Dr. Martin Black, 79, liver transplantation expert

A memorial service will be held Sunday, April 2, for Dr. Martin Black, 79, formerly of Penn Valley, a physician, educator, and liver transplantation expert who died Dec. 24, at his retirement home in Albuquerque, N.M.

He had battled Alzheimer's disease for several years.

Dr. Black came to Philadelphia in 1973 and began a 40-year career as a specialist in diseases of the liver at Temple University Hospital. He treated thousands of patients and mentored many medical students.

Born and reared in London, he graduated from St. Mary's School of Medicine there at age 22. He decided to specialize in diseases of the liver after studying under Professor Sheila Sherlock, a London-based pioneer in the field.

He completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y., and was awarded a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., where from 1971 to 1973, he conducted research in the metabolism of Isoniazid, then the only drug widely available to treat, and also prevent, tuberculosis in those exposed to the illness.

In June 1974, while teaching a pharmacology class at Temple University School of Medicine, he met a medical student named Hester Sonder. They married in October 1974. The couple settled in Center City. Later, they moved to Penn Valley.

Dr. Black and Dr. Stuart Meyers, chairman of the department of surgery at Temple, created the second program for liver and kidney transplantation in Philadelphia, and in doing so, Dr. Black realized a career-long dream, his family said. (The first liver transplantation program was begun by others, at Jefferson University Hospital.)

Dr. Black also was an adjunct director of liver transplantation at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Mount Sinai Hospital in Harlem, N.Y., and Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden.

For many years, on the first Saturday in December, he assembled experts from across the country to present cutting-edge advances in liver disease and the outcome of ongoing clinical trials.

The daylong program was at the Adam's Mark hotel on City Avenue. After the hotel was razed in 2006, the seminar moved elsewhere.

"It was his own brainchild," his wife said of the program.

In 2008, Dr. Black was named Practitioner of the Year by the Philadelphia County Medical Society.

A gifted athlete, he played soccer, golf, tennis, and squash. Although he "tolerated" the Flyers, he was a die-hard fan of the Tottenham Hotspurs and loyal to the New York Mets, Jets, and Rangers, his family said.

He loved travel, theater, classical music, and jazz. He and his wife were season ticket-holders to the Philadelphia Orchestra for three decades.

Living an active Jewish life was very important to Dr. Black. He was a member of Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley for 40 years.

"He will be remembered for his unabashed professional passion, enviable intellect, prickly demeanor, soft heart, fierce loyalty, sharp wit, mesmerizing eyes, and infectious smile," his family said.

Besides his wife of 42 years, he is survived by daughter Jocelyn B. Hodes, son Maxwell, two grandchildren, four brothers, and a sister.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 2, at Har Zion Temple, 1500 Hagys Ford Rd., Penn Valley. Burial is private.

Donations may be made to the American Liver Foundation at www.liverfoundation.org.

bcook@phillynews.com

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