Dr. Boxer was the first Henry and Mala Dorfman Family Professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and was Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases in the U-M Medical School. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, he earned his medical degree from Stanford University in 1966, then completed residency training at Yale and a fellowship at Harvard. He joined the U-M faculty in 1982, and was an internationally recognized expert in pediatric hematology and cancer who published hundreds of papers and was a sought-after speaker at medical conferences around the world.
Dr. Boxer had a lifelong professional interest in clinical disorders of the neutrophil (a type of white blood cell) such as chronic granulomatous disease, as well as the diagnosis and therapy of chronic neutropenias (hematological disorders characterized by an abnormally low number of neutrophils in the blood). He also was expert in the diagnosis and treatment of anemias and thrombocytopenia.
He was one of the founders of the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry and was an executive officer. The registry is involved in monitoring the treatment of patients with severe chronic neutropenia, including those with severe congenital neutropenias, cyclic neutropenias, and severe chronic idiopathic neutropenias. The registry also is interested in the outcome of patients who have undergone a stem cell transplant for treatment of neutropenia or leukemia, or those patients with severe congenital neutropenia who develop leukemia.
Dr. Boxer served as Division Director for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology from 1982- 2008. During that time, he established one of the first of its kind Training Program in Molecular and Translational Hematology that has been supported by the National Institutes of Health since 1986. This nationally recognized training program has been renamed in his honor and has supported the fellowship and junior faculty training of up to 6 trainees per year, including MDs and PhDs from Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Pathology.
Dr. Boxer was a dedicated, passionate mentor and educator whose students, fellows and junior faculty have gone on to successful research careers across the country in a diverse array of clinical and laboratory medicine including coagulation disorders, globin switching, leukemogenesis, lymphogenesis, stem cells, neuro-oncology, molecular hematopoiesis, graft vs host disease and biomarkers for the complications of stem cell transplantation. Former trainees have achieved extraordinary success as recipients of extramural funding, numerous awards, and many serve as division directors and even department chairs. Over the years they have all voiced Dr. Boxer’s tremendous influence in shaping their academic careers. He was honored by the American Society of Hematology with their Mentor Award in 2016.
