Remembering Professor David BenEzra, M.D., Ph.D., 1942–2008

David was my first Ph.D. student, joining my newly established lab in 1966 at the Hebrew University— Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem. He was accepted at that time to the Medical School, after spending 1 year as a student in another Faculty. David was born in Morocco and immigrated to Israel with his family in 1956. The family settled in a small village and David had to commute daily to attend school. After serving the mandatory tour of duty in the Israeli military, he came to the Hebrew University, determined to attend the medical school, despite the many hurdles he had to overcome. David loved scientific research and at that early phase in his career he was already fully committed to becoming a physicianscientist, and getting a Ph.D. along with his M.D. degree was an obvious approach. It was a pleasure having him in the lab, a young man full of enthusiasm, original thinking, and fantastic dexterity and capacity to perform at the bench. We quickly established a close friendship and David became a part of my family. After completing his Ph.D. in 1969, he established an immunology lab in the Department of Oncology at Hadassah Hospital, but lucky for all of us, he then met and married Judy, the daughter of Professor Michaelson, the renowned ophthalmologist. Professor Michaelson introduced David to the exciting world of ophthalmology and David shifted his enthusiasm and scientific curiosity to learn about the wonders of the eye. After completing his residency in ophthalmology, David was sent by the State of Israel and Hadassah Hospital, to help patients with eye diseases in Ethiopia and Malawi. After returning to Jerusalem, he was invited by Dr. Carl Kupfer, the founder of the National Eye Institute (NEI), with a mission to establish a new lab dealing with ocular immunology. David then contacted me with a suggestion to join the NEI, as an immunologist in the new lab he established. I accepted the offer and David introduced me to the amazing organ, the eye, a decade after I introduced him to the exciting world of immunology. Once again, David and I could collaborate and keep being in touch continuously; particularly during a sabbatical he spent at the NEI, the annual ARVO, and other meetings. Back at the Hadassah Hospital, David focused his clinical efforts on pediatric ophthalmology. He founded a clinical Unit and established a lab where he could carry out research related to his clinical activities and other scientific I. Gery (*) Laboratory of Immunology, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA e-mail: [email protected]