Neil B. Shulman

Neil Barnett Shulman (March 18, 1945 – November 6, 2023) was an American doctor and medical writer who was an associate professor in the School of Medicine at Emory University. He conducted and published clinical research on hypertension and was the co-founder of the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks. He was also the author of many books promoting medical literacy for both adults and children, as well as humor and children's books. He was the associate producer of the 1991 film Doc Hollywood, based on one of his books.

Medical career Shulman graduated from Emory University School of Medicine in 1971, after which he began teaching at the same institution. He has conducted research and published a variety of papers on the field of hypertension, funded at the level of around $8 million by the National Institutes of Health. Shulman also helped launch ISHIB's peer-reviewed quarterly journal, Ethnicity & Disease, and the Heart to Heart Program which brought children from developing countries to the United States for life-saving heart surgery.

Shulman was chairman of the board of Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute, and an advisory board member of Global H.E.E.D., a non-profit organization founded by former students of Emory University, Zain Ahmed '08C and Sonny Bandyopadhyay '07C to promote development, medicine, and public health in Guatemala.

Healthcare activist Shulman was a patient advocate who took an active role on behalf of healthcare consumers and patients with limited access to care. Shulman founded the Medical Volunteerism Conference in 2010 which met at Emory University with over 2,000 international attendants in that year. In 2011 the summit was held again, this time called the Global Health and Humanitarian Summit. He played an active role on behalf of patients affected by the closing of the dialysis clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, GA, which ultimately led to a favourable outcome for the affected patients. held at Emory University between April 12 and April 14, 2013.

Author, filmmaker, website developer Shulman authored and co-authored many books on medical topics, as well as consumer medical primers for adults and children, and children's books. He self-published children's and humour books through his own company, Rx Humor.

In 1991 his book What? Dead…Again? was made into a feature film called Doc Hollywood, starring Michael J. Fox; Shulman was an associate producer on the film. He also produced, co-directed, co-wrote and co-starred in the independent feature film Who Nose? (Wet Sock Productions, 2006).

In 1999 he developed his book Your Body’s Red Light Warning Signals: Medical tips that may save your life into an interactive consumer website (www.redlightwarningsignals.com). In 2007 he developed his children's book What’s in a Doctor’s Bag? into an interactive website (www.whatsinadoctorsbag.com).

Shulman was also a comic performer on the subjects of humour and medical literacy. He often performed in fundraisers for free clinics and other charitable ventures.

Personal life and death Shulman married actress Zoe Haugo in October 2008. They had one son, born September 2006.

Shulman died on November 6, 2023, at the age of 78.

Selected bibliography

Books (with W. Dallas Hall and Elijah Saunders) (with Elijah Sanders and W. Dallas Hall)

(with Letitia Sweitzer)

(with Letitia Sweitzer)

(with Sibley Fleming) (with Sibley Fleming) (with Edmond Moses and Daniel Adame) (with P. K. Beville) (with Todd Stolp and Robin Voss) (with Kristin Anlage)

(with James W. Reed and Charlene Shucker) (with Edmund S. Kim) (with Rowena Sobczyk)

(with Allison Anderson)

(with Eric Spencer) (with Michael Silverman and Adam G. Golden)

Articles (with Gary Cutter, Robert Daugherty, Mary Sexton, George Pauk, Mary Jordan Taylor and Myra Tyler) (with B. Martinez, D. Brogan, A. A. Carr, and C. G. Miles) (with Barry R. Davis, Herbert G. Langford, M. Donald Blaufox, J. David Curb, and B. Frank Polk)

(with Michael J. Klag, Paul K. Whelton, Bryan L. Randall, James D. Neaton, Frederick L. Brancati, Charles E. Ford, and Jeremiah Stamler)

Book chapters "Medical Regimen Adherence and Appointment Compliance" in Hypertension management: Clinical practice and therapeutic dilemmas, Gary L. Wolman and Wilbur Dallas Hall, eds. 1988: Year Book Medical Publishers, pp. 398–405. .