University of Colorado Department of Pediatrics

From Drs. Stephen R. Daniels, Chair, Dept. of Pediatrics and Shawn E. McCandless, Section Head, Genetics & Metabolism

Dear All,

We must share the sad news that our colleague, Dr. Stephen Goodman, died on October 30, 2020 from complications of cancer.  Please see all information, below, including a written tribute.

A memorial website has been created for Dr.  Goodman with information about arrangements. This site also provides a space to share stories and photos. www.goodmanmemorial.com.  Please excuse the fact that it's warning you about security. It is safe and the family is working on this.

At a beautiful plot in the Jewish section at Fairmount Cemetery, a live-streamed service was held on Tuesday morning.  If you go to Feldman's Mortuary’s website, the live streamed service will be on You Tube in the future. 

Stephen Irwin Goodman, MD, a founding member, and one of the first members of the Board of Directors of the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders, died in Denver, CO on October 30, 2020 from complications of cancer.  Born in Montreal, Dr. Goodman obtained his medical degree from McGill University in 1963, did Pediatric training in Montreal then moved to Denver in 1965 for a fellowship in Metabolism (including renal and GI disease in addition to clinical genetics and inborn errors).  He fell in love with the mountains and the southwest, and remained at the University of Colorado for his entire professional career, with his wife, Patricia, and daughters Michelle and Karen, and their families. Among his many accomplishments, he was instrumental in developing genetic and metabolic services in Colorado and the region, lead the section of Genetics and Metabolism in the Department of Pediatrics for many years, directed the NIH funded BF Stolinsky MR [Intellectual Disabilities] Research Center at the University of Colorado, and he founded the Biochemical Genetics Laboratory at Children’s Hospital Colorado, which he directed until his death.  Together with Frank Frerman and Jan Kraus, Steve built a superb clinical and research group at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (now Anschutz Medical Campus), that continues today. In 2011, he was designated as Distinguished Professor of the University of Colorado, the highest honor that the University of Colorado bestows on its faculty members. 

Steve modeled for his team and many trainees the importance of an inquisitive mind, along with common sense and humility.  He never spoke of “his accomplishments”, rather it was “our accomplishments”, which were many, including writing a seminal text on use of GC-MS for analysis of organic acids (with Sanford Markey), defining and characterizing glutaric acidurias type I and II, and contributing knowledge to the diagnosis and management of many other inborn errors of metabolism.  He was a leader in essentially all the organizations that have impacted the development of the field of Medical Genetics in North America, including being a founding member of both the SIMD and the ACMGG and, while also active in the ASHG, the ABMGG, and others.  In addition to being an adored father and grandfather, Steve also had many talents outside of Medicine, being both an accomplished musician and performer (acoustic guitar) and superb nature photographer (www.goodmanphotos.com).  For more details, or to share memories, his children have set up a website: https://goodmanmemorial.com/.