It is with sorrow we announce the passing of James D. Connor, M.D., on Aug. 10, 2022. Jim was a founding member of the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics and the first Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He was 95.
Jim grew up in South Carolina where he went to Clemson University on the G.I. bill and graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1953. He did his pediatric training at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan where he also served as Chief Resident. Following a brief stint at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Jim joined the faculty at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Variety Children’s Hospital where he also completed an NIAID-supported fellowship in Virology. It was there that he met and married Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor with whom he remained married until Elizabeth’s passing in 2019. After spending a little more than 10 years in Miami, Jim moved to UC San Diego in 1970 as the founding Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.
Jim is remembered for his bedside skills with children and families. With humility and when appropriate with a touch of humor, he talked to parents about their child’s condition in clear, precise and non-threatening ways. It helped that this “farm boy” from South Carolina had a twinkle in his eyes that reflected his humanity and that he was always present for the family. He was an astute clinician and always had important insights into clinical diagnoses. Faculty who worked with Jim remember his attention to detail and his ability to identify important positive and negative physical findings, and then connect the findings with the pathology of the disease. He had the keen knack of transmitting his wisdom to students, residents and fellows.
Early in his career at the University of Miami, Jim identified a role for adenovirus in producing a pertussis-like syndrome. At UC San Diego, Jim established the first laboratory to study antiviral pharmacokinetics. He was the first to study the pharmacokinetics of ribavirin which at the time was being evaluated against herpes simplex virus. These studies led to his doing the first phase 1 single dose studies of acyclovir. These initial studies led to the assessment of acyclovir in children as well as adults. Jim went on to have an important role in defining the pharmacokinetics of ganciclovir. With the pandemic of AIDS/HIV, Jim greatly expanded his studies into the pharmacokinetics of antiretrovirals, and was among the original pharmacologists to stress the importance of identifying the appropriate dose of antiretrovirals in this exploding field. Perhaps most importantly, he stressed the importance of pharmacokinetic studies of antiretrovirals in infants and children, and pregnant women.
Jim was a visionary and encouraged young investigators to study the pharmacokinetics of drugs in children. He was an outstanding mentor and helped to launch the careers of many fellows and junior faculty. Important junior people that Jim mentored who have become leaders in Pediatric pharmacology include Drs. Edmund Capparelli and Brookie Best (current Dean of the Skaggs School of Pharmacy) at UCSD and Mark Mirochnick at Boston University, all of whom have gone on to become leaders in the pharmacology of drugs in pregnant women, infants and children. As a leader in infectious diseases, Jim trained subsequent leaders in the field including Yvonne Bryson, Margaret Keller, Russell Van Dyke and Stephen Spector who for many years served as the chiefs of Divisions of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and national leaders at UCLA, Harbor General Hospital-UCLA, Tulane University and UC San Diego, respectively. Jim was a diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics, and member of the American Pediatric Society, American Society for Microbiology, Infectious Disease Society of America, and The Society for Pediatric Research, The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and The International Society of Antiviral Research.
Jim loved life. His favorite saying when things got stressful was “life is too short,” and put things into perspective. He was a much beloved husband, father and grandfather. Jim is survived by his children and their spouses, Dave and Barbara Connor, Roger and Susan (Connor) Way, Jon and Karen Connor, Caroline Connor and Pat Styles, and Steve and Christy Connor and his many grandchildren and great-granddaughter.
In Memoriam
A public memorial service will be held at La Jolla United Methodist Church on Oct. 3, 2022, at 2 p.m.
