Remembering Dean Arvan, MD
Dean A. Arvan, MD, twice acting chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and longtime leader of the clinical laboratories known for his visionary leadership, kind mentorship, and innovation at the University of Rochester Medical Center, died Jan. 14.
Dr. Arvan’s long and accomplished career at URMC began in 1977 when he became the director of the clinical laboratories—a role he held for 20 years. He served as acting chair of the department from 1997-98 and from 2002-04.
His additional roles included associate chair for clinical affairs and coordinator of outpatient laboratory services, in the 1990s. He also served as senior associate dean for Academic Affairs for the School of Medicine & Dentistry.
Dr. Arvan is known for changing the way laboratories functioned within a hospital, going from a decentralized model of small testing labs working disconnectedly around the hospital to an operation where specialized tests could be done in a centralized setting with equipment that had the capability to do different tests in one place.
He advocated to bring new technologies into the everyday workflow and, in doing so, helped the medical center operate more efficiently. This served to raise the profile of lab medicine from “a nascent specialty,” to one that was more respected, said former chair and mentee, Eileen (Dan) Ryan, MD.
“Each area in Medicine (like Nephrology, Surgery, and others) had labs right physically there,” explained Ryan. “Dean’s major achievement was to bring them all together, centralize them so you have the ability to automate and innovate across boundaries. Dean made it happen here.”
When Dr. Arvan first came, lab results were handwritten on paper and sent via tube system within the hospital. This fragmented and archaic way of working looks nothing like today’s structure, which performs a high volume of patient tests under one roof.
This was no easy task, but his leadership and natural curiosity laid the foundation for the wide-reaching enterprise that would one day become UR Medicine Labs—which now provides access to patients at nearly 40 lab locations and processes millions of outpatient and inpatient tests every year.
Dr. Arvan was used to stepping into the unknown for much of his life. He was born in the country of Greece and came to the U.S., sight-unseen, to pursue a career in medicine and put down roots. His son, David, said his father arrived in New York City alone with his suitcase. He didn’t speak the language particularly well but managed to find his way.
When he was a medical student at Hahnemann (Drexel) University, he met his future wife, Joan, a nurse, while on rotation at a local hospital. They went on to have three sons, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. David Arvan recalls going on family vacations to the Jersey Shore and losing track of their father, who had struck up a conversation with someone he’d just bumped into.
“He had this natural curiosity about a lot of things that played into the academic, scientific, and research side of things,” said David, “but he had a lot of curiosity about other things in the world, and an outgoing nature and friendliness toward other people.”
That curiosity translated well into research and the desire to venture into the unknown. He was the editor of the medical journal Clinica Chimica Acta, covering clinical laboratory research, and a lifelong history buff who enjoyed gardening and travel.
“Dr. Arvan was always a gentleman, could often be seen smoking his pipe in his office as he busily assembled the beginnings of the clinical laboratories empire,” wrote former department chair Bruce Smoller, MD, in his department history book A Pathway to Excellence.
Many former colleagues and current faculty, some of whom came to the department as residents, say Dr. Arvan was a deeply curious and supportive mentor who recruited them to URMC and helped them navigate their own careers.
“When I arrived almost 20 years ago, Dr. Arvan was already the former chair, but he took time to stop in and meet me, ask probing questions, and over the months he would return, checking up on me, providing wisdom as I settled into a leadership role in a wholly new environment,” said W. Richard Burack, MD, PhD. “He was an inspirational physician, scientist, and gentleman.”
Former Chair Steven Spitalnik, MD, arrived as a resident and credits the “warm, mentoring culture” and quality of the division with his decision to choose transfusion medicine as a specialty. Dr. Arvan gave him the opportunity to learn how to review a scientific manuscript and provided invaluable guidance.
“Dr. Arvan was always there for me during every step of my career as a physician-scientist; I will miss him greatly,” said Spitalnik.
Neil Blumberg, MD, remembers Dr. Arvan recruiting him in 1980 to be the first full-time director of the Transfusion Medicine/Blood Bank service. He also helped recruit Joanna Heal, MRCP, Blumberg’s wife, to work as a medical director and research collaborator at the Rochester chapter of the American Red Cross.
“He single-handedly assembled a group of physician and medical scientist faculty that constituted the first organized laboratory medicine division in the history of URMC,” said Blumberg.
His ability to bring people together for a common purpose will be part of his legacy. On a personal level, many will remember his kindness in small ways that made big impacts. Ryan recalls one work trip when Dr. Arvan carefully demonstrated how to pack a suit jacket and avoid wrinkling it by turning the sleeves inside out. That was him.
“He came from the old world,” said Ryan. “He was cautious and serious about everything he did and paid attention to what was going on with other people. He was a good leader that way.”
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