Gregory M. Cahill (1958-2008)

Journal of Biological Rhythms http://jbr.sagepub.com Gregory M. Cahill (1958-2008) Carla B. Green, Joseph C. Besharse, Michael Menaker and Martin R. Ralph J Biol Rhythms 2009; 24; 103 DOI: 10.1177/0748730409332723 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jbr.sagepub.com Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: Society for Research on Biological Rhythms Additional services and information for Journal of Biological Rhythms can be found at: Email Alerts: http://jbr.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://jbr.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Downloaded from http://jbr.sagepub.com at MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN on April 14, 2009 OBITUARY Gregory M. Cahill (1958-2008) It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Gregory M. Cahill. Greg died unexpectedly on December 23, 2008, while traveling home for the holidays. He was 50 years old. In chronobiology, as in other fields of endeavor, it is common to consider someone a friend because of shared interests. Those of us that knew Greg well know that he was a friend well beyond those bounds. Greg grew up in the small town of Janesville, Minnesota, and earned his undergraduate degree in the biological sciences at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis/St. Paul before moving to the University of Oregon to join the laboratory of Michael Menaker for his doctoral studies. There he developed his career-long interest in biological clocks, studying activation of the SCN by its glutamatergic input. As a very independent graduate student, he was one of the first neurobiologists to perform electrophysiological studies on a slice preparation containing the SCN and pioneered the use of the preparation with optic nerve attached. After completing his PhD in 1987, Greg received an NRSA research fellowship and joined Joseph C. Besharse’s laboratory at Emory University in Atlanta for postdoctoral work. Among his major accomplishments were the development of methods for the routine analysis of retinal circadian activity in vitro, the demonstration that isolated retinal photoreceptors behave as clocks, and the discovery that both dopamine and light could phase shift the retinal clock. In the area of retinal melatonin biosynthesis, he discovered that serotonin availability is rate limiting and that melatonin is subject to rapid decay through deacetylation. In 1994, Greg assumed a faculty position at the University of Houston. As he built his own laboratory, he launched into studies that would ultimately establish zebrafish as a model organism that could be used for forward genetic analysis of circadian rhythms. He taught himself genetics and molecular biology and established new assays for measuring circadian rhythms in these animals. His pioneering work on this organism helped to establish zebrafish as an important model system for understanding vertebrate circadian clocks. Greg was kind, gentle, and unpretentious in all walks of life. In science, he was formidably smart and insightful. He was a rigorous and thoughtful researcher, and his insight was invaluable to all those working around him. He was generous with his time, spending countless hours designing experiments and polishing manuscripts, which made him a valued mentor to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and his colleagues. He also loved the outdoors and was happiest canoeing in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, guiding a whitewater raft over rapids in Georgia or Oregon, and fishing. Many of his friends’ and colleagues’ lives were enriched by the time spent on amazing outdoor adventures organized and led by Greg. Above all, Greg was a dear friend to many both within and outside of science. He will be greatly missed and always remembered. Carla B. Green1*, Joseph C. Besharse2, Michael Menaker1, and Martin R. Ralph3 1 Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 2 Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 3 Centre for Biological Timing and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada *Address correspondence to: Carla B. Green, PhD, Department of Biology, 275 Gilmer Hall, University of Virginia, PO Box 400328, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4328, e-mail: cbg8b@virginia.edu. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS, Vol. 24 No. 2, April 2009 103 DOI: 10.1177/0748730409332723 © 2009 SAGE Publications 103 Downloaded from http://jbr.sagepub.com at MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN on April 14, 2009