss her kindness, her dedication, her humor, and the ever-present sparkle in her eye. — Lila M. Gierasch , University of Massachusetts Amherst