Friends, colleagues remember Melissa Ketunuti, '07

ketunuti.blogspot.co.uk

Melissa Ketunuti participated in the 2007 School of Medicine graduation ceremony. The 35-year-old physician was killed Jan. 21.

Friends and colleagues of Melissa Ketunuti, MD, a 2007 graduate of the School of Medicine, have reacted with shock and sorrow to the news of her death.

In interviews and e-mail messages, they recalled her warm personality, ready smile, passion for international medicine and insatiable appetite for learning.

A pediatric infectious disease fellow at Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, Ketunuti, 35, was killed Jan. 21 in Philadelphia. An exterminator who visited her home on a service call has been charged with her murder and is being held without bail.

"She was a joy to know: a wonderful person and a great colleague," said Michael Simon, PhD, a professor of biology at Stanford. Ketunuti worked as a researcher in Simon's lab before attending medical school. "During our weekly meetings, she was always cheerful and smiling, always full of ideas and always wanting to learn more so she could work independently. She will always be missed."

Ketunuti was born and grew up in Thailand, moving to the United States in 1995 to attend Amherst College. She began medical school at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in 2001 before transferring to the Stanford School of Medicine in 2002. As a Fogarty Ellison Scholar, she spent 10 months in Botswana in 2005 and 2006 conducting research on HIV infection. After earning her medical degree, Ketunuti moved to Washington, DC, for a general surgery residency. In 2008, she transferred to a pediatrics residency at Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, which she completed in 2011. At the time of her death, she was working on a fellowship at CHOP in pediatric infectious disease. Upon completion of her fellowship, she planned to return to Botswana to work with children with HIV/AIDS.

"It is deeply saddening to hear of the tragic death of a young member of our alumni community," said Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the School of Medicine. "Melissa had planned to spend her life serving some of the world's most vulnerable individuals, children in developing countries who were seriously ill. Her passing is a great loss for all of us, and we at Stanford extend our heartfelt sympathy to her family and friends."

Several former members of Simon's lab at Stanford shared memories of their time with Ketunuti. Rachel Smith-Bolton, PhD, now at the University of Illinois, said Ketunuti once took a day off from work to help her carry boxes when she had to move on a weekday. Smith-Bolton also recalled enjoying a camping trip they took to Yosemite with a group of friends. Another Simon lab scientist, Dan Vogel of Palo Alto, remembered Ketunuti patiently teaching him about the care and feeding of the lab's fruit flies. Other members recall her cheerful persistence at scientific research.

"No matter how challenging the experiment or frustrating the result, Melissa was undaunted, reassuring all of us not to worry, we'd get it the next try," said Alana O'Reilly, PhD, now at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

While a medical student at Stanford, Ketunuti worked as a teaching assistant for Robert Siegel, MD, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology. She assisted Siegel with a class called "The Infectious Basis of Disease."

"I demanded a lot of work from my TAs in those days, a willingness to jump in and really get involved," Siegel said. "She was always smiling, very energetic, very smart."

"Melissa was a perpetual student, always very eager to be learning," said School of Medicine alumna Sarah Juul, MD, who became friends with Ketunuti when the two took a class together on international medicine. "She was influenced by growing up in a less-developed country; that was part of what fueled her interest in working with the underserved, especially overseas."

Ketunuti was excited about continuing her global work in pediatric infectious disease, Juul said, adding that she had a natural rapport with both children and adults. "She was someone it was easy to be with; it was easy to feel connected to her."

In addition to her passion for medicine, Ketunuti enjoyed running. She participated in road races of varying lengths wherever she lived, including a 2005 half-marathon in Botswana. (She reported on her blog that the only obstacle on the course was a cow that had wandered into the road.) She was an enthusiastic traveler, documenting her trips to many destinations in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Soon after her death, Ketunuti's family released a statement to the media. It said, in part, "Melissa's friends from childhood, college, residency and elsewhere remember her many kindnesses, even during long hours, as well as her zest for life: traveling, running and spending time with friends and family. Melissa was a source of joy to everyone in her life. Her passing has left an enormous gap in our lives."