Emil J. Freireich Jr.

Emil J. Freireich (March 16, 1927 – February 1, 2021) was an American cancer researcher. He was recognized as a pioneer in the treatment of cancer and use of chemotherapy and is often known as the father of modern leukemia therapy.

Early life Freireich was born in Chicago on March 16, 1927. His Jewish parents, Mary (Klein) and David Freireich, immigrated to the United States from Hungary. He grew up in poverty during the Great Depression. His father died when he was two years old, and his mother worked in a factory to support Emil and his elder sister. He earned his B.S. and M.D. in Medicine from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. As a result, he moved to Presbyterian Hospital of Chicago where he studied internal medicine under Howard Armstrong. He subsequently studied hematology under Joe Ross at Mass Memorial Hospital in Boston, With incremental refinements of original regimens, using randomized clinical studies by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Medical Research Council in the UK (UKALL protocols) and German Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster clinical trials group (ALL-BFM protocols), ALL in children has become a largely curable disease. This approach was extended to the lymphomas in 1963 by physicians at the NCI, who ultimately proved that nitrogen mustard, vincristine, procarbazine and prednisone, known as the MOPP regimen, could cure patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Currently, nearly all successful cancer chemotherapy regimens use this paradigm of multiple drugs given simultaneously, called combination chemotherapy or polychemotherapy.

Freireich stated that he was unfazed by the criticism he initially received for attempting this pioneering method of treatment.

Freireich retired in September 2015, after working at the MD Anderson Cancer Center for 50 years. Nonetheless, he kept on teaching on a part-time basis until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He went on to participate virtually on the center's key meetings.

Freireich died from COVID-19 at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on February 1, 2021. He was 93; and is survived by his wife, Haroldine, their four children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Selected awards Freireich was a recipient of numerous awards for his research, including:

2008 Paul Ehrlich Magic-Bullet Lifetime Achievement Award 2005 Gerald P. Bodey Sr., Distinguished Award 2003 Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research, Columbia University 2001 Cino del Duca Award, 11th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatment 2000 Charles A. LeMaistre Outstanding Achievement Award 1996 Medical Oncology Fellows Outstanding Teacher Award, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 1996 Return of the Child Award, Leukemia Society of America 1990 First NIH Distinguished Alumni Award 1983 Charles F. Kettering Prize, General Motors Cancer Research Foundation 1981 Jeffrey A. Gottlieb Memorial Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center 1979 de Villiers International Achievement Award, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 1976 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award and Lecture, ASCO 1972 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research