Stream: social
Topic: Ed Helton
Grahame Grieve (Feb 27 2019 at 06:51):
It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of Dr. Edward Helton on February 21, 2019. Ed was a dedicated and valued member of our CBIIT family for over 10 years and will be dearly missed. His work in imaging informatics and standards has had an impact on the entire cancer research community.
Ed received his PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His diverse roles include biochemist for the World Health Organization; director the PK/PD Clinical Investigation Lab for Brooke Army Medical Center; director of the Drug Research and Evaluation Program, Hormone Research Program at the FDA; and chief scientist for Safety and Bioinformatics at SAS, among many others. In addition, Ed was an evangelist for data standards throughout his career and had ongoing leadership roles in international Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) such as CDISC and HL7. Ed has numerous publications to his name, but he was always humble about his success and quick to give credit to others.
At NCI, Ed led several important initiatives, collaborating with the Cancer Imaging Program over many years. He was the federal lead on the National Biomedical Imaging Archive (NBIA), a resource for the research community and the technology that underlies The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA). His invaluable guidance allowed the Biomedical Research Integrated Domain Group data model (BRIDG) to progress to an internationally balloted standard at three different SDOs (CDISC, HL7, and ISO). Combining his expertise in standards and imaging, he led the Clinical and Translation Imaging Informatics Project, and more recently, the Data Integration and Imaging Informatics project (DI-cubed) which used the SDTM standard to integrate multiple data types in a single repository. In partnership with the NCI DCCPS SEER team, he supported the SEER Virtual Tissue Repository effort. Under the Interagency Oncology Taskforce, he worked extensively on the collaborative informatics efforts between NCI and the FDA for regulatory data standards and the development of a system that allows data sharing between the organizations.
Ed also served his country as a Captain and a medic during the Vietnam war, an experience he often referred to as one of the most profound and meaningful in his life, and for which he earned a bronze medal.
What stood out most about Ed was his cheerful, kind, caring personality, his adventurous spirit, and his love of life. He was an avid outdoorsman, starting from his childhood on the plains of Oklahoma. A bit of a cowboy, he rode his horse every day and enjoyed living near the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Ed was always the person who asked how you and your family were doing, and then really listened to the answers. If you needed advice or just an ear, Ed was always there. He will be sorely missed for his wisdom and generosity and his absence will be felt throughout the research community.
Ed is survived by a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren.
Those who wish to remember and honor Ed may give donations to the American Cancer Society. Please pass this along to anyone else who would want to know.
Tony
Anthony R. Kerlavage, PhD
David Johnson (Feb 27 2019 at 19:21):
Thank you for sharing this. Ed was a big help to me when I joined the staff at HL7. I was not aware of his history and his diverse roles. He will be missed.
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
