Professor Clement Alfred Finch: hematologist, humanist, and mentor for many (July 4, 1915 - June 28, 2010)

Clement Alfred Finch was a physician, researcher and educator who helped advance the scientific basis and practices of diagnosis and treatment of anemia since the time when little was known about the disease. He was born in New York, USA and graduated from medical school in 1941. He had a 60-year tenure at the University of Washington and published extensively (more than 300 scholarly articles and close to 30 key reviews). He was instrumental in collaborating with key Thai hematologists, particularly at the premier Siriraj Medical School. His contribution on iron metabolization in the bloodstream has been a corner stone of hematology. It included seminal research which led to the widespread supplementation with iron in diets by women to avoid iron deficiency anemia.