Obituary for Dr. Anthony P. Monaco
Anthony Peter “Tony” Monaco M.D. Beloved Husband and Father, Pioneering Transplant Surgeon and Scientist, Teacher, Mentor, Collaborator and Friend to So Many; Peter Medawar Professor of Surgery Emeritus at Harvard Medical School, and Director Emeritus of the Division of Transplantation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, died peacefully on August 22nd with his family by his side. Predeceased by his beloved wife of 58 years, Mary Louise “Mary Lou”, his parents, Donato and Rose, his sister, Marie, and his brother, Daniel, he leaves his sons, Peter, and his partner, Nancy of Winchester, MA, Mark, and his wife, Jennifer of New York, NY, Christopher, and his wife, Lisa of Belmont, MA, his daughter, Lisa of Washington, DC, his grandchildren, Nicholas, Sophia, Jessica, and Julia, his brother, Mario, and many adoring nieces and nephews. Born in 1932 in Philadelphia, PA, Tony attended Central High School (where he was later inducted into the Hall of Fame), the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Medical School. Tony and Mary Lou met while both worked at Massachusetts General Hospital, married in 1960, and settled in Newton, where they raised their children.
Tony dedicated his entire career to clinical and experimental organ transplantation and scientific research related to immunology. He founded the organ transplantation service in the Harvard Division of the Boston City Hospital in 1968 which subsequently became the Transplant Division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the leading transplant centers in the world. Today, this division is named in Tony’s honor as “The Anthony P. Monaco Division of Transplant Surgery” and is a testament to the generations of patients whose lives Tony saved and improved and the countless physicians and surgeons with whom he trained, mentored and developed lifelong friendships.
As with many great scientists, Tony’s major research breakthroughs came from his laboratory early in his career setting the foundation for decades of research and clinical advances formative to the growth and development of transplantation benefitting not only his own patients but all those needing organ transplants. He was a pioneer in the field whose first research breakthrough demonstrated that antibodies generated by animals to immune cells could suppress rejection. This research produced a major therapeutic product called “Anti-Lymphocyte Serum” and opened the door to the large and growing class of therapeutic products available today used to treat a variety of diseases well beyond transplantation. Another breakthrough was induction of tolerance to organs transplanted from unrelated animals. The information derived from these experiments led to fundamental insight into immunity in humans and helped lead to development of techniques allowing greater acceptance of foreign tissue.
Among Tony’s many other honors and achievements, he was: author, or co-author, of hundreds of scientific publications; a founding member and Chairman of the New England Organ Bank; President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Surgeons; President of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons; President of the International Transplantation Society; and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His illustrious academic career was capped by being awarded the Peter Medawar Professorship of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Tony’s career and his and Mary Lou’s love of travel took them around the world many times. Through these travels, they developed and maintained extraordinary and life- long friendships. And they nurtured these friendships through the regular hosting of clinicians, researchers, mentees and colleagues in their Newton home. Tony was also a voracious reader and student of history and world affairs – passions he passed on to his children and grandchildren. He reveled in related conversation and debate with family and friends from across the world.
Anchored by his Catholic faith and the values of hard work and devotion to others, Tony was passionate about the care of patients, the advancement of science, collaboration with peers, and the training of future generations of surgeons and scientists. Notwithstanding the many professional accolades and awards he earned, the essence of his contributions and value system was captured by then Vice-President Biden who said to Tony on the occasion of his retirement, “It’s never about you, it’s always about other people; the countless patients and their families who received the dignity and respect they deserved because of you; the generations of surgeons, professors, scientists, and students you’ve trained who follow in your footsteps.”
Yet Tony’s greatest love was his family. He treasured time at the family’s Vermont ski home, where he and Mary Lou skied in to their 80s and welcomed extended family and friends for decades. Among his fondest traditions were summers spent with extended family on the New Jersey shore - where the beach day always included the latest afternoon hours with a good book. And he cherished any time with his children and grandchildren. Devoted as he was to his patients and his scientific, and other, endeavors, he was literally the dad who never missed a Little League game, or later, one of his grand daughters’ soccer games. Nurturing, not demanding, generous, but not spoiling, of his children and grandchildren he expected only that they find their own passions and do something bigger than themselves.
Visiting hours will be held August 29th, 2022, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Burke & Blackington Funeral Home, 1479 Washington Street, West Newton, MA 02465. Funeral Mass and celebration of Tony’s life on August 30th, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. at Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, 28 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA, followed by burial at Newton Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in Tony’s name may be made to Harvard Medical School, c/o Alumni Affairs and Development, P.O. Box 419720, Boston, MA 02241-9720 or New England Organ Bank, 60 First Avenue, Waltham, MA 02451.
Tony dedicated his entire career to clinical and experimental organ transplantation and scientific research related to immunology. He founded the organ transplantation service in the Harvard Division of the Boston City Hospital in 1968 which subsequently became the Transplant Division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the leading transplant centers in the world. Today, this division is named in Tony’s honor as “The Anthony P. Monaco Division of Transplant Surgery” and is a testament to the generations of patients whose lives Tony saved and improved and the countless physicians and surgeons with whom he trained, mentored and developed lifelong friendships.
As with many great scientists, Tony’s major research breakthroughs came from his laboratory early in his career setting the foundation for decades of research and clinical advances formative to the growth and development of transplantation benefitting not only his own patients but all those needing organ transplants. He was a pioneer in the field whose first research breakthrough demonstrated that antibodies generated by animals to immune cells could suppress rejection. This research produced a major therapeutic product called “Anti-Lymphocyte Serum” and opened the door to the large and growing class of therapeutic products available today used to treat a variety of diseases well beyond transplantation. Another breakthrough was induction of tolerance to organs transplanted from unrelated animals. The information derived from these experiments led to fundamental insight into immunity in humans and helped lead to development of techniques allowing greater acceptance of foreign tissue.
Among Tony’s many other honors and achievements, he was: author, or co-author, of hundreds of scientific publications; a founding member and Chairman of the New England Organ Bank; President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Surgeons; President of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons; President of the International Transplantation Society; and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His illustrious academic career was capped by being awarded the Peter Medawar Professorship of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Tony’s career and his and Mary Lou’s love of travel took them around the world many times. Through these travels, they developed and maintained extraordinary and life- long friendships. And they nurtured these friendships through the regular hosting of clinicians, researchers, mentees and colleagues in their Newton home. Tony was also a voracious reader and student of history and world affairs – passions he passed on to his children and grandchildren. He reveled in related conversation and debate with family and friends from across the world.
Anchored by his Catholic faith and the values of hard work and devotion to others, Tony was passionate about the care of patients, the advancement of science, collaboration with peers, and the training of future generations of surgeons and scientists. Notwithstanding the many professional accolades and awards he earned, the essence of his contributions and value system was captured by then Vice-President Biden who said to Tony on the occasion of his retirement, “It’s never about you, it’s always about other people; the countless patients and their families who received the dignity and respect they deserved because of you; the generations of surgeons, professors, scientists, and students you’ve trained who follow in your footsteps.”
Yet Tony’s greatest love was his family. He treasured time at the family’s Vermont ski home, where he and Mary Lou skied in to their 80s and welcomed extended family and friends for decades. Among his fondest traditions were summers spent with extended family on the New Jersey shore - where the beach day always included the latest afternoon hours with a good book. And he cherished any time with his children and grandchildren. Devoted as he was to his patients and his scientific, and other, endeavors, he was literally the dad who never missed a Little League game, or later, one of his grand daughters’ soccer games. Nurturing, not demanding, generous, but not spoiling, of his children and grandchildren he expected only that they find their own passions and do something bigger than themselves.
Visiting hours will be held August 29th, 2022, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Burke & Blackington Funeral Home, 1479 Washington Street, West Newton, MA 02465. Funeral Mass and celebration of Tony’s life on August 30th, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. at Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, 28 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA, followed by burial at Newton Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in Tony’s name may be made to Harvard Medical School, c/o Alumni Affairs and Development, P.O. Box 419720, Boston, MA 02241-9720 or New England Organ Bank, 60 First Avenue, Waltham, MA 02451.