Abstract
Dale A Pelligrino, PhD, past Secretary of the International Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, died peacefully on 15 August 2016 at his home in Naperville, Illinois. Dale received his PhD (1978) in Physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he studied cerebral acid-base regulation and respiration under the mentorship of Jerry Dempsey, PhD. From 1978 to 1981, Dale was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Bo K. Siesjo, MD, a founding member of the Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. It was during his fellowship in Lund, Sweden that Dale met and fell in love with Yftu, his wife of 35 years. After completion of his post-doctoral studies, Dale returned to the United States where he joined the Department of Anesthesiology, Michael Reese Hospital, and Medical Center in Chicago, which was later incorporated into the University of Illinois-Chicago, where Dale advanced to the rank of Research Professor.
Dale had many exciting and productive years studying cerebrovascular and cerebral metabolic regulation, blood–brain barrier transport, and stroke-related brain damage and protection. Throughout his career, Dale was funded by the National Institutes of Health and worked for the National Institutes of Health in the capacity as advisor, study section member, and as Chair of the Brain Injury and Neurovascular Pathology Study Section. Dale was active in numerous scientific societies, but the one nearest and dearest to his heart was the Society of Cerebral Blood flow and Metabolism. Not only was Dale the Secretary of the Society from 2005 to 2011, but he was also on the Board of Directors, as well as the Editorial Board of the Society’s Journal, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. Dale was also the local host for the Brain’09 meeting in Chicago. As part of his love for science, Dale thrived on the interactions that came with scientific discussions and debate.
© Yftu Pelligrino.
In addition, Dale was a devoted husband, a loving father, and an avid sportsman. In fact, Dale was often accompanied in his world-wide travels by Yftu and their three children. Dale loved any and all sports regardless of whether he was participating or watching. Some of his biggest thrills during each year were the Winter Conference on Brain Research (WCBR) and its European counterpart, EWCBR. Dale was able to do two of the things that he very much loved, discussing and debating science and skiing. While there were times relegated to the scientific sessions, his discussions would carry over to the chair lift and down the moguls to be recycled ad infinitum once on the chair lift again. Dale made numerous friends throughout the years and loved the social interactions with his fellow scientists. Dale participated in an informal group of cerebrovascular scientists who organized and held parties at the international meetings. These informal gatherings brought together scientists in an interactive and unique forum, that due to Dale’s outward going and enthusiastic manner, were much-appreciated by both senior and younger scientists. He will be remembered as a fun-loving and laid back individual on the outside, while on the inside he was very intense and competitive about science and sports. There are many wonderful, funny, and meaningful stories that can be told of Dale. Many of the stories are unbelievable but true. Dale certainly lived life to the fullest. While Dr. Dale Pelligrino left a huge void when he departed, he left an exemplary example and legacy for younger scientists to follow.