Dr. Thomas R. Dawber, 92; Headed Key Research Into Heart Disease for 20 Years
Dr. Thomas Royle Dawber, 92, whose research transformed the medical world’s understanding of heart disease, died Nov. 23 in Florida after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, his daughter, Dr. Nancy Dawber, said.
He led the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, Mass., one of the most important research projects of the 20th century, for two decades beginning in 1949. It was founded by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1948 to discover the causes of heart disease and ways to prevent it.
Framingham researchers have published 1,300 scientific papers about research into heart disease and strokes.
A key finding came in 1961, when researchers linked cholesterol levels and blood pressure to an increased risk of heart disease.
A 1988 report by Framingham Heart Study associated heart disease with “type A” behavior, characterized by tenseness and aggression.
Dawber led a campaign that raised more than $500,000 to save the study from extinction in 1968, when the federal government considered shutting it down.
