Leader in study of animal cardiology

David K. Detweiler, 89, a professor emeritus in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, died of esophageal cancer Feb. 15 at Waverly Heights, a retirement community in Gladwyne.

A notice in Almanac, a university publication, referred to him as "a world leader in veterinary comparative cardiology."

In the 1950s, Dr. Detweiler obtained small grants from the National Institutes of Health for epidemiological studies on heart disease in dogs, said Coreen M. Haggerty, alumni-relations director at the vet school.

In 1960, she said, the NIH gave him a $1 million grant to establish and support for 10 years a comparative cardiovascular-studies unit at Penn. "At the time, this was the largest grant ever awarded" to anyone at the vet school, Haggerty said, and it established Penn as a center for such research.

The studies were comparative, Penn spokeswoman Gail Luciani said, "because this research uses animal models to study human disease."

The successor of Dr. Detweiler's unit, Luciani said, "continues pioneer work" in such health concerns as heartworm disease, congenital heart disease, and heart surgery.

Born in South Philadelphia, Dr. Detweiler graduated from Upper Darby High School in 1937, earned his bachelor's degree from Penn in 1941, and received his veterinarian's degree one year later.

He received deferments from World War II military service because his work as an animal doctor was crucial in a city with 5,000 horses helping to deliver milk and haul trash, His daughter-in-law Amanda said.

When Dr. Detweiler graduated, Haggerty said, he became an assistant instructor in physiology and pharmacology, then the acting head of those disciplines from 1944 to 1947. He earned his master's degree in 1949.

Dr. Detweiler spent the 1955-56 academic year as a Guggenheim Fellow at the University of Zurich. In 1962, he became a physiology professor at Penn's veterinary school.

From 1962 to 1968, he headed the vet school's laboratory of physiology and pharmacology, and in 1970 he became chief of the graduate group in comparative medical science.

From 1963 to 1973, Dr. Detweiler was a guest lecturer in Germany for short periods at the University of Munich, the Free University in Berlin, and a veterinary school in Hanover.

He retired in 1995.

He consulted for national pharmaceutical firms from 1990 to 2004, his daughter-in-law said. His honors included the American Veterinary Medical Association's Gaines Award in 1960 and an honorary doctor of science degree from Ohio State University in 1966.

He received two honorary doctorates in veterinary medicine, in 1968 from a veterinary school in Vienna, Austria, and in 1969 from the University of Turin in Italy.

In 1974, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1982 the World Small Animal Veterinary Association established the D.K. Detweiler Prize for cardiovascular research, especially in small animals.

Dr. Detweiler is survived by his wife, Birthe; sons David and Kenneth; daughters Diane Heller, Ellyn Mendham, Inge Detweiler, and Jodi Naessig; stepsons Claus, Henrick, and Kenneth Ersback; stepdaughter Julie Sheehy; 18 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. His first wife, Vera, died in 2007. His second wife, Inge, died in 1995. A memorial service is planned for the spring.