Dr. Robert Daum, a noted pediatric infectious diseases pediatrician and a friend, died recently of progressive supranuclear palsy disease at the age of 75. Bob, as he was called, was particularly interested in staphylococcal disease and contributed significantly to our knowledge of those bacteria. He studied prototype vaccines against staphylococcal infections as well. His bibliography lists over 190 published papers, mostly relating to that organism. Bob published up until 2019, when his disease made it no longer possible to continue.
Bob was born in Boston and trained at McGill University, where he obtained both a degree in genetics and his MD. The genetics degree was awarded because of his discovery and description of an inborn error of isoleucine metabolism, which he elucidated while he was in medical school. Bob then trained at Montreal Children’s Hospital and Boston Children’s in pediatrics and infectious diseases. He moved to become Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Tulane University in New Orleans where he worked on Haemophilus influenzae type b. In 1988 he moved to Chicago, becoming Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Chicago. There he focused on studying staphylococcal disease and its prevention. Bob’s group elucidated the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and control of the disease. They were one of the first to identify community-associated MRSA. Another important contribution was the identification of the SCCmec type IV element carried by those strains. In addition, he chaired FDA advisory panels and served two terms on the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases from 1983 to 1989. He was a frequent public commentator on staph, including an appearance on 60 Minutes.
Bob was involved in community outreach around Chicago and also in Haitian relief activities. In later years moved to Maryland with his wife Susan so that she could work at NIH and he at the University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development.
Aside from his considerable scientific contributions, Bob was an intelligent and amusing companion whose company I and many others enjoyed. His terminal disease was awful as it interfered with his ability to communicate and caused deterioration over the course of several years, but he bore up well during that terrible time. I will miss our conversations, his wry sense of humor, his intelligence, and that twinkle in his eyes.