Tribute to Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr.

By Roger S. Blumenthal, MD; and Michael Miller, MD

The field of preventive cardiology lost one of its great investigators, clinicians and mentors with the passing of Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr., MD, on Aug. 15. He died after a long battle with metastatic prostate cancer at age 74 years.

Affectionately known as “Pete” to his many friends and colleagues in academic medicine, he was an internationally known expert on atherosclerotic vascular disease. He was the founder and director of the Johns Hopkins University Lipid Clinic. His investigative and clinical work spanned more than 45 years and defined what was considered normal cholesterol values for children. He also helped demonstrate the safety of statin therapy in adolescents with familial hypercholesterolemia. His research helped to avert premature disability and death for thousands of individuals with inherited dyslipidemias.

His work shaped our current approach to screening and CVD prevention, and led to a better understanding of the evolution of atherosclerotic vascular disease from adolescence onward. The way that Kwiterovich set up the Lipid Clinic with a strong focus on lifestyle changes for the entire family was how we modeled the University of Maryland Preventive Cardiology Center and the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease. He greatly enjoyed teaching several generations of students, house staff, fellows, patients and their families. He loved science and became a full professor at Johns Hopkins at age 44 years.

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