{"id":134179,"date":"2010-01-04T02:04:30","date_gmt":"2010-01-04T07:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stanforddaily.com\/cgi-bin\/?p=1036620"},"modified":"2010-01-04T02:04:30","modified_gmt":"2010-01-04T07:04:30","slug":"medical-school-prof-walton-dies-at-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/134179","title":{"rendered":"Medical School Prof. Walton dies at 34"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Courtesy<\/p>\n

Clinical Instructor in Anesthesia Dr. Geoffrey Brant Walton, pictured with wife Melissa and son Will, passed away from colon cancer on Dec. 17. The School of Medicine will rename a teaching award in his honor. (Courtesy of Tatum Tarin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After a year-long battle with colon cancer, Medical School Prof. Geoffrey Brant Walton died peacefully in his home on Dec. 17, at the age of 34.<\/p>\n

The anesthesia department at the School of Medicine will rename its annual teaching excellence award in memory of Walton, a clinical instructor in anesthesia.<\/p>\n

Walton came to Stanford in 2003 for a surgery internship at the Stanford University Medical Center, then stayed on for his residency prior to joining the School of Medicine faculty in July 2007.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrant was smart, confident and creative,\u201d wrote anesthesia Prof. Andrew J. Patterson, his former mentor, in an e-mail to The Daily. \u201cHe liked to figure out better ways of doing things, both clinically and in the laboratory.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Exceptional Teacher<\/h4>\n

Ronald Pearl, chairman of the anesthesia department, said Walton was both passionate and skilled at teaching. \u201cI think that had he not died, he would have become a national leader in teaching,\u201d Pearl said.<\/p>\n

To pay tribute to Walton, a teaching honor will now be named the Geoffrey Brant Walton Resident Award for Excellence in Teaching. The recipient is determined by medical students.<\/p>\n

Brooks Rohlen, a senior resident in anesthesia, fondly recalled his experiences under Walton\u2019s supervision for the first year of his residency. On Rohlen\u2019s first day, Walton showed up with a cup of coffee and insisted on getting Rohlen one, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of a superior-inferior relationship, he treated me as an equal,\u201d Rohlen said. \u201cIt was a beautiful way of approaching a student. He didn\u2019t blow me off, and made sure to take care of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Rohlen, when he shared ideas and concepts about medical technology over breakfast, Walton remained supportive. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys in the world who everyone tells you \u2018no,\u2019 but he tells you \u2018maybe.\u2019\u201d Rohlen said.<\/p>\n

Rohlen also highlighted Walton\u2019s teaching methods. \u201cEveryone thinks they\u2019re a good teacher, but his teaching was that he identified weaknesses,\u201d he said. \u201cHe took complex subjects and he taught in a simple but complete way so that it becomes your strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Urologist Tatum Tarin, who completed his residency while Walton was on staff, agreed. \u201cHe could really break things down for his anesthesiology residents,\u201d Tarin said. \u201cHe was an exceptional teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGolden Hands\u201d<\/h4>\n

In addition to exceptional teaching, Walton will be remembered as an accomplished researcher.<\/p>\n

An emerging mind in modern medicine, Walton won various awards including the Anesthesia Department\u2019s Resident Research Award in 2007 and a prize from the California Society of Anesthesiologists.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedicine has suffered a huge loss to lose a mind like that,\u201d Rohlen said. \u201cHis ability to teach, invent and develop all made him a huge asset to academic medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2000, Walton was named a Howard Hughes scholar. Recipients of the prestigious fellowship are up and coming thinkers in the country who can make a difference on a global scale, according to Rohlen. Using this scholarship, Walton worked closely with Dr. Wally Koch at Duke University, investigating cardiovascular physiology and adrenergic receptor biology.<\/p>\n

After completing the fellowship, Walton came to Stanford to further his research in cardiovascular physiology. Patterson mentored Walton during his fellowship at the Stanford Medical Center.<\/p>\n

According to Patterson, Walton taught several members of his laboratory team how to perform the microsurgery techniques that he had developed in the Koch lab.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrant was a phenomenal researcher,\u201d Patterson wrote in an e-mail to The Daily.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Walton] was known to have \u2018golden hands\u2019 in the laboratory,\u201d he added. \u201cHe quickly showed us why when he started to work in my laboratory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walton\u2019s work on gene expression profiling, done in Patterson\u2019s lab, will be published in Critical Care Medicine in January 2010. Prior to his diagnosis of cancer, Walton also co-authored 10 publications.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, Brant [Walton] developed cancer before he could realize his full potential with regard to research,\u201d Patterson wrote. \u201cHe would likely have developed novel means of monitoring the cardiovascular system \u2013 his talent was exceptional.<\/p>\n

\u201c[He] would have invented something to save lives, and he would have contributed to a better understanding of heart disease,\u201d Patterson added. \u201cHe was just reaching a point in his life where he could make a significant difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Renaissance Man<\/h4>\n

To his friends and family, Walton was recognized as an extroverted Renaissance man. He was a musician, scholar, cook, photographer, nature enthusiast, builder, traveler and wine connoisseur.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knew so much about history and literature, and he was an accomplished musician,\u201d Tarin said. \u201cHe was a national champion jazz drummer. He was a phenomenal cook and father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just enjoyed life,\u201d added Brenda Walton, his mother.<\/p>\n

Walton valued learning and really wanted his son to love learning too, according to Rohlen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis biggest concern as a dying father was that his son got to go to college and learn,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fact that he wasn\u2019t going to be around for his family was really on his mind \u2013 he was such a caring guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved his son and wife,\u201d added his younger brother, Zaak Walton.<\/p>\n

Walton also kept an online journal of his fight with cancer in order to keep his family and friends updated about his status.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone loved him and everybody loved being around him,\u201d Tarin said. \u201cHe will be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A memorial service will be held on campus later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clinical Instructor in Anesthesia Dr. Geoffrey Brant Walton, pictured with wife Melissa and son Will, passed away from colon cancer on Dec. 17. The School of Medicine will rename a teaching award in his honor. (Courtesy of Tatum Tarin) After a year-long battle with colon cancer, Medical School Prof. Geoffrey Brant Walton died peacefully in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}