Our father, Maurice Albin, who has died aged 93 after a short illness, was a distinguished physician-scientist devoted to improving patient care.
Raised with his sister, Doris, in modest circumstances in Brooklyn, New York, he was the son of Reuben, an upholsterer and English migrant to the US, and his wife, Fanny (nee Edelstein). Maurice’s early life was shaped by New Deal-era New York City and the second world war. A curious individual encouraged by a free-thinking father and educated by outstanding NYC public schools, he developed an unusually open-minded and liberal character.
Entering the US army in January 1943, he participated in the liberation of western Europe. His military service was a source of pride and the source of great empathy towards younger veterans. In 1945, in Britain and facing demobilisation, he married a London-born secretary, Marguerite Lilly, a veteran of the Woman’s Royal Naval Service. He re-enlisted to stay in Europe and marry her in December 1945.
Our parents spent the next two years in Germany, where Maurice was part of the army of occupation in Germany. Returning to New York City, he took advantage of the generous provisions of the GI Bill to attend college, and matriculated at the medical school of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. It was typical of his adventurousness and well justified confidence in his ability to learn languages that he and our mother moved to Mexico City without any knowledge of Spanish.
He completed training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, specialising in anaesthesiology, and then pursued an academic career, making many contributions to research into neuroanaesthesia.
He was a charismatic teacher and academic leader, and his many contributions were recognised by a number of honours, but his greatest source of satisfaction was the knowledge that he had improved patient care.
In the 60s, with Dr Robert White, he pioneered brain transplants in animals, laying a cornerstone of modern cerebral vascular therapy. His studies of spinal cord injury led to development of treatment, and he made discoveries about the use of hypothermia for acute spinal cord trauma.
He ceased clinical work at the age of 78 but continued teaching in his 80s, and finally worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs: he was one of the last in the scheme that treats veterans and their families to have served in the second world war. He never retired, but was the oldest active faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.
His intellectual gifts and capacity for work were complemented by an unusually warm personality. He treated everyone involved in patient care – custodial staff, clerical staff, technicians, nurses – as colleagues, his physician colleagues were treated as friends and his trainees as family members.
He is survived by Marguerite, six grandchildren, a great-grandson, and us.
