{"id":334114,"date":"2025-12-09T07:43:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T07:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/334114\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T07:43:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T07:43:49","slug":"innovative-researcher-mitchell-halperin-advanced-the-understanding-of-kidney-physiology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/334114\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovative researcher Mitchell Halperin advanced the understanding of kidney physiology"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Researcher and teacher Mitchell Halperin worked in one of the more complex corners of medicine. As a nephrologist \u2013 kidney doctor \u2013 at St. Michael\u2019s Hospital in Toronto for 50 years, he taught and conducted basic research on renal physiology related to fluid, electrolyte and acid-base homeostasis. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe had an ability to put things in perspective, to put across concepts that were intellectually challenging. He could distill them down to their simple fundamentals, so even a child could see,\u201d says Tony Fields, who learned from Dr. Halperin at St. Michael\u2019s Hospital and the University of Toronto starting in the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had this reputation as a star teacher,\u201d he recalls. Dr. Fields went into oncology and what he learned from Dr. Halperin helped him deal with patient issues such as sodium imbalances. \u201cThe treatment of my patients was improved because I had been a disciple of his.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he trained as a clinician, Dr. Halperin focused on teaching and research. He wrote or co-authored over 350 medical journal articles, 59 book chapters and 11 textbooks. <\/p>\n

That included the book Fluid, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Physiology: A Problem-Based Approach, which he co-authored with his former research fellow and later St. Michael\u2019s Hospital colleague Kamel Kamel. The book\u2019s sixth edition is about to be published; Dr. Kamel says it has endured because of its practical approach. <\/p>\n

Most of Dr. Halperin\u2019s research looked at the nuances of renal physiology to better understand acid-base homeostasis. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis special skill set would be to look at something and look backwards to the fundamental underpinnings of it, and sometimes see how there was a misconception. He could unravel things and envision a way to improve the current understanding,\u201d Dr. Fields says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was innovative in his thinking,\u201d Dr. Kamel says. \u201cI describe him not as somebody who was thinking outside the box, but somebody who was making the box. He always made sure to integrate his ideas into the overall picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Halperin died on Nov. 5 at the age of 88. Many of the doctors caring for him knew of his professional accomplishments. \u201cWhen he went into the hospital for the last time, I was speaking with the neurologist who was looking after him \u2013 so that\u2019s not a kidney doctor. And he said he had three of his books,\u201d says his son, Frank Halperin, also a physician.<\/p>\n

While Dr. Halperin\u2019s area of medicine related to the kidneys, it was really a whole-body, systemic and vital aspect of medicine, as dysregulation of the system could come from lung or heart problems, for instance.<\/p>\n

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Mitchell Halperin, centre, with his son Frank, left, daughter Aileen Halperin-Kozdas, centre-left, wife Brenda, centre-right, and son Ross, right, after receiving the Order of Canada.Courtesy of family<\/p>\n

Dr. Fields nominated his former teacher and longtime colleague and friend for the Order of Canada; Dr. Halperin was named to the order in 2018. Dr. Fields wrote in his nomination letter, \u201cIt is impossible to estimate how many patients worldwide, suffering from serious disease or injury, have had their outcomes improved as an indirect result of Dr. Halperin\u2019s career endeavours and achievements.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mitchell Lewis Halperin was born in Montreal on May 18, 1937, to Fannie (n\u00e9e Jacobs) and Mordechai Halperin, a dentist. He grew up with siblings Ruth and Alex.<\/p>\n

While working as a counsellor at a camp outside Montreal, young Mitch would hang out at a local store. He was 18 when 16-year-old Brenda Geller went over to talk to him, thinking he looked lonely.<\/p>\n

Not long after, when the two young people had become a couple, Mordechai approached Brenda and gave her his late wife\u2019s wedding ring. Fannie Halperin had died recently, so he took it upon himself to let his future daughter-in-law know the family welcomed her. Mitch and Brenda married in 1958, when she was 19 and he 21.<\/p>\n

He studied medicine at McGill University, graduating in 1962. (Brenda trained as a teacher, and later went into nursing.) Along with being a good student, he was athletic, playing hockey at a young age and competing in squash for McGill.<\/p>\n

Dr. Halperin did a fellowship at Boston University and another at the University of Bristol, in biochemistry. By this time, the young Halperin family was expanding to include children Aileen, Frank and Ross, and they accompanied him as he finished his training.<\/p>\n

Dr. Halperin joined St. Michael\u2019s Hospital and the University of Toronto in 1968, enticed by the promise of being able to focus on research and teaching, without clinical care responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people used to talk to him about patients, he\u2019d say he just wanted the numbers. He didn\u2019t need any other information, because the numbers spoke to him,\u201d his daughter Aileen Halperin-Kozdas says. \u201cHe could change people\u2019s lives just by figuring out what they needed. That was his super strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Halperin\u2019s approach was effective; he became a full professor in just seven years. At the hospital, he helped found the division of nephrology, serving as its head from 1998 to 2003.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Halperin and his wife Brenda ride a hydrobike at their cottage, also known as Skootamatta Lodge.Courtesy of family<\/p>\n

Over his career, he earned what St. Michael\u2019s Hospital estimated to be over 25 prestigious honours. That included the Order of Canada, honorary medical degrees from the University of Montreal and Universit\u00e9 d\u2019Auvergne Clermont-Ferrand in France, plus he was named a lifetime honorary member of the Royal Society of Canada and societies of nephrology in Australia\/New Zealand and South Africa.<\/p>\n

Dr. Halperin suffered a stroke in 2010, but kept working, officially retiring in 2018. He continued to do a little teaching and served as an honorary consultant.<\/p>\n

While Dr. Halperin had a 50-year career publishing in high-impact journals, his son Frank says his biggest contribution was in training young clinicians and researchers. For these efforts he earned the American Society of Nephrology\u2019s Robert G. Narins Award for teaching excellence, one of the accolades he was most proud to receive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a huge impact on people\u2019s lives. People didn\u2019t just go through his lab and leave. They stayed close, and he helped with their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Halperins\u2019 Toronto home had a basement room that housed many a friend, student, postdoc and visiting scholar. His children once counted the number of guests who had stayed in that room over the years, and it was up to 32 at one point \u2013 and they knew they had missed names. \u201cThey truly had an open-door type of home,\u201d Aileen says of her parents, who similarly had many guests up to their cottage. \u201cEveryone who worked for him became part of our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both the Halperin parents served as coaches for their children\u2019s sports teams. Dr. Halperin would routinely flood the backyard to make a rink for chaotic hockey games full of kids and dogs. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t one of those hands-off kinds of guys,\u201d recalls Frank, who remembers neighbourhood kids piling into the family station wagon to travel to games. (All three of the Halperins\u2019 children went into health care, with Aileen becoming a nurse and Frank and Ross both doctors.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always so impressed by the time and quality of the family interactions that he had,\u201d Dr. Fields says. \u201cIf I looked at my own work-life balance, it seems quite unbalanced compared to what he achieved while maintaining an international stature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Halperin leaves his wife, children, their spouses, and several grandchildren.<\/p>\n

You can find more obituaries from The Globe and Mail here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To submit a memory about someone we have recently profiled on the Obituaries page, e-mail us at obit@globeandmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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