A tribute to Eberhard F. Mammen, M.D. (1930-2008).

Welcome to a very special issue of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis. This issue marks the end of another year and also represents the last issue of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis to carry the name of the founding editor, Eberhard F. Mammen, as the editor in chief. As recently announced in a previous issue of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Eberhard passed away on July 1 of this year. As also announced several times in the past, Eberhard was not only the founding editor but also acted in the capacity of editor in chief of this journal for the past 34 years. It is fitting, then, that we celebrate the life of this man whom we came to know as mentor and friend. Accordingly, this particular issue of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis has been crafted by the editors of this journal as a tribute to Eberhard F. Mammen and stands as a testament to the breadth of his career and the extent of his influence in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis. The articles within this issue are indeed a fine tribute to Eberhard, but each article can also be viewed as a state-of-the-art review on the topic of specific interest. As an acknowledgment of Eberhard’s contribution to the field of thrombosis and hemostasis in general, and to this journal in particular, the publisher, Thieme Medical Publishers, would also like to announce the creation of the Eberhard F. Mammen Excellence in Thrombosis and Hemostasis Awards. Thus, beginning in 2009, Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis will begin a series of annual awards in recognition of excellence in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis. There will be two categories of awards; namely, ‘‘Most popular article awards’’ and ‘‘Young investigator awards.’’ Specific details are available elsewhere in this issue. We begin this special collation issue with the poignant eulogy by Ananda Prasad and Hau Kwaan and the personal tributes from Houria Hassouna and John Penner. Not only was Eberhard the founding editor and ongoing editor in chief of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis, but also he was essentially responsible for selecting its content and shaping the journal over the past three decades. Over a span of five decades, Eberhard published more than 300 articles on various topics in thrombosis and hemostasis. Over the past three decades, quite a few of these articles were published in Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis. A brief review of Eberhard’s written contributions to this field and inclusive of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis has also recently been highlighted. Indeed, four of his top five most popular articles (as evidenced by citation data) were published in this journal. Prasad and Kwaan recount the story of one particular publication from Eberhard’s early career; namely, that to do with discovery of Fibrinogen Detroit. A true scientist, Eberhard used fibrinogen obtained from his own blood as the control for a series of studies that ultimately culminated in the characterization of Fibrinogen Detroit and the first demonstration of a molecular defect in an abnormal fibrinogen. One of the more interesting observations made by people who knew Eberhard was the extent of his interest and the breadth of his work. As noted by Prasad and Kwaan, Eberhard was a member of various departments within his institution, including Obstetrics and Gynecology, Physiology and Pharmacology, Pathology, and Surgery. But his first and true research love was blood coagulation. Mentored by the pioneer on mechanisms of coagulation, Walter Seegers, Eberhard engaged in extensive studies in a wide variety of disorders of hemostasis. His published works cover both basic investigations of clotting proteins and the scientific basis of clinical complications ranging from disseminated intravascular coagulation to thrombosis in preeclampsia. We begin the collation of tribute articles with that prepared by one of the regional editors of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis who is the guest editor for this particular issue: a review of the clinical utility of the PFA-100. This instrument (a platelet function analyzer) is a relatively new tool for the investigation of ‘‘primary hemostasis’’ and was first introduced to us in 1995 in an issue of Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis that included data from a field trial headed by Dr. Eberhard Mammen. Since that time, the PFA-100 has featured in nearly 500 publications and some 35 reviews, including another article by Eberhard in this journal. It is interesting to note that both these two articles by Eberhard appear in his top 10 cited articles listing as well as his top 10 cited articles published in Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis.