I am deeply saddened to report the passing of Dr. Francisco Marty. Dr. Marty was a valued member of ASTCT for nine years and was a thought leader in our field. Most recently, Dr. Marty was a member of the ID SIG and had been working alongside his peers to create CMV prevention guideline, which will be dedicated to his memory.

Dr. Marty served as an infectious disease specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He received his medical degree from the Central University of Venezuela and practiced for more than 20 years.

Dr. Marty had an extraordinary influence on the development of novel strategies to treat infectious complications in transplant patients, particularly for CMV, HHV6, BKV, invasive fungi, and respiratory viruses.

Most recently, he played a pivotal role in the testing of remdesivir during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trials were among several studies that led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand its emergency use authorization for the drug to treat all hospitalized patients with the viral respiratory infection, according to Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Marty established himself as premiere Infectious Disease physician. Throughout his career, Dr. Marty

• Led national studies on maribivir, brincidofavir and practice changing study on letermovir for CMV prophylaxis after allogeneic transplantation, which resulted three NEJM publications.

• Served as the lead investigator in the trial that led to the approval of isavuconazole for the treatment of mucormycosis.

• Was critical to the development of multiple new antifungal agents.

• Was central to the first comprehensive description of HHV-6 post-transplant limbic encephalitis in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant patients.

• Described the syndrome of cord colitis and the identification of its pathogenic cause.

• Helped design and participated actively in the development of presatovir for treatment of respiratory syncytial virus infection in transplant recipients as well as treatment of parainfluenza.

Although an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Marty was a frequent featured speaker at the Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT and CIBMTR and was the recipient of the Best Abstract Award in 2012. He was a part of the fabric of our transplant community and a perfect example of how different disciplines work together to improve the lives of patients today as well as tomorrow.

As the sad news becomes known, tributes to Dr. Marty have come forward to ASTCT.

"With utmost disbelief and sadness, we lost a great person from our infectious disease community who was a remarkable human being, friend, colleague, and a researcher. Francisco was super-talented. He will be deeply missed and we will always cherish the moments spent together either discussing the design of a study, analyzing data from phase 3 trials, sharing the podium to present at national or international stages, or talking about his other passion which was photography. May he Rest in Peace”. - Roy F Chemaly, MD, MPH, FIDSA, FACP, served alongside Dr. Marty on the ID SIG.

“He was a master clinician. When faced with the most complex cases and management decisions, both my colleagues at DFCI as well as his colleagues in the Infectious Disease Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital would routinely ask, ‘What does Francisco think, or what would Francisco do?’ He brought a thoughtful and fresh approach to every case, leveraging his extensive experience and extraordinary insight. He was invested in every patient he saw and developed a cohesive bond with them. He was a spectacular mentor to his students, fellows, staff and colleagues… We will miss his insight, dedication, and compassion for his patients, his colleagues, and his students. - Robert J. Soiffer, MD, Professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Chief, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

“He had friends all over the world including Australia. He had the ability to make us junior researchers feel valued and respected.” - Michelle Yong, MBBS FRACP MPH PhD, Peter MacCallum and Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The Boston Globe and local news outlets remember Dr. Marty.

Sincerely,

Stella Davies, MBBS, PhD

ASTCT President

Tags: astct, President, Tribute