Patrick Lucey McGeer (June 29, 1927 – August 29, 2022) was a Canadian physician, professor and medical researcher. He was regarded as a leading authority on the causes and prevention of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and was the principal author of the inflammatory hypothesis of the disease, which holds that Alzheimer's is an inflammation of the

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

. He was also a Canadian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who competed in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

, a politician who represented the constituency of Vancouver-Point Grey in the British Columbia legislature from 1962 to 1986, and a member of the British Columbia cabinet from 1975 to 1986. He and his wife

Edith Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning ''wiktionary:strife, strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English language, Englis ...

were partners in research. In 1995, they were inducted together as Officers of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. In 2002 they were jointly inducted as Fellows of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

, and in 2005 they were jointly inducted into the Order of British Columbia. McGeer died at his home in Vancouver on August 29, 2022, at the age of 95.

Aurin Biotech

In August 2012, McGeer and his wife

founded Aurin Biotech Inc., following indications that the Aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) complex inhibit activation of the

Complement system The complement system, also known as complement cascade, is a part of the humoral, innate immune system and enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism, promote inf ...

. Since activation of the complement system is implicated in a number of diseases (see Complement system#Role in disease), these indications suggested that ATA could be an effective treatment for these diseases. Aurin was founded to explore the efficacy of using ATA and related compounds in the treatment of these diseases. The particular focus is on diseases that are caused or exacerbated by aberrant complement activation. Low molecular weight components of the aurintricarboxylic acid complex have been shown to be non-toxic and orally effective.

References

External links

Canadian Olympic Assn. profile (olympic.ca)

UBC Sports Hall of Fame Inductee page

2005 Recipients: Doctors Patrick & Edith McGeer
- Order of British Columbia * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGeer, Pat 1927 births 2022 deaths Basketball players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Basketball people from British Columbia BC United MLAs British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Canadian neurologists Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian sportsperson-politicians Canadian neuroscientists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Leaders of BC United Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Members of the Order of British Columbia Officers of the Order of Canada Olympic basketball players for Canada Politicians from Vancouver Princeton University alumni Basketball players from Vancouver UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball players Academic staff of the University of British Columbia 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 20th-century Canadian sportsmen