Norman L. Letvin (1949–2012)

He stood in thought, attentive to every detail, ready for his delivery. Well known for his clear and insightful presentations, Norman Letvin strode onstage with a different agenda this time. Clarinet in hand, he graced us, his scientific colleagues, with a world-class musical performance. Most did not even know that he played a musical instrument. But Norm was a remarkable talent who broke new ground, not only in the laboratory but also in music. He once played Mozart's clarinet quintet accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma. Sadly, his enthralling performances will be heard no more. After a long and valiant struggle with pancreatic cancer, Norman Letvin passed away on 28 May in Boston, Massachusetts. He fought this disease bravely for almost 5 years and, despite overwhelming medical challenges, maintained his commitment to the search for an AIDS vaccine and continued working until a week before he died. Norman Letvin's achievements were remarkable. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, where his family recognized and nurtured his talent in music from a young age. As a 5-year-old, he taught himself to play the recorder, and he soon became proficient on the oboe and clarinet. He excelled as a scholarship student on the clarinet at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan, and performed professionally during his high school years. Offered scholarships at both the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, he chose instead to attend Harvard College, where he continued his musical education but applied his prodigious intellectual energy to the social sciences and to medicine, graduating summa cum laude and with Phi Beta Kappa honors. After receiving his M.D. degree at Harvard Medical School in 1975, he completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts General Hospital. His postdoctoral fellowship with Baruch Benacerraf, Nobel laureate for discovery of the major histocompatibility complex, set the stage for Norm's lifelong interest in viral immunology and immunopathogenesis. These interests became the hallmark of his scientific career and his luminary achievements in the field of AIDS vaccine research. ![Figure][1] CREDIT: GRAHAM RAMSAY Norm's accomplishments were exemplary in every sense. Among his professional achievements, he defined the first nonhuman primate models of AIDS by isolating the simian immunodeficiency virus and showing that it caused immune defects and fatal disease in Indian rhesus macaques. His scientific career was further highlighted by discoveries on the immunopathogenesis of lentiviral infection, the development of novel approaches for the vaccine stimulation of virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses, and the identification of immune correlates of vaccine protection. Not surprisingly, he rose rapidly to the rank of professor at Harvard Medical School and served as chief of the division of viral pathogenesis at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. At the same time, Norm became a valuable and highly respected member of the AIDS vaccine community. A member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIDS Vaccine Advisory Committee from its inception, he was a constant source of sound advice to the NIH and to HIV research scientists throughout the world. He was instrumental in establishing the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, supporting its creation, selecting its scientific investigators, defining its mission and goals, and advancing the scientific agenda through advice and by experimentation. He was also a cofounder of the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) consortium, and he was both a grantee and adviser to the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Norm was always ready to give support and advice on the many challenging issues the AIDS vaccine development field faced. Moreover, he was a trusted and dedicated mentor to all who worked with him—students, fellows, and colleagues. He could also be counted on to provide honest and balanced perspective on any topic. Widely recognized as an international authority, he advised diverse international public health organizations on prevention and treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases with high human health impact, including tuberculosis, measles, and malaria, and helped to shape policy and strategic planning for deadly infectious diseases that plague the developing world. He was also an invaluable adviser for Science , where he served as a reviewing editor for 13 years. Aside from his superlative professional successes, Norm was a renaissance man in its truest sense. He was a voracious reader, rehearsed regularly for decades with the Weston Wind Quintet, and graced both VRC and CHAVI retreats with his talented performances. His love for opera was no less than that for his beloved Boston sports teams: the Celtics, Red Sox, and New England Patriots. Finally, nothing was closer to his heart than his loving wife, Marion, and their four children, Andrea, Adam, Rebecca, and Elizabeth, who surrounded and comforted him in his final days. Norm's passing is a loss to those who knew him personally but also deprives the AIDS vaccine research field of his wisdom, perspective, and impeccable judgment. There will be formal celebrations of his life and his accomplishments in the coming months. His many close colleagues hope to honor Norm by redoubling their commitment to finding an AIDS vaccine and holding to the high standards of scholarship and commitment that he exemplified. [1]: pending:yes