Dr. Leonid Heifets, an internationally renowned leader in tuberculosis research at National Jewish Health for 32 years, passed away May 15, 2015, at his home, surrounded by his family. He was 89.
Rabbi Yaakov Chaitovsky and Cantor Joel Lichterman officiated at the May 17 graveside service at Mt. Nebo Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
In an interview with Dr. Heifets published by the IJN on June 24, 2013, noted that the doctors forefinger holds more knowledge than angels on the head of a pin.
His sons said that their father was not the uncompromising man portrayed in the Aristotelian stories he told them: He was rather a man who could not comprehend hesitation and was not fond of compromises or a middle ground.
He worked with dedication and perseverance to find the right path the path backed by thorough scientific research and data. His enthusiasm could not be deterred, even if he was risking his career or reputation.
Born in 1926 in what is now Belarus, Dr. Heifets began his medical training at age 16 behind the Iron Curtain, obtaining an MD, PhD and ScD.
He was raised in a Jewish family that was not allowed to practice Judaism, and suffered the slings and arrows of a virulently anti-Semitic society.
I grew up in an atheistic environment, Dr. Heifets told the IJN. I did not know much about being Jewish but over the years, the government kept reminding me of my origins and who I am.
He never denied those origins. Humiliation and being singled out as the other reinforced his self-identification as a Jew.
I stood up not just to the Soviet Union but under any circumstance . . . I gained respect. You develop enemies, but you also have friends.
In the USSR, Dr. Heifets pioneered world-class epidemiological studies on vaccines for typhoid fever despite many challenges imposed by the Soviet system.
In the 1960s, he joined a WHO medical mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly the Belgian Congo) and traveled to isolated villages to establish immunization programs and deliver badly needed medical care in the aftermath of the civil war.
After immigrating to the US in 1979, Dr. Heifets developed innovative ways to combat the world epidemic of tuberculosis and became a leader in TB research.
He headed the clinical and research mycobacteriology laboratory at National Jewish Health in Denver for 32 years until his retirement at age 86.
During his tenure at NJH, he received numerous awards, including the Gardner Middlebrook Award, the Catherine Kramer Professorship of Clinical Mycobacteriology, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and later the Lifetime Achievement Award from National Jewish.
In the 1980s, Dr. Heifets devised and validated the MIC susceptibility test using the BACTEC system a huge breakthrough for patients and doctors working to design customized treatments for mycobacterial infections.
He also was a professor in the departments of microbiology and medicine (pulmonary) at CU Health Sciences Center.
An avid mountaineer, Dr. Heifets led many trips as a member of the Colorado Mountain Club.
He wrote and published a number of books ranging from autobiography to murder mysteries and was in the process of writing another book at the time of his death.
Delighted to be able to express his and his familys Jewish identity, he constantly expanded his knowledge of Jewish history.
Very often I am impressed by the intricate structure of biology or genetics, he told the IJN. But can you confine G-d to facts? No. If you view G-d in the broader spectrum, He is something above your personality and more importantly, your understanding.
Some of my colleagues say to me, You are so well educated. You have learned so much. You are a promising scientist. How can you possibly believe there is a G-d?
I tell them, This is exactly why I believe in G-d.
Dr. Heifets is survived by his sons Michael (Helen) and Herman (Lisa); sister Galina (Edward) Tabachnik; grandchildren Boris (Kate), Solomon (Danielle), Sarah and Abby; and great-grandchildren Zoe and Vivian.
He also is mourned by his dear friend Jan Clotfelter.
Contributions may be made to BMH-BJ.
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News
