| Dr. Philip S. Holzman, at 82; led schizophrenia research
By Katie Nelson, Globe Correspondent, 6/4/2004 Philip S. Holzman, the founder and director of McLean Hospital's Psychology Research Laboratory and one of the country's leading researchers on schizophrenia, died Tuesday after a post-surgery stroke at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was 82. Dr. Holzman was well known for his research on schizophrenics and their unaffected relatives. While most studies of the disorder begin and end at analyzing a schizophrenic's symptoms, Dr. Holzman went beyond that, his colleagues said. Some of his most influential experimentation examined the eye movement of schizophrenics and their relatives. Dr. Holzman found that eye movement in schizophrenics and their relatives is usually erratic. Because people who have the disease and their relatives experience the same type of eye movement patterns, studying it could provide clues as to what types of genes put people at risk for the illness. This discovery changed the way scientists study schizophrenia, said Dr. Bruce Cohen, president and psychiatrist in chief at McLean Hospital, because it established the disease as a brain disorder. "He'll leave a void that can't be filled for so many reasons," Cohen said. "I don't think you can come close to finding anyone in the field who had the breadth of view of the illness that Phil had." While Dr. Holzman is known throughout the world as a preeminent scientist, he was a humble man, said Dr. Jerome Kagan, who became a friend and academic colleague during their tenure at Harvard University. "He comes close to what Americans regard as ideal," Kagan said, describing him as a sanguine person with an extraordinary sense of humor. After receiving a bachelor's degree in 1943 from the College of the City of New York, he earned a doctoral degree from the University of Kansas in 1952. Dr. Holzman trained at the Menninger Foundation School of Clinical Psychology, the Winter Veterans Administration Hospital, and Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis in Kansas. In Topeka, Dr. Holzman cofounded the Fine Arts Society, which arranged chamber music concerts for which he penned the program notes. Later in life he started taking cello lessons and eventually played in chamber music groups, said one of his sons, Carl Holzman. He later joined the faculty of the University of Chicago as a professor in the departments of psychology and psychiatry, and in 1977 he founded the Psychology Research Laboratory at McLean Hospital in Belmont. He led the laboratory and its staff of about 10 until his death. He was also the Esther and Sidney R. Rabb Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and a professor in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In Boston, Dr. Holzman became involved with many of the area's scientific community organizations. He was a communications secretary for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a scientific council member for the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He also had a lifelong affinity for nature, despite his urban roots, his son said. As an avid mountain climber, he scaled the highest peaks of the Rockies in treks that often began at 3 a.m. Besides his son, Dr. Holzman leaves his wife of 58 years, Ann; another son, Paul; a daughter, Natalie Bernardoni; a sister, Sylvia Steinbrock; and three grandchildren. He was buried in Chicago. A private memorial service will be today. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. This story ran on page C23 of the Boston Globe on 6/4/2004. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. |