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Paul O.P. Ts'o passed away on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 5:20am.
Memorial services were held on December 4 and 5, 2009.
The Ts'o family wishes to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and support
during our mourning, and for the fitting tributes voiced during the memorial
services.
Memorial donations may be made online to the American
Association for Cancer Research.
For both forms of memorial donations,
please include the name of the person whom you are memorializing (Paul OP Ts'o)
and use the notification address:
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Paul O.P. Ts'o, PhD
Paul O.P. Ts'o, PhD, an internationally renowned biophysical chemist who dedicated most of his career to cancer research, died on December 2, 2009 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 80 years old and lived in Ellicott City, MD.
Paul Ts’o was a full professor at Johns Hopkins University from 1967-2002 and Director of the Biophysics Division of JHU School of Public Health for eighteen years. He was a Senior Associate at Johns Hopkins since 2002.
Paul On Pong Ts'o was born to an Episcopalian minister, the Rev. Canon Paul S.F. Ts'o and Mrs. Amy Hoh Ts'o, in Hong Kong, on July 17, 1929. His youth was marked by the advent of World War II during which he followed his family to Guilin, China, as they sought to stay ahead of the Japanese forces. During these tumultuous times, he received much of his primary and secondary education at the True Light School in Hong Kong, whose principal was his mother.
He went on to receive a bachelor's degree from Lingnan University in Canton, China in 1949. From there, he immigrated to the United States, enrolling at Michigan State University and receiving his Masters degree in 1951. He completed his PhD in biochemistry in 1955 from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, under the mentorship of Dr. James Bonner and stayed on there as a research fellow for seven years. He joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins in 1962.
From there, he was more than ready to start a professional life not just driven by intellectual curiousity. One of his daughters, Pauline Ts'o, recalls he once told her that as a young man, he prayed his life would be useful. To that end, in addition to adding to the body of basic science, he was always interested in applying the newfound knowledge to the development of medical therapies and diagnostic techniques.
His research at Johns Hopkins involved many facets of the biophysics, chemistry and molecular biology of nucleic acids. His projects included: research in antisense technology; studies on targeted delivery of therapeutic drugs and molecules to cells in a tissue specific manner; and the study of three dimensional spatial relationships of genes and chromosomes in the nucleus of human cells.
Dr. Ts’o was issued fifteen patents and has four pending patents on technology ranging from drug delivery systems to cancer diagnostics. During his forty-five years at Hopkins, he was awarded over $40M in federal grants and awards and published or edited thirteen book in his area of expertise.
He was one of 1000 scientists from all fields whose publications were most cited during the period 1965-1978 and was a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors (Basic Sciences) for Intramural Programs, National Cancer Institute, from 2006-2010.
After his retirement from active teaching at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Ts’o was instrumental in founding Genta, a cancer therapeutics company.
More recently, he held the positions of CEO and CTO for Cell Works, Inc. Cell Works developed a drug delivery system that targets an organ for greater efficacy with less toxicity to the patient. A test was also developed that detects and characterizes cancer cells from a small sample of blood. This highly sensitive test can be used in conjunction with therapeutics for more effective cancer management.
Dr. Ts’o's latest endeavor was to launch
Comprehensive Cancer Cell Diagnostics, LLC
(CCCD). Utilizing its specialized diagnostic service, CCCD assists physicians in designing personalized treatment regimens for patients fighting breast cancer.
Dr. Ts'o also generously shared his expertise overseas. Since 1972, he was a member of the Academia Sinica of Taiwan, Republic of China. He was later appointed the founding Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Molecular Biology Institute of Taiwan. Dr. Ts'o was a primary advocate of cancer research in Taiwan. He organized the "Medical Oncology Class" which subsequently evolved into the Clinical Cancer Research Center, bringing new cancer therapy to the island. In 1994, he was appointed convenor of the Medical Biotechnology Subcommittee of the Academia Sinica. He organized several international symposia to encourage development of medical biotechnology in Taiwan.
Dr. Ts'o is survived by his wife, Muriel Ts'o, an accomplished artist; a son, Dr. Daniel Ts'o, of Jamesville, NY; two daughters, Dr. Amy Tso, of Milford, CT, and Pauline Ts'o, of Los Angeles, CA; two brothers, Dr. Timothy Ts'o of Liberty, IL, and Dr. Mark Tso of Clarksville, MD; and four grandchildren.
