Dr. J. Donald Capra: Immunology leader, education advocate

By Patrick Wascovich

Dr. J. Donald Capra, an international leader in the field of immunology who served as a UT Southwestern Medical Center faculty member for 23 years, died on Feb. 24 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77.

Dr. J. Donald Capra
Dr. J. Donald Capra

After growing up and being educated and medically trained in the Northeast, Dr. Capra was recruited to UT Southwestern as a Professor of Immunology and Internal Medicine in 1974 by Drs. Donald Seldin and Jonathan Uhr. At UT Southwestern, he accomplished some of his most important work in antibody research, laying the foundation for the field of monoclonal antibody therapy in a number of human diseases. Dr. Capra held the Edwin L. Cox Distinguished Chair in Immunology and Genetics at UT Southwestern and directed the Molecular Immunology Center from 1990 to 1997. During his career, he was principal investigator on 72 grants from the National Institutes of Health and had 375 scientific publications, including chapters and books.

“When Dr. Jonathan Uhr was appointed to the medical school as Chairman of Microbiology [in 1972], he discussed with me the possibility of recruiting a first-rate immunologist who would be competent both in basic science and clinical immunology,” said Dr. Seldin, Chairman Emeritus of Internal Medicine. “We decided to approach Don Capra to assume a primary appointment in Immunology and secondary appointment Internal Medicine.

“Dr. Capra was one of the few people we knew who could master both disciplines with high competence. Dr. Capra accepted and made a major impact on both departments, contributing important advances in basic immunology and participating in clinical medicine. His presence was a major asset in the development of a valuable cross-fertilization of both departments. His departure left a major gap which was difficult to fill with anyone approaching his broad competence.”

Dr. Uhr said, “The recruitment of Don Capra was an important step for the department. I had assembled an impressive group of immunologists representing genetics, cellular immunology and immunochemistry. However, it was necessary to have expertise in the primary structure of antibodies and other key proteins in the immune response. Dr. Capra was a recognized leader in this field. The result was that he and the other members of the above groups published many significant papers including the first description of the amino acid sequence of the immune response proteins. He continued to be a major force in characterizing the critical proteins and their functions in the immune response. His publications helped to shape a new concept of the immunological system and his advice was sought at many levels.” Dr. Uhr is an internationally recognized researcher, educator, and mentor who served at UT Southwestern for 39 years – including 25 years as Chairman of Microbiology – before being named Professor Emeritus in 2011.

Dr. Capra’s love of education and teaching remains a legacy at UT Southwestern. Since 1998, the annual Capra Research Symposium on campus has been sponsored by Dr. Capra and his wife, Dr. Patricia Capra, a 1983 alum of UT Southwestern who worked in several positions at the medical center before joining the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling faculty (1989 to 1997). The couple also established the Patricia H. and J. Donald Capra Endowed Fund in Allied Health Sciences at the medical center in 2001.

The Vermont native left UT Southwestern in 1997 and soon was named President of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), which made him President Emeritus upon his retirement in 2006. During his tenure at the nonprofit medical research institution, he doubled the size of the institute and increased its NIH funding from $8 million to $27 million.

When Dr. Capra retired at OMRF, Chairman of the Board Len Cason said, “These past nine years have seen OMRF move from good to great. With Dr. Capra at the helm, OMRF’s researchers have excelled in obtaining grants, publishing scientific papers, and making groundbreaking discoveries. Dr. Capra has helped nurture a culture of scientific excellence.”

Born in 1937 in Burlington, Vermont, Dr. Capra spent his childhood in the city of Barre. He majored in chemistry at the University of Vermont, graduating in 1959, and earned his medical degree summa cum laude in 1963 from the University of Vermont School of Medicine. Dr. Capra trained at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City before spending two years at the NIH in the laboratory of Dr. Alan Peterkofsky. He returned to New York City in 1967 for a two-year guest investigatorship at Rockefeller University with Dr. Henry Kunkel. In 1969, he was recruited as the first faculty member at the new Mount Sinai Medical School and served there until moving to Texas.

Dr. Capra, who continued to serve as a consultant to universities and pharmaceutical firms after retiring, was a founding member and past President of the Henry Kunkel Society, was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the Association of American Physicians, and of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He served as an officer for the American Association of Immunologists. Internationally, he was inducted into the Scandinavian Academy of Science and Letters in 1994.

Dr. Capra is survived by his wife of 57 years, two sons, several adult grandchildren, a sister, and two nieces. The family requests that any donations to UT Southwestern be made in support of the Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Immunology.

Dr. Seldin, a UT System Professor of Internal Medicine, holds the William Buchanan Chair in Internal Medicine.