The Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota lost one of its most prominent and influential scientists and physicians with the sudden death of John Kersey, M.D., at the age of 74.

A native Minnesotan and a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Minnesota Medical School, Kersey dedicated his life to the development of new treatments for childhood cancer.  He was the founder of the University’s Blood and Marrow Transplant program, serving as director from 1974 to 1995.  He was also the founding director of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, which became a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in 1998.

In 1975, Kersey led the team that completed the world’s first successful bone marrow transplant for malignant lymphoma.  That patient is alive and well today, and bone marrow transplantation has become the standard of care for many types of blood cancers and other illnesses.