Remembering Bryan Myers
November 15, 1936 - January 27, 2023
February 7, 2023
Bryan Myers, Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), Emeritus
Tara Chang, Division Chief, Nephrology
It is with great sadness that I write to announce that Dr. Bryan Myers passed away peacefully on Friday January 27, 2023 after a long illness. Dr. Myers was widely recognized for his significant contributions to the field of nephrology. Before translational medicine was fashionable, he was doing it. His studies on the defects in the glomerular filtration barrier that cause proteinuria have stood the test of time and continue to be cited in authoritative papers on the subject. He extended his research to a broad range of human kidney diseases--acute kidney injury, pregnancy, diabetic kidney disease, and kidney transplants. As we learned more about the kidney, we have been able to actually “see” the hypothetical pores that Dr. Myers identified 40 years ago. Dr. Myers won Stanford’s prestigious Albion Walter Hewlett Award in 2003.
Dr. Myers was a treasured clinician, educator, mentor and friend to many during his long career in nephrology. He served as Stanford’s Chief of the Division of Nephrology from 1984 to 2003. The Bryan Myers lectureship was established in his honor in 2019. Planning for the next lectureship in 2023 is underway and will include a celebration of his life and many achievements.
Rex Jamison, Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), Emeritus
In 1975, I was collaborating with Barry Brenner at UCSF on a research project. I met Bryan who was on a sabbatical leave from Israel where he was chief of nephrology at a hospital in Televiv. Not satisfied with his clinical achievements, he wanted to get involved in research. We hit it off immediately and before he returned to Israel, I arranged for him to spend some time as a consultant at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital. He impressed us as an excellent clinician and nephrologist. He then returned home.
Roy Maffly and I were co-heads of a young division of nephology and were recruiting for new faculty. Despite knowing there was no chance that Bryan could accept a position back here, I nevertheless wrote him, because I thought so much of him. To my amazement and delight, I received a reply from him stating that he would indeed be interested in the position.
There were fewer barriers to moving to the United States from a foreign country in those days and not too much difficulty in getting an appointment at Stanford since it did not grant tenure, although it was in the tenure line.
Bryan and Jean and their two boys needed a home; my wife, Dede, and I went house hunting and found a lovely home on the Stanford campus and bought it! When Bryan arrived at the San Francisco airport on a hot day in 1976, Dede met him and drove him back to Stanford. She hid her nervousness from Bryan; she was worried he might not like the house. Thankfully he did, and so did Jean.
In 1976 at the age of 38, Bryan Myers began his career at Stanford as a nephrologist, teacher and, for the first time, in investigative grant-supported research.
Three years later, Bryan published a landmark paper in the American Journal of Physiology in collaboration with Alan Michaels, a chemical engineer at Stanford. It introduced a new method of fractional dextran clearances in a mass conservation model that showed for the first time in human patients evidence of tubular damage in acute renal failure that been found in animal experiments. This method with subsequent refinements was used by Bryan over the next 40 years to study a variety of glomerular diseases in humans that brought him international recognition. Along with his reputation as a clinical nephrologist and teacher, this earned him Stanford’s Albion Walter Hewlett award as well as other awards and memberships in honorary societies.
He was a wonderful friend.
Bryan Myers was a Man for All Seasons.
Richard Lafayette, Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)
We know that Bryan was a well-funded, innovative, highly impactful investigator who shaped care in critical care, obstetrics, transplantation and glomerular disease by exploring root pathophysiology. More importantly, he was beloved as a warm, caring and paternal mentor, physician, colleague and friend who is dearly missed.
Jane Tan, Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)
Bryan’s academic achievements are profound and enduring. He delineated the pathophysiology of calcineurin inhibitor toxicity in the 80s, acute tubular necrosis in the 90s, pre-eclampsia 00s, and renal senescence in the 10s, all in human subjects. He was a pioneer of translational research.
Equally enduring is his mentorship and sponsorship of women in scholarly pursuits. He was a kind mentor with undying curiosity and a sense of wonder who cared to include many of us in the collective pursuit of knowledge. In short, he was a man of integrity and a great role model.
Ralph Rabkin, Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), Emeritus
As a child, Bryan lived in a small rural Afrikaans-speaking town in South Africa. Elocution explains his distinct and warm English accent.
At Stanford, he demonstrated his qualities as a Triple Threat par-excellence.
In research, he was at the forefront of the study of human glomerular function in health and disease, and his contributions have stood the test of time and replication.
As a teacher, Bryan mentored and inspired junior faculty, fellows and students and guided them successfully on their course through the field of medicine.
Bryan also excelled as a clinician and his deep caring was exhibited when he invited a lonely Jewish South American patient to his family home to celebrate the Sabbath.
A good friend for over 65 years from the University Cape Town Medical School, Bryan will be sorely missed.
John Scandling, Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), Emeritus
Bryan’s greatest gift to us was his generosity, both personal and professional.