Jussara Marcondes Machado
Domingos Alves Meira, a Professor of the Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Department, School of Medicine of Botucatu (UNESP), passed away on June 22, 2012, eleven days after his 80th birthday. He departed “under protest”, a term he frequently used when talking about his own death. He lived a long and fruitful life, and has always put his lucid intelligence for the cause of medicine. His students affectionately called him Master. His colleagues admired his enthusiastic and critical views of academic life. His patients trusted that the doctor, who believed in humanized assistance, would always have a cure for all their illnesses.
Born in São Paulo, Domingos Alves Meira graduated in medicine in 1958 from the School of Medicine, University of São Paulo. His dynamism and voluntarism, qualities that described him quite well, stood out during his academic years when he was the Treasurer, Secretary, and Chairman of the Associação Atlética Acadêmica Oswaldo Cruz and President of the Centro Acadêmico Oswaldo Cruz. As a medical student, he was a great sports enthusiast and devoted himself to athletics and volleyball.
Influenced by his father, Professor João Alves Meira, but also by talent, he chose infectious and parasitic diseases as a specialty, having been a student of the first course in the Institute of Tropical Medicine of São Paulo, created by the late Professor Lacaz in 1960. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1965 and a Professorship in 1967, both from the School of Medicine, University of São Paulo.
That same year, he accepted an invitation from Professor Mário Rubens Montenegro to be a member of the newly created School of Medical and Biological Sciences, Botucatu (FCMBB) and carry out teaching and research on a full-time basis. He took on this role with great confidence and established a career spanning over 40 years during which he was responsible for the recruitment of nearly 4,000 physicians. He produced relevant research on malaria regarding the endemic area of Humaitá/Rondonia and on clinical and immunological aspects of AIDS. He has published over 85 scientific articles in high-impact journals and mentored several doctoral and master’s theses candidates. He was the Director of FCMBB and was the first Director of the Hospital das Clínicas of this Institution, where he obtained the title of Associate Professor and was responsible for the chair of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases.
In 1977, when the FCMBB was integrated in the Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), he earned the position of Full Professor of the School of Medicine of Botucatu, UNESP. During his tenure from 1980 to 1984 as director at the institute, he created the Foundation for Medical and Hospital Development for the management of extra budgetary resources of the Hospital das Clínicas. The initiative enabled significant development of the hospital, which was evident in the following decades. Under the School of Medicine of Botucatu, he created the Department of Tropical Diseases and Imaging Diagnosis and also the Program of Medical Residency in Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, later called Infectology. He was responsible for the recruitment of approximately 70 infectology specialists in the department. In addition, he started the Postgraduate Program in Tropical Diseases, an innovative initiative that included professionals, in addition to physicians, with different academic backgrounds related to the course content. He was the Program Coordinator for several terms.
After his compulsory retirement in 2002, which he called “expulsory”, he continued with his academic activities as a Volunteer Professor. In 2003, he received the title of Professor Emeritus from the School of Medicine of Botucatu-UNESP.
He created the Specialized Ambulatory and Day Hospital Service, later named “Domingos Alves Meira”, that started activities in 2004, for the humanized and multidisciplinary treatment of individuals infected with HIV, HBV, HCV, and HTLV-I/II. He was Technical Director and physician of this service until his demise.
He was an optimist, lived life with joy, and had complete faith in humanity. He had great respect for his parents, unconditional love for his family, and was proud of his children. He was also a loyal friend. Above all, my husband was a good man.
