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 Dr.
Hume came to the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond,
Virginia in 1956 at the age of 39 to succeed Dr. I. A. Bigger
as Chairman of the Department of Surgery. He was
recruited from Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston where
he was continuing his surgical endocrinology and organ transplantation
research after returning from a second naval stint. Dr. Hartwell
Harrison, Urologist, who was a team member of the earlier
kidney transplant experiments, was a Virginian, and it was
believed that this had something to do with his recruitment
to Virginia, to modernize the provincial surgery department
and model it after the Boston style with strong teaching and
research as well as clinical performance.
Dr. Hume was born in Muskegan, Michigan in 1917 and received
his M.D. degree from the University of Chicago in 1943. During
the time at Chicago he worked under Dr. William Bloom in the
Department of Anatomy on hypo-thalamic-pituitary-renal interrelationships.
Subsequent to this he did his surgical training in Boston
at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, punctuated by time spent
in the Navy and two years in the navy and two years in the
laboratory as a Harvey Cushing Fellow.
In the laboratory he carried out investigation on the hypothalamic
control of pituitary-adrenocortical secretion in dogs using
sterotactic ablation and remote control stimulation and began
experimental work on renal homotransplantation. In 1951, after
completing the chief residency at Peter Brent Brigham, he
became Director of the Laboratory for Surgical Research at
Harvard. In that year and the next, in conjunction with Dr.
John Merrill, of the Renal Physiology Division of the Department
of Medicine, he carried out nine cadaver donor renal homotransplants
in patients with terminal renal failure. Four of these patients
were the first organ transplants known in man to show sufficient
function to maintain the life of the host, and one untreated
transplant functioned for six months. Attempts were made at
immunosuppresion with corticosteroids, but the supply was
too limited to continue the treatment for more than a few
days.
From 1953-1955 he was again on duty in the Navy stationed
at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda. Here
the work continued on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal relationships
and renal transplantation.
After returning to the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital for a
year, he went to Richmond, Virginia in 1956 as the Stuart
McQuire Professor of Surgery and Chairman of Surgery and Chairman
of the Department. The first twin transplant was done here
in 1957, and the current homotransplant program was begun
in 1962.
Honors include Francis Amory award of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences in 1962(co-recipient), outstanding Harvard
alumnus of the State of Virginia in 1968, Valentine award
by the New York Academy of Medicine in 1970, Humanitarian
award by the Richmond Chapter of Hadassah in 1971, and the
Distinguished Service Medal from the University of Chicago
in 1971. In January 1972, Dr. Hume received the Distinguished
Achievement Award from the Modern Medicine Magazine. Dr. Hume’s
mentor , Dr. Francis Moore, termed him as “restless
genius.” His compulsion to seek excellence influenced
and inspired many of his students and colleagues. He would
not take no for an answer, and he tried to find newer and
better methods in research and clinical care.
He was an excellent teacher; a man who set an example and
taught by doing. He created a free, stimulating atmosphere
for students, fellows, and associates. His discourse was precise,
concise, and lucid, be it written or spoken. He was a Renaissance
man with a depth of intellect and wide ranging interests from
surgery, medicine, and the world as a whole.
To him, there was nothing impossible. He felt he could do
anything if it was thought out well and pursued with tenacity.
He was self confident that he could conquer the insurmountable.
Dr. Hume met his untimely death while piloting a plane that
flew into a mountain on May 19, 1973.
In memory of Dr. David M. Hume, the David M. Hume Memorial
Symposium was organized and held in Richmond from April 24
to April 25, 1974. “The comrades in arms of the Transplant
field from the world gathered for this special occasion.”
In Dr. Francis Moore’s eulogy at the memorial service,
he said: “ Genius perceives the way of the future through
the orderliness of nature. It has been said that nature poses
no problems, only solutions. Genius finds these solutions
and puts them to work for mankind. A restless person is one
who is dissatisfied with things as they are. His restless
spirit leads him to adventures and new ideas, but also to
controversy and sometimes to danger. He often upsets or disturbs
those who would keep things as they are. David Hume’s
restless genius did all those things.”
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