Gideon Rodan

Gideon Rodan died peacefully at home in Philadelphiaon January 1, 2006. His passing marks the loss of one who as a scientist, teacher and leader did much to transform research into the physiology of bone by applying modern methods of biochemistry, molecular and cell biology. He was well known to many members of this society over many years and many visits. The illness that lead to his death became evident for the firsttime at the ANZBMS Conference in Coolum in June, 2003.

Born in Bucharest, Rumania in 1934, Gideon lost his father to the tyranny that covered Europe in the following years. He and his mother survived and migrated to Israelin 1950, where after completing his high school education he studied first mathematics and then medicine at the Hebrew University. After completing his medical training and deciding upon research and an academic career he joined the Weitzman Institute as a staff scientist and completed his PhD in 1970 on physicochemical aspects of mineral metabolism. Those years were productive ones, and the value of his early research became evident many times in later years, as he came to develop functional read-outs in bone of hisbasic research in biochemistry and molecular biology.

After the Weitzman appointment his intention was to undertake a post-doctoral fellowship in the USA, but he was attracted to an Assistant Professorship at a new Dental School at the University of Connecticut, Farmington. He rose rapidly through the ranks to headof the Department of Oral Biology in 1978, until his move to industry in 1985. They were exciting years in Connecticut, it was a time when basic research in Dental Schools across the U.S. was at best patchy in distribution, but developments took place rapidly under the leadership of Gideon Rodan. His own research flourished in the 1970’s, when with the constant collaboration of his wife, Sevgi, the group led the way in bringing cell biology to the study of bone. The Rodan’s developed a clonal rodent osteosarcoma cell line that for the first time allowed studies of the molecular regulation of adenylate cyclasein bone cells in response to parathyroid hormone ,together with other aspects of cell signalling, particularly the role of calcium. A constant feature of Gideon’sapproach to basic research was his aim to apply it tofunction, and maybe this was what drove him severalyears later when he decided to move to industry. Anexample from that period was his work on differential cellular signalling responses being dependent uponmechanical and electrical stimuli to cells.

Gideon Rodan was never a slave to technology in his research – if you needed a method, you sought it out and established it. What was most important to him was the thinking that went into experiments, and what a pleasure it was to have scientific discussions with him. This was a very early stage of bone science, when to most of those interested, bone cells still seemed too difficult to study. Osteosarcoma cells and osteoblast-rich cultures fromrodent bone that came from the work of Wong and Cohn, provided the means to investigate control mechanisms for the first time. These might have remained as “phenomenology” were it not for the Rodan approach, of putting such new information into context with what was known, e.g. the electron microscopic evidence of Alan Boyde that bone lining cells responded to PTH bycontracting. This and other data provided the means inthe liberal discussions that could be enjoyed with Gideon Rodan, to lead to the concept of bone resorbing factors using the osteoblast lineage in producing their effectson osteoclast formation and activation. This was regarded at the time almost as heresy but the Rodan view was always that as long as something was testable it was reasonable to propose.

The bone research scene at the University of Connecticut was an exciting one, with collaborations across the campus at the Health Center and the Department of Oral Biology at the focus of many of them. With Larry Raiszin Medicine there were effective research collaborations over many years. One of Gideon Rodan’s greatest legaciesis the long list of former students and post-docs who benefited so much from his teaching, training, and leadership, always effected with the gentleness of manner that so marked the man. His journal club discussion groups at his home in Connecticut provided a key educational asset that they all appreciated scientifically as much as they enjoyed them socially. The list of trainees surely comprises another Rodan “family”, in addition to his wonderful Sevgi, Aylin and Elan, and it is fitting indeed that the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research has named its mentorship award after Gideon Rodan, who set such an example to all.

Gideon’s decision in 1985 to leave academia and take onleadership of the bone group at Merck came as a surprise tosome of us. He seemed too interested in the unknown, maybe too purely scholarly. In the event he stayed that way, but also did all that was required of him by industry and more. Setting out to search for drugs of benefit to bone, particularly osteoporosis, he approached this by establishing first class research in bone biology, appointing excellent people, and seeming from the outset to have the ideal research position. Then with remarkable vision, perspicacity and wisdom, he took an opportunity that came his way through Herbert Fleisch, to license a bisphosphonate that had been progressing slowly in Europe. The rest is history. This became Alendronate, the first drug ever proven in a major clinical trial to prevent osteoporotic fractures, and thereby providing a stimulus that changed the bone field totally. The rest of industry applied itself eagerly to the search for ant-osteoporosis drugs, and substantial industry support came to research in the bone field. Gideon was the driver of the Alendronate development, with his laboratory carrying out first class work on bisphosphonate action, but he was also deeply involved in the planning of clinical studies and the translation of bisphosphonates to clinical medicine. There can be no doubt of the enormous impact ofthat development upon the field of research in bone.

Gideon Rodan was a wonderful scientist, scholar, teacher and friend, whose contributions to the bone field will always be remembered , and the ANZBMS joins with his many friends and colleagues throughout the world in paying tribute to him, and offering our sincere sympathy to his wife, Sevgi, and children, Aylin and Elan.

T. J. Martin.
March 20, 2006