Michael Klagsbrun

Michael Klagsbrun, of Newton, son of Fanny (Schumer) and David Klagsbrun, father of Arielle Klagsbrun and husband of Deborah Kalin died May 7, 2020. He was 81.

Michael was born on January 16, 1939 in Antwerp, Belgium to a family of diamond cutters. When he was six months old, his family fled the Nazi occupation of Europe and embarked on a two-year journey through France, Spain and Cuba. Smart decisions, sheer luck, and the packets of diamonds sewn carefully into the lining of Michael’s baby raincoat allowed his family to survive and eventually settle in New York City.

Michael commuted to City College of New York and completed a Ph.D in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin based on his research at MIT.

Michael had two foci: his family and vascular biology. In both spheres of his life, his wry wit brought endless laughter to his family, colleagues and friends.

From the US Navy, where he served at the National Institute of Health, Klagsbrun was recruited to the Surgical Research Laboratories, now called the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Klagsbrun was a young post-doctoral fellow, working in the then fledging and radical field of angiogenesis, the the study of how new blood vessels grow and multiply, and its role in tumor growth and progression. Dr. Klagsbrun was a leader in the discovery of a number of novel growth factors that played a key role in these processes.

Dr. Judah Folkman , his mentor, collaborator and the ‘father’ of the angiogenesis story, wrote to Michael in 2001 “[I deeply admire] your introduction of the first angiogenic molecule and your subsequent discoveries, all of which put the field of angiogenesis research on a sound scientific foundation.”

Over 42 years in the field, Klagsbrun, alongside an international community of cherished colleagues, changed the fundamentals of how we think about disease establishment and growth, defining the importance of blood vessels in this context. In a field where scientific discoveries take decades, Michael’s career was marked with multiple major breakthroughs in the role of growth factors, the relationship between nerves and blood vessels, and its pathologies.. He is credited with the discovery of growth factors FGF-2 and HB-EGF; his last work with neuropilins and semaphorins opened up many new lines of continued inquiry.

He held the Patricia K Donahue Chair in Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and received numerous awards, including the 2013 North American Vascular Biology Organization Earl P Benditt Lifetime Achievement award, and a day-long Harvard Vascular Biology Program symposium in his honor. Among his most rewarding work was organizing over 33 years of ‘work-in-progress’ seminars, mentoring the next generation of vascular biologists. He personally trained 100.

He loved drinking day-old cups of coffee, swimming laps at Crystal Lake, napping on a Martha’s Vineyard beach, eating full-course meals with his beloved cousins and his ‘boys night out’ crew, reading history books, cheering on the Celtics and Red Sox, bragging about his daughter’s accomplishments, and sitting on screened porches with Deborah, his wife and friend of 38 years.

For over ten years, Michael wrestled Parkinson’s Disease, which slowly took his strengths, but never his appetite, kindness or humor. He died from COVID-19.

Donations for the Dr. Michael Klagsbrun Fund for supporting young scientists within the Vascular Biology Program can be directed to Joan Romanition, Boston Children’s Hospital Trust, 401 Park Drive, Unit 602, Boston, MA 02215.