01/15/2019
IN MEMORIAM-STEVE TUTTLE
Dear SUPERS students, alumni and staff, it is with heavy heart and immeasurable sadness that I am informing you of the passing of Dr. Steve Tuttle on the morning of 1/13/19 following a brief illness. I know that all of you were very fond of Steve and that his passion and enthusiasm for teaching and the SUPERS program impacted each and everyone of you personally and in your careers. Please see announcement below from the Penn RadOnc Dept. Details for services (tentatively planned for 1/18 and 1/19.) will follow in future posts.
Costas Koumenis, Ph.D.
Vice-Chair and Research Division Director
co-PI, SUPERS program @ UPENN
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Dear colleagues,
It’s with great sadness that I’m writing to let you know that Steve Tuttle passed away on Sunday, January 13, 2019, in his home.
Steve received his B.S. degree in Biology from Muskingum College in 1979 and M.S. in Genetic Toxicology at Case Western Reserve University in 1986. He came to the University of Pennsylvania as a graduate student in 1991 and obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1994 under the supervision of Dr. John Biaglow. Steve continued his career as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate at Penn RadOnc, where he studied with Drs. Biaglow, Koch and Evans to define the role of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in tumor progression and response to therapy. Steve’s work contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms of ROS generation by hypoxia and the pentose phosphate pathway, and the impact of ROS on multiple biological processes including thiol oxidation. In 2007 he joined the lab of Costas Koumenis where he investigated natural products with antioxidant properties (such as curcumin) as potential chemopreventive and radiation response modifiers.
In 2010, working with Drs. Evans and Koumenis, Steve was instrumental to the success of securing a NIH R25 training grant that established an innovative national program for training talented undergraduates in radiation sciences. This program (termed SUPERS) is still active to this day and thanks primarily to Steve’s stewardship and dedication, it has since introduced over 40 individuals (including several Underserved Minorities) to the fields of Radiation Biology, Physics and Imaging. Steve kept in contact with many of these trainee scientists, and he always took great pride in their continued development and success in their respective scientific and medical fields. In addition to these accomplishments, Steve was also Lab Manager for the Research Division at Penn RadOnc, ensuring that all lab research activities and training ran smoothly on a daily basis.
Steve was an avid athlete. He was a swimmer in college, and enjoyed jogging and playing tennis. He also contributed enormously to the Abramson Cancer Center’s annual bike race, raising thousands of dollars in sponsorships on behalf of the RadOnc department.
Steve will always be remembered by his RadOnc colleagues and numerous trainees for his contagious smile, boundless optimism, dedication to teaching and love of his family, as well as for his unwavering support of the perennial underdogs the Cleveland Browns. His passing creates a void that can never be filled. Steve is survived by his wife Nancy, his two children Mary and Rob, and his grandson Aiden.
Funeral details will be sent out as soon as they are available.
Jim
James M. Metz, MD
Professor and Chair
Radiation Oncology
Executive Director, OncoLink
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
