soul
of blessed memory
A Leader In Diagnostics
D
r. Melvyn T. Korobkin, 76, of
Ann Arbor, died March 17, 2017.
Upon graduating from the
Yale School of Medicine in 1967, Dr.
Korobkin went to UC-San Francisco for
radiology residency and in 1972 joined
their faculty.
The following year, UCSF became
one of the first medical centers in the
nation to install a body CT scanner,
and Dr. Korobkin was heading up this
revolutionary new area of radiology.
This began a 40-year-long career dedi-
cated to exploring and demonstrating
the possibilities of CT in diagnosing
abdominal disease. Collaborating with
other radiologists, he and his team
developed many of the first protocols
for body CT imaging.
He was one of the founding mem-
bers of the Society of Uroradiology
in 1974 and the Society of Computed
Body Tomography in 1976. Through
these societies, Dr. Korobkin helped
bring together academic radiologists
from around the country who were
committed to uroradiology and CT to
promote and share research, mentor
nascent academic radiologists, and
offer postgraduate courses to both
community and academic radiologists.
Dr. Korobkin was by now one of the
foremost authorities in abdominal radi-
ology.
He then spent six years as head of
Body CT at Duke University and anoth-
er five years in practice at Sinai Hospital
of Detroit/Wayne State Medical School.
In 1989, he joined U-M’s Department of
Radiology as director of the Abdominal
Division and made it his home for the
Dr. M. T. Korobkin
next 23 years.
In an atmosphere he described as
friendly and highly stimulating and
the right fit for his commitment to
research, teaching and collaboration,
he went on to do some of his most
important work. Radiology Chair Dr. N.
Reed Dunnick sums up Dr. Korobkin’s
most significant breakthrough:
“Recognizing the frequency with which
adrenal nodules are found on abdomi-
nal CT scans, Dr. Korobkin focused his
research on finding a way to non-inva-
sively distinguish the most common
etiology, a benign adenoma, from more
ominous lesions. The technique he and
his colleagues developed has become
the standard of care for evaluating
these nodules.”
Dr. Korobkin and his team were able
to show that those adrenal lesions
that were of sufficiently low density on
non-contrast CT scans were benign.
Further observing that CT contrast
medium washes out of adrenal masses
at different rates, Dr. Korobkin and his
colleagues investigated this difference
over several years to develop a quanti-
tative method that accurately and con-
sistently distinguishes higher density
benign from malignant adrenal masses.
The benefit to patients is considerable:
Prior to this new method, patients
required either a needle biopsy or a
series of CT scans over several months.
Now, patients with benign adrenal
masses are spared an invasive biopsy
and its inherent risks and the radia-
tion exposure from follow-up scans.
These are but some of Dr. Korobkin’s
contributions to radiology, medicine
and scholarship; in 2008, the Society
of Abdominal Radiology honored him
with their first Lifetime Achievement
Award.
Dr. Korobkin was the beloved hus-
band for 38 years of Linda Korobkin. He
is survived by his son, Daniel Korobkin;
identical twin brother and sister-in-law,
Alvin and Marsha Korobkin; nephew
and niece, Russell and Sarah Korobkin;
their daughter, Jessica Korobkin.
Interment was at Arbocrest
Cemetery. Contributions may be made
to Arbor Hospice Foundation, 2366
Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48103,
www.arborhospice.org/foundation-
donation/donate-today; or Kadima,
15999 W. 12 Mile, Southfield, MI 48076,
www.kadimacenter.org. Arrangements
by Ira Kaufman Chapel. •
MARJORIE
“MARGE”
ALPERN, 96,
of Southfield,
died March 17,
2017.
She is sur-
vived by her
Alpern
sons and
daughters-in-
law, Harlan
and Sandee Alpern, Wayne
and Nancy Alpern; daughters
and sons-in-law, Nancy and
Jon Levin, Carolyn and Jon
Vitriol; grandchildren, Micah
Alpern and Sarah Culberson,
Rebeka and Brian Seelinger,
Sophie and Cary Blum, Tess
Alpern, Nina Levin, Anna and
Ben Adams, Jonah Adams, and
Joseph Vitriol; great-grand-
children, Emma Alpern, Hazel
Alpern, Bobby Seelinger and
James Seelinger.
Mrs. Alpern was the beloved
wife of the late Robert Alpern;
the adoring grandmother
of the late Miles Levin; the
dear sister-in-law of the late
E. Bryce Alpern and the late
Harriet Alpern.
Interment was at Clover Hill
Park Cemetery. St. Elizabeth
Church, c/o Fr. Norman Paul
Thomas, 3138 E. Canfield
Ave., Detroit, MI 48207, www.
stelizabethdetroit.com.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel.
Proud to partner with the
Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network
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