Samuel M. Silver, MD,PhD, FRCP, FASCO, MACP
The ASCO Post would like to pay tribute to Samuel M. Silver, MD,PhD, FRCP, FASCO, MACP, who died on August 14, 2024, at the age of 74. Dr. Silver was renowned in the hematology and oncology community and a respected member of the editorial advisory board of The ASCO Post. Additionally, he served as Assistant Dean for Research and Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. Throughout his career, he was also President of the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology; Chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Board of Directors; Master of the American College of Physicians; and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, ASCO, and the American Heart Association.
After graduating from high school, Dr. Silver attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, named after Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In an earlier interview with The ASCO Post, Dr. Silver shared these comments on his alma mater: “I chose Brandeis largely because I wanted to try another part of the country. It really disappointed my high school teachers, who didn’t want me attending a university associated with Judaism. Back then, my high school in nearby Deerfield had just a couple of Jewish kids. My history teacher wanted me to go to Notre Dame, but I made the right decision because I loved Brandeis; it was small, and they let me do whatever I wanted, especially in the sciences.”
Professional Training
Dr. Silver entered the first class of the MD/PhD program at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and The Rockefeller University in New York City. At The Rockefeller University, he worked on his PhD in a virology laboratory, looking at structural glycoproteins in a measles virus, with a plan to become an infectious disease physician after obtaining his PhD.
In 1979, having earned his MD/PhD degree, Dr. Silver performed an internal medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco. It was in San Francisco that Dr. Silver’s interest turned to hematology/oncology. He told The ASCO Post: “I saw [hematology/oncology] as a specialty where I could become deeply involved in patient care and make a difference in people’s lives. I also saw it as a field with great promise for the future, and I wanted to be part of that.”
In 1982, Dr. Silver, returned to the East Coast to perform his hematology/oncology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Following his fellowship, a mentor of Dr. Silver’s, Joel Bennett, MD, recommended him for a position at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Silver started his hematology/oncology career at the University of Michigan in 1986 and remained there for the next several decades.
Words of Advice
In speaking to The ASCO Post in 2021, Dr. Silver shared his advice with students interested in a career in hematology/oncology: “First and foremost, it’s a wonderful field that gives you multiple opportunities for career growth. That said, caring for patients with cancer is an honor, and having the ability to truly impact their lives is what makes oncology a special field. But I would also tell a young medical student that with the rewards also come the challenges of delivering high-quality care while dealing with costs and reimbursement challenges, an area I’ve devoted a large part of my career to. But, in the end, it’s worth it, and I have never one day regretted my decision to become a hematologist.”
Dr. Silver is survived by his wife, Nancy; his children, Aaron Silver and Meghan Ward, and Emily Silver and Josh Rubin; and his twin grandchildren, Isaac Noah Rubin and Ryan Ari Rubin.
