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Baily Herald wire services Ben Barres, a neurobiolo gist who made groundbreak ing discoveries regarding the structure and function of the brain that may have implica tions for understanding Alz heimer’s disease and other degenerative disorders, and who, as a transgender man, became an outspoken oppo nent of gender bias in sci ence, died Wednesday at his home in Palo Alto, California. He was 63. His death was announced by Stanford University, where he was a professor of neuro biology in the medical school. The cause was pancreatic cancer. Barres was one of the world’s leading researchers on glial cells, which are the most numerous structures in the brain but whose pur pose was almost a complete mystery. “Until Ben grabbed hold of this, there was very little known about what they did in the brain,” Beth Stevens, a Harvard University profes sor and MacArthur “genius grant” recipient who studied with Barres, said in an inter view: “He made a remarkable number of discoveries and launched many avenues of research. He started a whale new field.” There are three primary types of glial cells, or glia microglia, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes — but before Barres began to look at glia, their functions were poorly understood. Most researchers concentrated on the brain’s nerve cells or neurons, which send electrical impulses. Barres discovered that some glial cells — the astro cytes, in particular — could have harmful effects. In what he described as “the most important discovery my lab has ever made,” he showed in a 2017 article published in the journal Nature that the glia could undergo changes or could secrete substances that could damage neurons and other cells in the brain. In other words, glial cells might contribute to the degeneration of brain tis sue that is a hallmark of Alz heimer’s and Parkinson's diseases, as well as multi ple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Geh tig’s disease), glaucoma and other conditions. Barres’ work holds promise for other researchers to explore ways to treat or prevent such debili tating illnesses. Barres began his scientific career when he was known as Barbara Barres. After under going hormone treatments and surgery, Barres became known as Ben Barres in 1997. His experience led him to become a powerful advocate for women and other mar ginalized people he believed were denied opportunities in a scientific world dominated by men. “I have this perspective,” he told The Associated Press in 2006. “I've lived in the shoes of a woman and I’ve lived in the shoes of a man. It's caused me to reflect on the barriers women face.” Daniel Talbot, a force in the independent film world who distributed art house movies and co-founded New York City’s influential Lincoln Plaza Cinema, has died. Talbot's death was announced Friday in a post on the movie theater's Face book page. He was in his 90s and had been in declin ing health in recent months, according to trade publica tion Variety. Two weeks ago, it was reported that the theater's lease was up and it could close in January after operat ing for nearly four decades. Talbot and his wife and busi ness partner, Toby Talbot, started and ran the six-screen theater tucked into a base ment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood. The couple would deter mine which films passed muster, flagging them for wider attention, Toby Talbot said in a recent interview with the website Deadline. “We acted as kind of first readers. If a film opened at Lincoln Plaza, it had to be worthwhile,” she said. « The author of the best-selling “alphabet series” of mystery novels died Thurs day in Santa Barbara after a two-year battle with cancer. Sue Grafton was 77. “Although we knew this was coming, it was unex pected and fast. She had been fine up until just a few days ago, and then things moved quickly,” the posting said. Grafton began her “alpha bet series” in 1982 with “A is for Alibi.” Her most recent book, “Y is for Yesterday,” was published in August. ‘The fictional heroine of the series, Southern California private detective Kinsey Mill hone, was Grafton’s alter ego, she told The Seattle Times earlier this year. “I'm an introvert, so doing half of what Kinsey is beyond my poor capabilities, Graf tan said. “But it’s fun to get to live her life without penalty.” She said she was looking forward to reaching the end of the alphabet with “Z is for Zero.” Thomas Stanford, who won an Oscar in 1962 for edit ing “West Side Story,” has died. He was 93. His family says in a news paper announcement pub lished Friday that Stanford died Dec. 23. They did not provide any details about the cause of death, saying only that he had a “long and happy life.” Born in Germany and edu cated in Switzerland and England, he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1987 fol lowing a decades-long career as a film editor in Hollywood. Rose Marie chafed at being a supporting player in the shadow of Mary Tyler Moore’s fetching suburban housewife on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” But it was as feisty comedy writer Sally Rogers that Marie stretched the narrow confines of how women were por trayed on TV in the mid-20th century. Sally was an inde pendent single woman who handled her job as adroitly as her male colleagues and who dated but refused to pine away for romance. Rose Marie, who died Thursday at 94, was proud to have created a woman defined by her work, a rare sitcom character at the time who wasn’t “a wife, mother, or housekeeper,” she tweeted in 2017. A psychiatrist who pio neered the field of psycho-on cology to help patients cope with the emotional impact of cancer has died. Dr. Jimmie Coker Holland was 89. Dr. James F. Holland says his wife died Christas Eve at their home in Scarsdale, New York, of cardiovascular disease. Holland started at Memo rial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 1977 and became the first woman to chair a clinical department there. She went on to train lead ers of psycho-oncology in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Jack Van Berg, a Hall of Fame trainer who oversaw Alysheba to victories in the 1987 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, died Wednesday in a Little Rock, Arkansas, hospital. He was 81. Van Berg ranks fourth all time among trainers in North America, with 6,523 victories from 41,164 starts, according to Equibase. He had career purse earnings of $85,925,482. A longtime WCBS radio reporter whose distinctive voice could be heard deliver ing Connecticut news for 39 years has died. Fran Schnei dau had retired from WCBS Newsradio 880 in February and was 79 years old. The New York-based sta tion announced her death on Wednesday but didn’t dis close the cause of it. Earlier this year, Demo cratic Gov. Daniel P. Mal loy proclaimed Feb. 3 as Fran Schneidau Day in Connecticut. « A longtime local television news anchor in Buffalo, New York, known for his “rap id-fire delivery and famous alliteration has died, by Weinstein was 87. He was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998, and the New York State Broadcasters Asso ciation in 2006. Johnny Bower, a beloved two-time Vezina Trophy win ner who helped the Leafs win their last Stanley Cup in 1967, died Tuesday. He was 93. Bower was a two-time Vezina Trophy winner who became known as the China Wall. His career took off after the Leafs claimed him in an intra-league draft in 1958, and he played 475 regular-season games and won four Stan ley Cups for the Leafs before playing his final game as a 45-year-old in 1969. “There may not be a more laved Toronto Maple Leaf nor a former player who loved them as much back,” Maple Leafs President Brendan Sha nahan said in a statement. Actress Heather Men zies-Urich, who played one of the singing von Trapp chil dren in the hit 1965 film “The Sound of Music” has died. She was 68. Her son, actor Ryan Urich, told Variety that his mother died late Dec. 23 in Frankford, Ontario. She recently had been diagnosed with brain cancer. “She was an actress, a bal lerina and loved living her life to the fullest,” Urich said. Menzies-Urich played Lou isa von Trapp, the third-old est of the seven von Trapp children, in the film adapta tion of the Bodgers and Ham merstein musical that starred Julie Andrews and Christo pher Plummer. “The Sound of Music” cap tured five Academy Awards, including best picture. Ben Barres Sue Grafton Rose Marie Heather Menzies- Urich
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Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Sun, Dec 31, 2017
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