The award-winning neuromuscular clinician, educator, and researcher made many contributions in neuromuscular disease research.
By Duygu Selcen, MD and P. James B. Dyck, MD
Dr. Andrew Engel
Dr. Andrew Engel, one of the legends in the field of neuromuscular disease, passed away on Oct. 20, 2024.
Dr. Engel was born in Budapest, Hungary, and immigrated to the United States in his teens with his family. He earned his medical degree from McGill University in 1955 with a gold medal for achieving the highest academic standing upon graduation. After an internship at Philadelphia General Hospital, he began an internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic, but his training was interrupted in 1958 when he had to sign up for National Service. He chose the U.S. Public Health Service where he was eventually assigned to the Division of Neurology directed by G. Milton Shy at the National Institutes of Health.
During this period, he decided to become a neurologist. In 1960, he returned to the Mayo Clinic to complete his training in internal medicine and neurology. From 1962 to 1965, he was a postdoctoral fellow in neuropathology at Columbia University in New York. In 1965, Dr. Engel was appointed to the staff of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Dr. Engel was an internationally renowned neuromuscular clinician, educator, and researcher whose impact on the field truly cannot be overstated. He was a beacon of excellence in the field of neuromuscular diseases, cherished by patients as an astute and caring clinician, nurturing numerous fellows as a dedicated mentor and teacher, and sharing his expertise in muscle pathology, biochemistry, electrophysiology, and molecular genetics. Dr. Engel discovered many novel neuromuscular diseases and unraveled the pathogenesis of many others. His contributions to the field over the decades have been extraordinary.
Dr. Engel wrote more than 350 peer-reviewed papers and numerous reviews. He also edited and was a key contributor to three editions of “Myology: Basic and Clinical,” the most highly regarded text in the field. Dr. Engel’s remarkable accomplishments in the field of neuroscience have been recognized with many awards and accolades, including:
- The Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award (twice)
- The Duchenne-Erb-Prize of the German Muscular Dystrophy Group
- The Jerry Lewis Research Award from the Muscular Dystrophy Association
- The Carrell-Krusen Award from the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
- The Bernard Sachs Award of the Child Neurology Society
- The Gaetano Conte Prize of the Mediterranean Society of Myology
- The Lifetime Achievement Award for Neuromuscular Diseases by the World Federation of Neurology
In 1994, he presented the prestigious Wartenberg Lecture at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), and in the same year, the Mayo Clinic honored him with the Distinguished Investigator Award. He was awarded honorary membership in the AAN, American Neurological Association (ANA), and the European, German, and Spanish Societies of Neurology. In 2003, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science.
We are privileged to have learned and worked alongside such an amazing colleague. We will miss him greatly. Andy’s legacy will live on through his colleagues, collaborators, and countless former mentees here at Mayo Clinic and throughout the world. •
Dr. Duygu Selcen is a consultant and professor of neurology and pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. P. James Dyck is a professor and consultant neurologist at the Mayo Clinic.
