University Times

University Times

VOLUME 29 NUMBER 17 MAY 1, 1997

Copyright (c) 1997, University of Pittsburgh

Margaret W. Bates, retired associate professor of epidemiology in Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), died March 2 while vacationing in Panama. She retired from the University in 1989.

Bates came to Pitt from the University of Toronto in 1957. At Pitt, her early research focused on the metabolism and transport of liquids in experimental animals.

From 1965 to 1967, Bates also worked in the Oxford University laboratory of Nobel Prize laureate Hans Krebs, where she studied the role of hormones in lipid metabolism.

Returning to Pitt from Oxford, Bates joined the Departments of Psychiatry and Physiology as an associate research professor. In 1977 she became director of the Heinz Nutrition Core Laboratory in GSPH.

During her second tenure in GSPH, Bates played a key role in the development of the school's nutrition and epidemiology program, and participated in studies of women's health, evaluating changes in blood lipids during menopause.

According to colleague and friend Lewis Kuller in GSPH, Bates developed one of the first lipid laboratories in the nation certified by the Centers for Disease Control. "Her original research on fatty acid metabolism is taking on new importance now as we recognize the importance of fatty acid metabolism in many chronic diseases," Kuller said.

Bates received a bachelor of arts degree from Wellesley College in 1948, a master's of science from Cornell University in 1950 and a doctor of science from Harvard University's School of Public Health in 1954. She was the author of more than 25 research papers.

Surviving are a brother, Westbrook, of Brookfield, Conn., two sisters, Sarah Eckberg of La Porte, Cal., and Carolyn Montieth of Canton, N.Y., and several nieces and nephews.