Edward Allen Neuwelt

Dr. Edward Neuwelt was born on May 27, 1948, in West Lafayette, Indiana—the third of four children. Raised in a family that owned the Neuwelt Fabric Center, he grew up hearing his parents’ steady refrain: “Get an education. It’s the one thing no one can take away from you.” He took that lesson to heart. After losing his uncle to a brain tumor, Ed’s path became clear. While still in middle school, he began growing cancer cells in his mother’s refrigerator, already determined to understand and defeat the disease that had taken someone he loved. He completed college at 19 and medical school at 22, embarking on a career that would transform the treatment of brain cancer worldwide. As a neurosurgeon and physician-scientist, Dr. Neuwelt devoted his life to patients facing devastating diagnoses. His first major breakthrough was developing a method to safely open the blood-brain barrier, allowing chemotherapy to reach brain tumors directly—often avoiding the need for surgery, the very surgery that had claimed his uncle’s life. He took other people’s battles personally and committed himself fully to their fight. Early in his career, a child he treated suffered hearing loss from life-saving chemotherapy, affecting the child both academically and socially. Deeply moved, Ed spent the next 20 years researching a way to protect children’s hearing during treatment. That work led to an FDA-approved drug now co-administered with chemotherapy around the world. He also led efforts to secure FDA approval for the use of ferumoxytol imaging in brain tumors as an alternative to gadolinium, providing distinct and often superior imaging. A prolific author, he published more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reviews, including multiple manuscripts in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and other leading journals. Beyond research and surgery, Ed worked tirelessly to prevent suffering before it began. He oversaw the Portland, Oregon chapter of the ThinkFirst program, educating children about head injury prevention and distributing helmets to families who could not afford them. He spoke candidly about the long-term consequences of risky behavior, hoping to spare others from preventable tragedy. He rescued people quietly. He created science programs to help lower-income high school students access medical research pathways that otherwise would have been out of reach. He developed mentorship and training programs for minority medical students, welcoming many into his own home. He established residency opportunities for international medical graduates in highly competitive specialties, changing the trajectories of countless lives. When someone faced housing instability, he rented them a house. When a dying brain tumor patient wept because she could not afford a plane ticket to see her son one last time, Ed bought it—without telling anyone. For his family, he was equally extraordinary. If his daughter was homesick or overwhelmed by exams, he would board an eight-hour flight just to hug her, take her to dinner, and fly home the next morning. After long days performing neurosurgery and caring for critically ill patients, he returned home to the chaos of family life with nothing but patience, warmth, and love. To have him as a father was an immeasurable honor. Dr. Neuwelt passed away in Dallas on February 10, 2026, on his wife’s birthday. His legacy lives on in the countless patients he treated, the physicians he trained, the students he uplifted, and the family who adored him.

Edward Allen Neuwelt

May 27, 1948 - February 10, 2026