Judah Folkman was an amazing and inspirational medical pioneer

Implications: The medical and scientific worlds lost a great man when Dr. Judah Folkman recently passed away. His work in anti-angiogenesis was very inspiring and created a whole new area of scientific research to fight cancer, which eventually led to new drugs and treatments, principally Avastin. Dr. Folkman was able to combine surgical expertise with research innovation. He adapted to the changing scientific landscape by moving from animal based studies (which were the "bread and butter" of most surgical researchers of his generation) into more complicated molecular techniques, culminating in his discovery of anti-angiogenesis agents.

Analysis:  I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Folkman, briefly, at the very beginning of my medical career. He gave a talk to honor a recently deceased mentor of mine. The story of his angiogenesis research, culminating in a surrendipitous discovery by a surgical trainee in his lab who neglected to throw out a petri dish from an unsuccessful experiment, was one of the most inspirational talks I have heard.

Although our paths would never again intersect, I vividly remember the encounter and how it affected me. I consider it one of the most influential moments of my career, and will always be grateful to him.