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Steroids 75 (2010) 295

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Steroids

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bituary

oseph C. Touchstone, Ph.D.

It is important that we salute the lives of individuals who haveade important contributions to the science that this journal pub-

ishes. One of these pioneers, Joseph C. Touchstone, Ph.D., passedway on July 26th, 2009 at the age of 87, leaving a major legacyn separation science related to steroid and lipid biochemistry. He

as a long time faculty member of the Department of Obstetricsnd Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania where he devel-ped the first methods to quantitate estriol in humans and theorrelation with placental function. He also published some of therst studies presaging peripheral steroid synthesis and the impor-ance of local steroid metabolism in determining bioactive steroidoncentrations, setting the stage for the concept of “intracrinol-gy”. A number of these important discoveries were published inhis journal. Dr. Touchstone was an early innovator in the use ofhin layer chromatography and used this technology to developlinical assays for amniotic fluid surfactant phospholipids compo-ents that were widely adopted for the assessment of fetal lungaturity.Joseph Touchstone was born in China. He suffered from quinine-

nduced hearing loss from exposure during a malaria epidemicn childhood. Although he never learned to sign, Dr. Touchstoneecame an expert lip reader and never let his hearing impair-ent interfere with his academic pursuits. He received a bachelor’s

egree from Stephen F. Austin State University, a master’s degree inrganic chemistry from Purdue University, and was awarded a doc-orate in biochemistry and organic chemistry from St. Louis Univer-ity, one of the epicenters of American steroid biochemistry wheree published on estrogen chemistry with Nobel Laureate, Edward. Doisy. In 1952 Touchstone came to the University of Pennsylva-

ia as a Research Associate, and subsequently rose to the rank ofrofessor in 1968. At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Touch-tone collaborated with Drs. David Y. Cooper, Ronald Estabrooknd Otto Rosenthal in the discovery of the role of cytochrome450s in steroid metabolism. He was awarded Emeritus Professor

039-128X/$ – see front matteroi:10.1016/j.steroids.2010.01.002

status in 1992, and continued active engagement in his labo-ratory focusing on separation and quantitation of novel naturalcompounds.

Touchstone’s body of work includes more than 300 publicationsand 15 books, most of them dealing with separation science, partic-ularly thin layer chromatography. Those who had the privilege ofcollaborating with him experienced Joe Touchstone’s remarkableenthusiasm for science, and his magical knowledge of all forms ofchromatography and detection systems. His laboratory was a tem-ple to separation science: glass chromatography tanks were packedinto the fume hoods; boxes of thin layer plates, many of them exper-imental formats sent to Joe for evaluation by manufacturers, linedthe shelves. There, he could solve the most intractable problems oflipid/steroid analysis. He often did the work himself, sleeves rolledup, with a twinkle in his eye and confidence that the task would besuccessfully completed.

Joe Touchstone was a co-founder of Chromatography Forum ofDelaware Valley and served as its first President. The Center forResearch on Reproduction and Women’s Health at the Universityof Pennsylvania acknowledged his contributions to reproductiveendocrinology and research training by creating the Joseph C.Touchstone Ph.D. Award for Excellence in Research.

Jerome F. Strauss III ∗

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), School ofMedicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,1101 East Marshall Street, Sanger Hall, Room 1-071,

Richmond, VA 23298-0565, USA

∗ Tel.: +1 804 828 9788; fax: +1 804 828 7628.E-mail address: jfstrauss@vcu.edu

8 January 2010