San Diego’s oncology community is mourning the passing of Dr. Thomas Andre Shiftan, an oncologist and trailblazer in the region’s enduring focus on cancer research. With Dr. Ivor Royston and Dr. Allan Goodman, Shiftan co-founded the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, an institution that made nationwid e headlines in 1993 for its push to use an experimental gene therapy to treat the brain tumor of La Mesa resident Clemma Hewitt. Though there was some backlash at the time with the National Institutes of Health around claims that the treatment significantly reduced the size of the tumor, the approach proved prescient. Immunotherapy has long since revolutionized cancer treatment worldwide. Royston, whose career has included co-founding IDEC Pharmaceuticals, was one of Shiftan’s best friends and a colleague for nearly 50 years. The connection centered around a belief that successful cancer programs must have a research component. “Tom was a big believer in the need for better coordination between research and healthcare in oncology,” Royston said. “He was very instrumental in convincing the Sharp HealthCare board and the CEO of Sharp to back an affiliation with the cancer center to create that kind of connection.” Sidney Kimmel, first called the San Diego Regional Cancer Center, merged with the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in 2009. Shiftan, a husband, father, grandfather and supporter of the arts, passed away Dec. 1 of complications of Parkinson’s Disease. He was 79. He was born May 3, 1946, in New York City to Ernest and Carola (Skamper) Shiftan. He earned his medical doctorate in 1972 from Columbia University, nearly three years after marrying his wife, Maureen Clancy, of 56 years. A medical internship in hematology brought the Shiftans to San Diego in 1972 where the newly minted physician worked in the laboratory of Dr. John Mendelsohn. As his career progressed, Shiftan found himself climbing through the ranks at Sharp, serving as chief of medicine at Sharp Memorial Hospital and as medical director of oncology from 1993 to 2011, when he retired. Dan Gross, a former executive vice president at Sharp, said that Shiftan cast a long shadow at the region’s largest medical provider. “Dr. Shiftan was a revered clinician, leader and mentor by physicians, nurses, staff, patients and administrators throughout Sharp HealthCare,” Gross said in an email. “His poise, empathy and intellect were lauded. “Among his many contributions was his role in establishing a system-wide oncology service line, a highly successful research trials program, the joint UCSD/Sharp bone marrow transplant program and affiliation with the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. His impact is indelible not only at Sharp HealthCare, but also in the San Diego community.” Royston noted that his friend’s interests went far beyond research and medicine. Hiking and biking trips coordinated by his wife ranged across the globe. A favorite was trekking through the Dolomites mountain range in northeast Italy. Art and music, especially opera, were passions that also rubbed off on his friends. “Tom was one of the smartest guys that I ever met,” Royston said. “He was knowledgeable about so many things, not just oncology, but in the San Diego art world and in current events and in politics.” Shiftan held season tickets to the San Diego Opera since 1972, serving on the organization’s board of directors from 2016 to 2022. A Parkinson’s diagnosis pushed the physician to retire in 2011, and his wife stepped away from her career as a food editor and columnist at The San Diego Union-Tribune that same year. Visits in recent years, Royston said, showed the enduring strength of this couple’s relationship. Maureen Clancy said that her husband managed to remain involved in family life with their two sons, Nicholas and Benjamin, always making games and practices and tagging along on an endless number of restaurant visits all over the county as she reported on the latest food trends. Here, she said, his sharp memory was particularly useful. “I would be sitting there, writing, a week later, and I would think, ‘oh my God, what was on that pork roast?’” she said. “I would call him at the hospital and ask him, and he could remember the whole thing. “We were a good pair.” Her husband, she added, was known for his laugh, a characteristic that helped brighten exam rooms during often-difficult oncology consultations. And there is an enduring reminder of what his patients thought of him that gets unpacked and displayed this time of year. “There are all kinds of ornaments on our Christmas tree that were gifts inscribed by his patients,” Clancy said. A memorial service is planned at the Shiftan family home in May. Those wishing to honor his memory are invited to donate to the San Diego Opera or to the Fred Saleh and Thomas Shiftan Patient Assistant Fund at Sharp HealthCare. ...read more read less