Remembering Irving Listowsky—A Mensch at the Bench
On April 28, 2021, Einstein was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Irving Listowsky, Ph.D., professor emeritus of biochemistry. He was 85.
Irving Listowsky, Ph.D.
Irving was among the beloved, long-serving faculty who grew up with the College of Medicine. He arrived as a postdoctoral fellow in 1963 and rose through the faculty ranks, from instructor to professor, reaching that latter status in 1979. He was a member of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center and of the Marion Bessin Liver Research Center from its inception in 1974. And, at various times, he was a course leader for Intermediate Biochemistry, Advanced Medical Biochemistry, and Biochemistry of Metabolic Regulation.
He once recalled of the Advanced Medical Biochemistry course, “It was an amazing experience, perhaps far ahead of its time. We chose lecturers for diverse subjects connecting clinical medicine to basic science—translational medicine 20-some-odd years before it became the craze.”
Outside of Einstein, Irving served in editorial capacity on several journals, including editor of “Structure and Function of Iron Storage and Transport Proteins” for Elsevier. He also enjoyed his year as a visiting professor in organic chemistry at the Weizmann Institute, in Israel.
A Driving Passion for Glutathione S-transferases
A young Irving Listowsky in his office
Although he had retired in 2009, he continued to come to campus and to collaborate with colleagues, recently publishing a paper in 2020—in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS)—with his former postdoctoral trainee and dear friend Yoshiro Niitsu, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus at Sapporo Medical University, in Japan.
“Irving's trainees and lab associates remained closely associated with him for the duration of their careers,” noted Vern Schramm, Ph.D., who served as chair of biochemistry following Irving’s mentor Sam Seifter, Ph.D. “It’s fitting that his final paper was a collaboration with Dr. Niitsu, with whom he had a special bond, and also that the paper focused on the role of glutathione S-transferases in genetic mutant-derived cancers. The family of cell-protecting enzymes called the glutathione S-transferases were the scientific love of Irving's life.”
Dr. Schramm added, “During the early phases of Irving’s career, a new member of this enzyme family was announced almost annually. In a heroic effort, in 1992, he and his collaborators completed a landmark review in which they classified and named all members of this large and growing enzyme family.”
Dr. Niitsu, who was Irving’s first postdoc from 1972 to 1974, shared via email: “When I was informed the other day that he passed away sitting in his chair, I almost collapsed and felt as if I lost my blood brother. I could hardly believe it because just two days ago, we had a discussion… about our new data, which follow those on the role of “glutathione S-transferase in mutated KRAS signaling” published in PNAS last year.
He added, “Although it is difficult for me to recover from the shock…, I will do my best to accomplish his last scientific achievement in the near future.”
A Student of and Champion for Science and Medicine
Throughout his career, Irving was a faithful participant in the biochemistry department’s seminars and symposia. “He never failed to ask, in a modest, understated way, penetrating questions that often took the speaker by surprise,” recalled Dr. Schramm.
He also took part in important research oversight, at the invitation of Edward R. Burns, M.D., executive dean, who recalled, “Irving was a straight arrow when it came to honesty in research. He had no patience for those who bent the rules. I invited him to sit on a panel that would review accusations of research misconduct by faculty members and his insights and fairness shone through and made that committee a gem.”
Dr. Schramm agreed, noting, “Irving was always willing to help in any way he could, and never uttered an unkind word about anyone. He was the resident mensch of the Forchheimer third floor for decades.”
Irving, fourth from top left, with his YU basketball coach and teammates in 1957
Irving served on the admissions committee for about a dozen years, as well, interviewing future medical students and lending his perspective. “Irving was a wonderful, kind, gentle soul who was always ready with a joke and made us laugh,” said Noreen Kerrigan, associate dean of admissions. “He also was a brilliant scientist and made my day whenever he stopped by ‘hunting’ for chocolate.”
Irving forged friendships with Ph.D. and M.D. students, alike, often serving as an unwitting influence in their careers as well as those of his trainees. His second postdoc, Kunihiko Ishitani, M.D., Ph.D., shared that the door to his current work in palliative cancer care opened when Irving introduced him to Calvary Hospital, a Bronx neighbor of the College of Medicine. Dr. Ishitani is president of Higashi Sapporo Hospital, which he founded in 1983.
Some Backstory
Irving was born in Vilna, Poland on December 21, 1935, during the rise of the Third Reich and their “final solution” to eliminate the Jews of Europe. He was still an infant when his parents determined it was time to flee. His father studied under a rabbi who was being given visas by the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara that would permit safe transit to Japan, but his mother was American, which would allow the young family to return to the United States. They ultimately decided to go to America.
Irving was raised Orthodox and was faithfully observant throughout his life, wearing a yarmulke and keeping Kosher. Following high school, he had planned to study Talmud full-time at the Telz Yeshiva, in Cleveland. He approached Sam Seifter and his wife Eleanor (who was a first cousin of his mother’s) for advice since they were from Cleveland, and Irving recalled, “I’m still unsure how it happened—Sam gently convinced me not to give up my secular studies entirely and to compromise by attending Yeshiva University.”
Irving majored in biochemistry at Yeshiva—and, tall and lanky at about six feet, he played on the university’s basketball team, where he was coached by Red Sarachek (mentor to Red Holzman and others) from 1953 to 1957 and got to play at Madison Square Garden. After earning his Ph.D., in physical organic chemistry and polymer chemistry in the lab of Dr. Murray Goodman, at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, he arrived at Einstein to complete his postdoctoral training with Dr. Seifter’s good friend and colleague Sasha Englard, Ph.D., professor emeritus of biochemistry.
“Irving was my first postdoctoral fellow and we published many papers together in research areas that were essentially his contributions,” said Dr. Englard, who continued to connect with his long-time friend after moving to Israel in 2012. “Using a spectrophotometer, which was a new instrument at the time, we studied the structural and biochemical aspects of many diverse carbohydrates, and Irving contributed enormously to the scientific productivity of our institution. It was my privilege to sponsor him for a permanent independent faculty position in our department.”
He added, “I’m devastated by the loss of my dear friend.”
A Healthy Appetite for Food and Basketball
Irving’s strict religious observance posed occasional challenges. Dr. Niitsu recalled, “During these 50 years of our friendship, he kindly accepted my invitation four times (once with his all his family members) to visit us in Japan to deliver lectures despite the difficulty to find Kosher food.” The duo enjoyed many adventures trying to find food suitable for meeting Irving’s dietary requirements.
Irving liked to eat and had a notable sweet tooth. “He could be found at every departmental or Einstein event where Kosher food was available,” observed Dr. Schramm. “And, he was famous for ordering the rich chocolate brownie, more often, two of them, yet he never gained weight.”
He also maintained many of his early basketball skills into his 70s. For many years he was the perennial winner of our Falk Center’s annual free-throw and three-point shooting contests.
“He used the old-style, two-handed set shot and was a dead-eye from outside,” said Steve Almo, Ph.D., professor and chair of biochemistry, who has a favorite basketball memory from when he, Irving, and some other Einstein faculty visited the Weizmann Institute in the 1990s.
“We were on a break and Irving and I found our way to a basketball court on the campus. We were shooting around when these two, young Israeli men challenged us to a game,” he recalled.
A recent photo of Irving with his family during the COVID-19 pandemic
“They didn’t know what hit them. We were two Jews from Brooklyn, me all elbows and New York-aggressive and Irving with his pinpoint shooting from the perimeter. They couldn’t believe it when we beat them. Nor could we; I was in my 40s and Irving was in his 60s!”
He was also known to challenge the occasional Falk hoopsters to a friendly game of H-O-R-S-E, in which a player must hit a shot that the other player has made to avoid getting a letter, where his proficiency in shooting often led to victory over much younger opponents. He adventures with basketball continued until he was 80.
Irving leaves his wife Sarah (Shirley), their three children, Rena Boniuk, Dr. Philip Listowsky, and Rabbi Ari Listowsky, his children’s spouses Dr. Jonathan Boniuk and Karen Listowsky, and eight grandchildren. Our Einstein family extends its heartfelt condolences to the Listowsky family.
Editor's Note: If you would like to leave a remembrance of Dr. Listowsky, please visit our In Memoriam page.
Posted on: Tuesday, June 08, 2021