2009 Red Book Dedication For Ralph D. Feigin, MD, FAAP (1938–2008)
This edition of the Red Book is dedicated to Ralph D. Feigin, MD, FAAP. Although Ralph never served on the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases, there are very few chapters in this book that were not influenced by his considerable body of work or that of his trainees. In fact, a true listing of his accomplishments in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases would likely require a book this size. Ralph planned on being a general pediatrician, but entered the field of infectious diseases almost by accident. As a medical student, he learned how to measure amino acids in human blood, a relatively new science at the time. When he entered the military in 1965, he was assigned to the US Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where he performed ground-breaking work on the circadian periodicity of amino acid metabolism during infection. Thus, a great career was launched. A few of his subsequent contributions to the understanding of infectious diseases and their management in children include:
