Bill Snyder

Stanley E. Graber, MD, a retired professor and hematologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, died Dec. 3 in Nashville. He was 85.

Dr. Graber received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Vanderbilt University and completed residency training at VUMC. Following a fellowship in hematology at Johns Hopkins University, he returned to VUMC and the Nashville VA where he investigated the mechanism of hematopoiesis, the production of blood cells.

According to Jacek Hawiger, MD, PhD, the Louise B. McGavock Chair and Distinguished Professor of Medicine at VUMC, Dr. Graber made several notable discoveries that contributed to improvements in the treatment of anemia and other blood disorders.

He directed an acclaimed course in laboratory medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and, in his later years, mastered a bioinformatics approach to the registry of patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation.

“His professional creativity, critical thinking and collegiality matched his compassion toward his patients,” Hawiger said.

Dr. Graber is survived by his wife, Sara Kleinman Graber; sons, Samuel Gordon Graber and Louis Michael Graber; and grandchildren, Samuel C. Graber and Anne E. Graber. A graveside service was held Dec. 10 at the Temple cemetery in Nashville.