Joel S. Bennett, a groundbreaking blood researcher and a former professor of hematology/oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), passed away from complications of pancreatic cancer on June 21. He was 78.

Dr. Bennett attended the University of Michigan for his undergraduate and medical education, then came to HUP in 1967 to complete a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology/oncology. Two years later, he was hired as an assistant instructor at HUP in the department of medicine. In 1971, Dr. Bennett left Penn for a brief stint as a physician in the Air Force, but he returned to Penn in 1975, this time as an associate in hematology/oncology. A year later, he was promoted to assistant professor in the same department, and he rose through the ranks to become an associate professor clinician-educator in 1982 and a full professor in 1995. He also had a secondary appointment in the department of pharmacology. Dr. Bennett was widely involved at Penn until his death, serving on the department of medicine’s Committee on Appointments and Promotions and on several Faculty Senate committees. 

During his time at Penn, Dr. Bennett was renowned for his research in hematology. He was the first to recognize that fibrinogen bound to the platelet GPIIb-IIIa receptor, thereby defining the molecular mechanism by which platelets aggregate. This important finding paved the way for the development of drugs like abciximab and eptifibatide, which have been used to treat millions of patients with coronary artery disease. Dr. Bennett was widely published, and he was recognized by the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians for the excellence and breadth of his work. In 2010, he received the Beutler Prize, the highest honor of the American Society of Hematology, in celebration of his pioneering research on GPIIb-IIIa (Almanac December 21, 2010). Dr. Bennett is fondly remembered as a generous mentor and considerate colleague. In his personal life, Dr. Bennett was an avid tennis player. 

He is survived by his wife, Evelyn; children, Lisa, Andrew, Lisa Dunn, Joe Goodman, and David Goodman; brother, David; sister, Barbara Palmer; and nine grandchildren.