Blood and marrow transplantation: a perspective from the University of Minnesota

On the occasion of the first meeting of the Robert A. Good Immunology Society in June of 2006, I was asked to provide a perspective on the history and progress of the field of bone marrow transplantation. I was honored to provide this perspective at that meeting and subsequently in this manuscript. This review has a strong University of Minnesota bias, as Minneapolis is a place where important roots in this field were developed. Minnesota is also where I have spent my career in this field learning the excitement of laboratory research beginning as a medical student under Bob Good and Carlos Martinez in 1960, and clinical research in pediatrics under Bill Krivit and Mark Nesbit beginning in 1970. This review is dedicated to two of my recently deceased mentors: Bob Good was a pioneer in so many ways and a true giant in immunology and blood and marrow transplantation. Bill Krivit taught me a great deal about genetic diseases and the critical role of compassion and understanding patients and their families in dealing with fatal illness and new treatments such as bone marrow transplantation that are often risky and themselves may result in suffering and death. My affection for Bob Good and Bill Krivit is unending.