In Memoriam: Jay M. McDonald, MD, FASCP, Professor Emeritus and Former Chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

ASCP mourns the passing of a longtime member, distinguished colleague and good friend, Jay M. McDonald, MD, FASCP, on June 5, 2019.

Dr. McDonald was professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Medical Center Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Pathologist-in-Chief at the University of Alabama Hospital from 1990 to 2008. He went on to serve as an Emeritus professor in the Department of Pathology and was the long-time director of the UAB Center for Metabolic Bone Diseases, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As the inaugural holder of the Anderson Endowed Chair of Pathology, he served as principal investigator on multiple extramural grants including those funded by the NIH, VA and NASA.

Throughout his career, Dr. McDonald received numerous honors and awards, including the Mary Jane Krugal Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Association, the Evans Award from the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Pathology Chairs. In 2009, ASCP presented Dr. McDonald the ASCP Ward Burdick Award for Distinguished Service to Clinical Pathology, in recognition of his significant contribution to pathology through sustained service to the profession and to the Society.

Dr. McDonald served on the AJCP Editorial Board from 2003-2005, and the ASCP Board of Directors Business Development Task Force from 1999-2000. In addition, he served on the External Review Committee of the Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at numerous major institutions as well as the Institute of Medicine Committee on Creating a Vision for Space Medicine During Travel Beyond Earth Orbit. He had served as president of the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists, was editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Pathology from 2003-2008, and served on the editorial boards of three scientific journals. Over the span of his career, he made major contributions broadly to basic science, education and research in clinical pathology.

His early research focused on signal transduction in insulin action. He championed the role of calcium and the intracellular calcium receptor, calmodulin and G-proteins in insulin action. His was one of the early groups to demonstrate active calcium homeostatic mechanisms in the plasma membrane, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum of non-muscle cells. He proceeded to characterize their role in adipocytes in the mechanism of insulin. His research later shifted from diabetes to three other major areas of research: bone disease, cancer pathogenesis and AIDS pathogenesis.

“Jay left a legacy of integrity and vision in the Department of Pathology, where he served as chair for nearly 20 years, and across the institution,” wrote Selwyn M. Vickers, MD, Senior Vice President for Medicine and Dean of the UAB School of Medicine, and George J. Netto, MD, UAB’s Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair of Pathology.