Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Adjunct Professor of Medicine in Nephrology, Indiana University School of Medicine
June 8, 1951 – January 21, 2014
Passed by the IUPUI Faculty Council at their meeting on March 4, 2014.
It is with great sadness that the Indiana University School of Medicine announces the untimely death of Dr. Vincent H. Gattone, who passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family on January 21st, 2014. Dr. Gattone’s death is a loss to his family, his friends, and to Indiana University.
Vince earned his BS in Chemistry from Ursinus College, an MS in Academic Pathology from George Washington University, and his PhD in Medical Sciences from the Medical College of Ohio in 1980. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Indiana University in 1983 and taught at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Kansas Medical Schools, before returning to the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2000 as Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Adjunct Professor of Medicine in Nephrology. Dr. Gattone also served as a Visiting Scientist at the University of Michigan (1994), the Mayo Clinic (2010) and at the University College of London (2011).
Vince loved teaching anatomy and research ethics, and believed strongly in the need to foster young investigators. He won several teaching awards both at the University of Kansas and at Indiana University. He was the Director of the Electron Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility of the IU School of Medicine. He was widely known and highly regarded for his research into the causes of cystic kidney disease, and renal hypertension. He developed and characterized numerous animal models of cystic disease that mimic the human condition. These models allowed the identification of treatment targets, most notably Tolvaptan. He had multiple patents, over 150 publications and textbooks, and gave multiple national and international lectures. He chaired the Internal Scientific Research Advisory Board for IU’s O’Brien Center, and served on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, and Experiment Biology and Medicine. He was the Founding President of the Indiana Microscopy Society. In 2013, Dr. Gattone received the prestigious Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for the Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) from the International Society of Nephrology, its highest research award.
Vince was an avid traveler and photographer, and was passionate about his family. He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Diane, their five children, and Vince’s two sisters.
Vince was a close friend and collaborator to many of us. His collegiality, his broad interests, and his engaging manner will be sorely missed, as will his future contributions to his science, to which he was so dedicated.
THUS, BE IT RESOLVED: that this memorial resolution be adopted by the Faculty Council of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and also be placed in the minutes of Faculty Council with a moment of silence observed in his honor; and that a copy of this memorial resolution be delivered to his wife, Diane Gattone.
This resolution is written on behalf of Professor Gattone’s students, trainees, and the staff and faculty of the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Medicine. This resolution was prepared by Robert Bacallao, David Burr, James McAteer and Sharon Moe.