64 | MARCH 14 • 2024 

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

D

r. Jonathan Uhr — 
along with cousins 
Dorothy Davidson 
Gerson, Bill Davidson, Bill 
Saulson, Saul “Shep” Saulson 
and Bill Wetsman — grew up 
spending his summers at a 
small family cottage in Port 
Huron. From the time school 
was out until Labor Day, their 
families lived together in 
an 1,800-square-foot home. 
Shoes were rarely worn, and 
the days were spent swim-
ming, boating, playing sports, 
horseback riding, shooting BB 
guns and slingshots as well as 
a weekly trip to the library. 

Those summers on Lake 
Huron were in the formative 
years of Dr. Uhr, who would 
go on to become a pioneer 
in the field of immunology 
and a key contributor to early 
cancer detection techniques. 
Dr. Uhr died Feb. 15, 2024, in 
Dallas. He was 96. 
The grandson of Hungarian 
and Russian Jewish immi-
grants, Dr. Uhr was born 
in New York City and was 
an only child. At the age of 
4, his family moved to New 
Brunswick, New Jersey, where 
he grew up. At only 16 years 
old, he left for college and 
then joined the Navy at 17 
and served stateside during 
World War II. He earned his 
undergraduate degree from 
Cornell University in 1948.
Dr. Uhr followed in his 
father’s footsteps in the med-
ical field. His father was a 
pediatrician who had also 
studied microbiology at the 
Rockefeller Institute. 
After Cornell, his next step 
was medical school. 

In a 2013 interview for 
the American Association of 
Immunologists Centennial 
Oral History Project, Dr. Uhr 
recalled that if you were a 
premedical student and you 
were Jewish in those days, 
they had very tight quotas 
for admittance to medical 
schools.
He applied but 
got no responses 
from Yale, Harvard 
or even University 
of Chicago, where 
his mother was an 
alumnus. 
The only reason 
he was eventually 
admitted into and 
attended New York 
University was because his 
father knew the chairman of 
the pathology department. 
A call was made and within 
weeks he was a student at 
NYU’s School of Medicine, 
where he received his medical 
degree in 1952. 
In that interview, Dr. Uhr 
also recalled an “unwritten 
rule” where Jews could never 
become a chief resident in 
medicine or surgery, the two 
major departments.
The “unwritten rule” wasn’t 
in effect at Mt. Sinai Hospital 
in New York, where he went 
for his clinical training. “I 
could become chief resident 
in medicine there, and I did,” 
he said. 
Dr. Uhr was recruited 
to the University of Texas 
Southwestern in 1972 to 
be Chair and Professor 
of Microbiology. UT 
Southwestern Medical 
Center’s tribute said Dr. Uhr 

built the department into one 
of the best in the world. 
“He discovered how anti-
bodies are made and devel-
oped a technique that led to 
the early detection of cancer 
cells,” UTSMC’s tribute said. 
“He was a pioneer in the 
investigation of dormant 
cancer cells and 
circulating tumor 
cells and played 
a key role in the 
science behind the 
development of 
RhoGam, a medi-
cine that prevents 
Rh incompatibility 
from developing 
during pregnancy.”
Much of Dr. 
Uhr’s research focused on 
early diagnosis and treatment 
of cancer, which took the lives 
of both of his parents. 
His efforts “led to a 
commercialized test to detect 
circulating tumor cells in 
the human bloodstream that 
became routinely used in 
clinical laboratories,” UTSMC 
said. The Cleveland Clinic 
ranked the technology as the 
top medical innovation for 
2009.
As of 2013, Dr. Uhr was 
continuing his research 
and work in early diagnosis 
efforts. 
Dr. Uhr was professor 
of internal medicine at 
NYU Medical School for 
a decade before moving to 
UT Southwestern. In 1997, 
he stepped down as Chair 
of Microbiology to become 
professor at UTSW’s Cancer 
Immunobiology Center, 
where his research continued. 

He was named professor 
emeritus in 2010.
Dr. Uhr was president of 
the American Association of 
Immunologists from 1983-
1984 and was a member of 
the National Academy of 
Sciences. 
He mentored countless 
researchers and always 
encouraged younger 
generations to take an interest 
in science. 
Dr. Uhr was an avid 
tennis player and traveled 
to 85 countries, often 
giving lectures. He was a 
huge fan of country western 
music as well as the Dallas 
Cowboys. 

To bring his life full circle, 
about 20 years ago, he and 
his wife, Ginger, bought 
their own cottage in Port 
Huron. He and his best 
friend and cousin Shep (Saul 
Saulson) would meet every 
day reliving their childhood 
adventures — swimming, 
bicycling, taking art classes, 
going to band concerts and, 
of course, retelling stories of 
their childhood together. 
He is survived by the 
love of his life, the former 
Ginger Lanclos of Dallas; 
two daughters from his first 
marriage, Sarita Uhr of La 
Jolla, Calif., and Jacqueline 
Guise of Oahu, Hawaii; 
cousins from the extended 
Davidson, Gerson, Saulson 
and Wetsman families; six 
grandchildren; and four 
great-grandchildren. As a 
patriotic WWII veteran, he 
got his final wish, a 21-gun 
salute. Interment took place at 
Clover Hill Park Cemetery. 

Dr. Jonathan Uhr, a pioneer in immunology and cancer treatment, died at 96.
A Medical Pioneer

DANNY SCHWARTZ SENIOR STAFF REPORTER

Dr. Jonathan Uhr

