Neurosurgeon, Founder, Friend

HMRI Celebrates the Life and Legacy of Dr. C. Hunter Shelden

C. Hunter Shelden, M.D., a leading neurosurgeon and a founding director of the Huntington Medical Research Institutes, died in Pasadena on January 12, 2003, after a brief illness.  He was 95.  A memorial program was held January 24 at Huntington Hospital's Braun Auditorium, with remarks and memories shared by family members, HMRI directors and scientific leaders, former colleagues and friends.  A tribute from the U.S. Navy was given in honor of Dr. Shelden's many years of service, and an American flag was presented to his wife Betty by their grandson, Air Force Lt. Hunter Shelden, and Navy Lt. Steven Parks.

Born March 27, 1907, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Shelden attended the University of Wisconsin and the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany, and received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1932.  In 1934 he married Elizabeth Pattison, also from Minnesota.  He completed an internship at Kansas City General Hospital (1932-33), a Master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1937, and further neurosurgical training at the Mayo Clinic.  His interest in neurosurgery was influenced by his father, Walter DeWitt "Pop" Shelden, who founded the section in Clinical Neurology at the Mayo Clinic.  In 1940 he joined the staff of Huntington Memorial Hospital and was Board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, of which he later became chairman (1961-63).

From 1942-46 he served at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.  According to his son Jay, Dr. Shelden was one of the first Naval surgeons with a neurosurgical specialty.  It was there that he developed a lifelong friendship and partnership with another neurosurgeon, Robert Pudenz, M.D.  As a lieutenant commander he was Joint Chief, with Dr. Pudenz, of the Navy's Division of Neurological Surgery.  Together they published an article for the first Journal of Neurosurgery, reporting on intracranial movement of the brain associated with head trauma.

In 1946 Drs. Shelden and Pudenz returned to California and established the first private neurosurgery practice in Pasadena.  Combining their clinical practice with their love of research, they led initiation of research laboratories which were to become a major part of the Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI).   Shelden served as Chief of Neurosurgery at Huntington Memorial Hospital and helped build the neurosurgical residency program there.  He also held hospital appointments at LA County-USC Medical Center and St. Vincent's Hospital in Los Angeles.  He was a Research Associate in the Division of Applied Engineering at the California Institute of Technology and was Director of Neurosurgical Research at HMRI until 2002.

For decades he was Neurosurgical Consultant to the Surgeon General of the Navy.  In that role, he directed the Navy's only neurosurgical residency program, which was located at Huntington Hospital.  In 1970, at the request of the Surgeon General of the Navy, he inspected medical facilities throughout Vietnam and the Far East.

In the early 1950s, Dr. Shelden was responsible for a major development in preventing head injuries resulting from auto accidents.  While treating hundreds of patients who came to emergency rooms with head trauma, he investigated the still primitive auto design features that were implicated in countless injuries and deaths.  His results were published as the lead article of the November 5, 1955, Journal of the American Medical Association.  In it, he proposed revolutionary safety features which we take for granted today - retractable seat belts, recessed steering wheel, reinforced roof, roll bars, door locks and seat backs, and passive restraints such as air bags.  Because of his findings and recommendations, Congress in 1959 required all motor vehicles to meet certain safety standards.

William Opel, Ph.D., Executive Director of HMRI, said, "Hunter's determination to follow through on ideas that help patients is one of his hallmarks. At HMRI he developed and introduced an array of new technology that contribute immensely to what medicine is today."

He received wide acclaim for his Shelden Stereotactic System, a precision computer-guided instrument for locating and excising minute brain tumors.  It was developed through his research at HMRI, in conjunction with Caltech's computer facilities and instrumentation by Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  This achievement earned him a NASA medal in 1979 for the most important neurosurgical research done that year and the cover article inThe Journal of Neurosurgery  in 1980.  Other research interests at HMRI included development of the hydrocephalus shunt system with Dr. Pudenz, photographic methods to demonstrate the presence of nitrogen bubbles in the blood in cases of severe decompression syndrome, the adoption and refinement of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) for clinical medicine, significant studies into brain tumors, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and timely delivery of oxygen to brain tissue affected by stroke.  His vision and influence led to installation at HMRI of the first clinical MRI instrument in southern California in 1983.

Tributes from Colleagues

Caltech Professor of Chemistry and former HMRI Board member John D. Roberts, Ph.D., said of Dr. Shelden, "Hunter's legacy is broad and it is deep.  He enriched the lives of all who worked with him.  He will be missed."  Donald Freshwater, M.D., a former colleague in neurosurgery, praised him as "an idea man in his approach to neurosurgery and the treatment of various neurological diseases."  He added, "Neurosurgery is a demanding specialty with very few surgeons the caliber of Hunter Shelden."

Neurosurgeon Edwin Todd, M.D., who worked with Drs. Shelden and Pudenz in clinical practice and research programs in the 1950s-'60s - especially on advances in the hydrocephalus shunt and in stereotactic surgery - praised Shelden as "inspiring, with an original mind that could change the way you think."  "All who worked with him learned things which would stay with them all their lives," he said.

Additional tributes came from HMRI Board president Roger Engemann and Board members Robert Mackin, Ph.D., Mitchell Howe, Jr., Lynn Howe Myers and Richard Bing, M.D., head of Experimental Cardiology from 1969-2002; Marylou Ingram, M.D.,  Director of the Cell Culture Laboratory; MR  Spectroscopy Lab Director Brian Ross, M.D., Ph.D.; a video greeting from former MRI Director William Bradley, M.D., Ph.D.; and a message from Huntington Hospital president and CEO Steve Ralph, who recalled his vision and dedication to always searching for a better way.  "He knew that the science and art of medicine could always be improved, and he knew that by believing in and pursuing your ideas with hard work and perseverance, health care for everyone would get better," Ralph said.

The American Academy of Neurological Surgery named Shelden Neurosurgeon of the Year in 1980.  In 1995 with Dr. Pudenz, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the California Association of Neurological Surgeons.  He published 120 major articles, served as presiding officer of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, Southern California Neurosurgical Association, Western Neurosurgical Society, and the American Academy of Neurological Surgery.  He remained active on the HMRI Board of Directors until his final illness.

Shelden was also an avid golfer who once designed and built a special putter to improve his game.  In 2000, the C. Hunter Shelden Award was established by the Lynn Smith Memorial Golf Tournament in honor of his dedication to golf, medical research, neurosurgery and humanity.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Betty; his sons Jay Hunter Shelden of South Pasadena, James Pattison (Liv) Shelden of Pasadena, Geoffrey Hood (Kathy) Shelden of Pacific Palisades; and grandchildren Lt. Hunter Shelden (USAFR), Trevor Shelden and Samantha Shelden.

The family has requested that memorial donations be made to the Shelden Memorial Lecture Fund at HMRI.