Dr. William T. Shearer, who treated David 'The Bubble Boy' Vetter, dies at 81

HOUSTON – The doctor who treated David "The Bubble Boy" Vetter has died at 81.

Dr. William T. Shearer died Tuesday.

PHOTOS: Dr. William T. Shearer and David 'The Bubble Boy' Vetter

Shearer was a noted luminary in the field of allergies and immunology, according to health officials.

He was a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital for 40 years, serving for 34 years as chief of the Allergy and Immunology Section and Service.

Here are some facts about Shearer that were provided by Texas Children's Hospital:

• Dr. William T. Shearer, M.D., Ph. D. was the founder and a former chief of the Allergy and Immunology Service at Texas Children’s Hospital and professor of Pediatrics and Immunology at Baylor College of Medicine.
• Shearer was an internationally respected luminary leader, clinician, teacher and investigator in pediatric immunology and HIV/AIDS.
• He may be most famous for his innovative care of David “The Bubble Boy” Vetter in 1979, which led to revolutionary immunologic discoveries.
• He aggressively pursued his passions in basic and clinical research in primary and secondary immunodeficiency with continuous NIH funding during his 40-year tenure at Texas Children’s.
• Shearer published more than 500 journal articles and textbook chapters throughout his career and was a chief editor for Clinical Immunology: Principles and Practice, the premier immunology textbook, since 1996.
• He enthusiastically trained 117 trainees as the program director of the Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Training Program at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine.
• Shearer was active in clinical research for children with HIV infection and participated as the principal investigator for the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) and the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network at Baylor College of Medicine until 2018. He was passionate about this work and continuously pursued research in this area until his passing.
• Shearer graduated from, and is a distinguished alumnus of, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, receiving his clinical training in pediatrics, allergy and immunology at the Washington University’s affiliated hospitals, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Barnes Hospital.
• He received a Research Scholar Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and a Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society for his early research work.
• He joined the faculty of Washington University in 1974 and was promoted to professor in 1978, prior to moving to Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital that same year.
• In 1981, he was elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and received the Distinguished Teacher Award in 1984 from Baylor College of Medicine.
• In 2005, he received the Arnold J. Rudolph Baylor Pediatric Award for Lifetime Excellence in Teaching.
• In 2008, he was elected to the Association of American Physicians; he was chair of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Program Directors Assembly (1986-1991) and vice president of the Accredited Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency and Review Committee for Allergy and Immunology (1996-2001).
• Shearer continued to be active in professional and clinical immunology organizations at the international level until his death.
• Shearer served as director and chair of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (1990-1995); director of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) from 1992-2002; chair of AAAAI’s Clinical and Laboratory Immunology Committee, which published the Core Content Outline for Clinical and Laboratory Immunology and the Practice Parameters for the Diagnosis and Management of Immunodeficiency; and member and associate editor of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2000-2015).
• He was elected councilor (1997-2001) and president of the Clinical Immunology Society (2001-2002). For editing the Primer on Allergy and Immunologic Diseases 5th edition, he was given the Special Recognition Award by the AAAAI in 2004.