It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Dr. James Sharpe in November 2013.
Jim Sharpe was a central figure in world neuro-ophthalmology across many decades. After a residency in neurology at the University of Toronto, he completed fellowships in neuro-ophthalmology with Bill Hoyt at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Joel Glaser at Bascom Palmer. However, no amount of training could of itself account for the career that followed. Jim was the quintessential physician scientist, equally brilliant when dealing with a problem in diagnosis as when carrying out groundbreaking research on eye movements. Jim exemplified the need for keen clinical observation as the catalyst for advances in scientific knowledge.
He made many astute observations on the status of smooth pursuit, saccades and the vestibulo-ocular reflex in patients with brainstem disorders, the effects of cerebral lesions on smooth pursuit, and the impact of age and disorders of ageing such as Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease on saccades and pursuit. He was also the first to describe the condition of hereditary horizontal gaze palsy with scoliosis, a disorder we now know to be due to mutations in the Roundabout, axon guidance receptor, homolog 3 (ROBO3) gene.
Jim was not one to “take prisoners” in any discussion concerning his areas of expertise. His vigorous approach arose from a deep understanding of his subject, gained through wide reading of both clinical studies and basic physiology, and from a refusal to tolerate woolly or prejudicial thinking. The success of his fellows is testament to his great ability to pass on his precise analytic approach to those who were fortunate to be trained by him. He was a good mentor who respected those trainees who shared his clinical and research interests, and ultimately a valued friend of his fellows, who appreciated his idiosyncratic character. No encounter between former trainees passed without an exchange of an amusing Sharpe story.
His entire career was spent at the University of Toronto. He became a full professor at 45 years of age and 3 years later was Head of Neurology. He served as President of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society and was recipient of its Distinguished Service Award. He also became Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. Outside of work he was an avid golfer and skier, who had just recently purchased his latest set of winter gear. Those who attended a symposium in his honour in 2009 also got a glimpse of another side of Jim, as a beloved father and grandfather to five young children. By the time of that symposium he had trained 34 fellows in neuro-ophthalmology, many of whom attended the event, as a living legacy of his career. It is a shame that we could not have had him for longer, but a gift that we had him for as long as we did.