Dr. Howard S. Traisman, 87, compassionate Evanston pediatrician, Northwestern professor and internationally recognized pioneer in treatment of juvenile diabetes, died of an aortic aneurysm on Tuesday, Oct. 12, at Evanston Hospital, according to his family.
Dr. Traisman was one of the first pediatricians to treat diabetic children by advising that a strictly controlled diet and disciplined lifestyle were critical in staying healthy and delaying complications later in life. At the time, that recommendation was not universally accepted, said his son Dr. Edward Traisman.
“He was pooh-poohed. But he stuck to his guns,” said his son. “Years later, it was proven that he was right and, in a way, he was vindicated.”
In 1965, Dr. Traisman wrote the first edition of the groundbreaking medical textbook, “The Management of Juvenile Diabetes Mellitus.” In addition, he wrote more than 110 articles that have appeared in medical journals as well as numerous book chapters and presentations.
During his 50-year medical career, he maintained an Evanston practice, joined first by his father and later by his son, taught pediatrics at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and served as attending physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Evanston Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
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He was born in Chicago to Dr. Alfred Traisman and Sara Sevin. He graduated from Sullivan High School and was encouraged to attend Northwestern by his father, an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern’s medical school and attending physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1943 and a bachelor’s degree in medicine from Northwestern in 1946, he completed his internship at Cook County Hospital and received his medical degree from in 1947.
Dr. Traisman spent the following two years as a captain in the Army Medical Corps stationed in Korea and Japan before returning to Chicago to serve his pediatric residency at Children’s Memorial Hospital. He became board certified in pediatrics with a subspecialty in endocrinology.
Dr. Traisman considered his father his role model, and in 1951 he joined his father’s medical practice, working with him for 23 years. Years later, the family legacy continued when his son Edward joined the practice.
“He really cared about patients and their families,” said his son. “The way he was with patients influenced why I went to medical school.”
Dr. Traisman first treated children with diabetes as an intern and resident, often staying up all night with critically ill patients. These experiences, his research in endocrinology, and his studies with Alvah Newcomb, associate professor of pediatrics and head of the endocrinology division at Children’s Memorial Hospital, solidified his revolutionary approach to diabetic care.
Although most of his research focused on diabetes, Dr. Traisman also wrote on a range of other areas including bone infections, kidney infections and hemolytic diseases. A 1958 paper on thumb-sucking resulted in pacifiers being banned from Children’s Hospital and Dr. Traisman’s Evanston practice.
“Whenever we would see an unusual patient, or diagnosis, or would see a certain trend, I could hear Howard say, ‘Write it up,'” said Dr. Irwin Benuck, a partner at Dr. Traisman’s practice. “He truly practiced evidence-based medicine, much of it he researched and wrote himself.”
For more than 35 years, he also provided care to indigent diabetic children at Children’s Memorial Hospital, where he headed the diabetes clinic for more than a quarter century. He served as a member of that hospital’s non-salaried faculty continuously since 1951.
As a pediatrics professor at Feinberg, Dr. Traisman provided regularly scheduled teaching sessions for medical students and residents in pediatric endocrine disease and general pediatrics.
Over the years Dr. Traisman’s career became distinguished by the breadth of his national and community leadership in pediatrics. A former president of the Chicago Pediatric Society, he was a founding member of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society.
He also received numerous awards recognizing his unique and substantial contributions to his community and to the field of pediatrics, including the Archibald Hoyne Award of the Chicago Pediatric Society, the first Distinguished Service Award from Children’s Memorial Hospital, and a 2001 award from the hospital recognizing his 50 years of service.
Dr. Traisman was long an enthusiastic supporter of the Feinberg School. In 1997, his philanthropy established the Howard S. and Regina G. Traisman Medical Student Center at the Feinberg School.
“What Howard did was establish the gold standard, raise the bar high, and be the role model for generations of physicians,” said Benuck. “All of us who knew and worked with Howard are much better doctors, more involved with our patients, and give back.”
Dr. Traisman is also survived by his wife, Regina; two other sons, Barry Lifschultz and Kenneth Traisman; and four grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Beth Emet Synagogue, 1224 Dempster St. in Evanston.