The one hundred honoree: Kurt J. Isselbacher, MD

For more than 45 years, Dr. Isselbacher has dedicated his life to the Massachusetts General Hospital. After more than three decades as chief of the gastroenterology unit, he became the founding director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, a position he held until 2003. During his time at the helm, Dr. Isselbacher enhanced the Cancer Center’s mission to provide compassion­ate, comprehensive care to a diverse community of patients and families, to conduct fundamental research into the causes of cancer and its treatment, to foster the translation of basic research to clinical application, and to educate and train the country’s future scientific and clinical leaders in cancer. Dr. Isselbacher’s keen vision and steadfast pursuit of excellence led to the establishment of the superb clinical and research enterprise that is the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.