The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) will host a Celebration of Life to honor Anton Paul Sohn, M.D., former professor and chair emeritus of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Sohn arrived in Reno, Nevada in 1968 and contributed to the development of laboratory medicine and medical education in the area for decades to come.

Sohn was born in Indianapolis on Oct. 1, 1935. He pursued the study of medicine at Indiana University and completed a fellowship in tropical medicine through Louisiana State University, working with the World Health Organization in El Salvador and Guatemala to combat malaria. After graduating medical school in 1961, he completed an internship at San Francisco Hospital. He married Arlene Ann Hedegard in 1963, and they moved to Tacoma, Washington, where Sohn completed his pathology residency and forensic pathology fellowship under one of the world's foremost forensic pathologists, Charles Larson, M.D.

In 1966, Sohn was drafted into the Army and completed his officer and Medical Corps training before completing a tour of duty as chief of pathology in Saigon, Vietnam. After his tour, he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor under hostile fire.

Sohn was named chair of the Department of Pathology in 1985 and taught medical students for over 25 years. An avid historian, Sohn organized the Great Basin History of Medicine program in 1989, which included The Great Basin History of Medicine Society, an oral history program, a research program, the Greasewood Press and the Greasewood Tablettes quarterly newsletter, and The History of Medicine Museum. The Greasewood Press published 16 books, while Sohn himself went on to write over 20 books, many of which focused on the untold stories of Nevada's physicians and medical history. In 2016, the Doctors Hood History of Medicine Library was designated as the Anton P. and Arlene A. Sohn Great Basin History of Medicine Museum.

At UNR Med, Sohn pioneered early genetic screening and developed the genetics program in the Department of Pathology in 1988. He was instrumental in developing the newborn screening program at the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory (NSPHL), ensuring that all newborns in Nevada had access to lifesaving testing. He served as director of the NSPHL from the late 1990s until retirement; under his direction, it was moved from State jurisdiction to the Department of Pathology at UNR Med in 1997.

In addition to teaching, Sohn held leadership roles at local and state societies. He served as president of the Washoe County Medical Society in 1977, president of the Nevada State Medical Association (NSMA) in 1984 and president of the Reno Surgical Society in 1986. He was laboratory director of Washoe Medical Center (now Renown Health) and was elected chief of staff in 1981. In 1991, he was named Nevada Physician of the Year by the NSMA and in 1998 received the President's Award for services to organized medicine.

Christie Elliott, M.D., serves as the current chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UNR Med. Dr. Elliott first met Sohn as a medical student, and remembers him as the true pioneer of pathology in Northern Nevada. She remembers not only his lectures and teaching in the pathology lab, but also the distinct impact and evolution of pathology Sohn brought to the area. The pathology lab where Elliott currently works was founded by Sohn; he recruited Elliott to join the faculty at UNR Med in 2007 and mentored her as a young pathologist and educator. She has spent her career building upon the foundation he built and continues to carry forward Sohn's lessons to the next generation of young physicians.

His family remembers Sohn as an avid outdoorsman – he climbed some of the tallest peaks in the West, enjoyed hiking, biking and skiing in the Lake Tahoe region, and spent summers documenting wildflowers, plants and trees in the Idaho wilderness. He provided a quiet steadiness to his wife and children, and loved to share stories, wisdom and even a wry joke or two with his family. His grandchildren, nieces and nephews learned the importance of education, kindness and a strong work ethic from Sohn, and his legacy lives on in his children, grandchildren and extended family.

A Celebration of Life is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 9, at 10 a.m. at the Savitt Medical Library, on the UNR Med campus. Those wishing to honor Dr. Sohn are invited to give to the Anton P. & Arlene A. Sohn Great Basin History of Medicine Museum Fund at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. Please contact Gabrielle Brackett at gbrackett@unr.edu for more information.