Itzhak Brook, 83, of Washington, D.C., died of cancer on Jan. 10, surrounded by his family at home.
A hallmark of his life was turning adversity, whether on the battlefield in combat, or losing his vocal cords to cancer, into an opportunity to help others. Itzhak’s wide-ranging career as a physician included pioneering antibiotic treatments that helped dramatically reduce the need for childhood tonsillectomies. He chaired the FDA committee evaluating the first antiviral treatment for HIV, and served for 26 years in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, where he developed treatments for the effects of nuclear and biological warfare. After losing his vocal cords to cancer, he became a global advocate and educator for head and neck cancer patients.
Itzhak was born in 1941 to Chaya and Baruch Brook in Afula in present-day Israel. His mother, Chaya, from Poland, and his father, Bernard, from Austria, both escaped the Holocaust and met in British-mandate Palestine. After his parents’ deaths, Itzhak cared for his much younger sister, Zipi. Itzhak grew up in Haifa, Israel, and graduated from Ha’Reali H’ivry High School. He was drafted by the Israeli Defense Forces in 1959 before he attended Hebrew University’s Hadassah School of Medicine (earning his MD in 1968) and Tel Aviv University (earning his M. Sc. in 1972).
He served as a medic in the Israeli Medical Corps during the Six-Day War in 1967 and as a Lieutenant battalion physician during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, where he proudly treated soldiers from all sides of the conflict, including Egyptians and Jordanians. After crossing the Suez Canal in his ambulance, Itzhak was severely wounded by artillery fire. He wrote about his experience in his book, “In the Sands of Sinai: A Physician’s Account of the Yom Kippur War.” Later he spoke extensively in both Israel and America about his PTSD and encouraged other veterans to seek mental health support.
He is the author of nine medical textbooks, three autobiographical books, 155 medical book chapters and over 700 scientific publications. He traveled to scores of countries around the world to lecture and educate physicians. He was an editor and associate editor of four medical journals. He was an adjunct professor of pediatrics and medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
Itzhak will always be remembered for his perseverance, unflappable moral compass, strong sense of self and dedication to helping others. Itzhak’s children and, later, his grandchildren, were the light of his life. Itzhak is survived by his wife, Joyce, and his five children, Dafna (James Abrea), Danny, Tammy, Yoni (Naomi Lewin), and Sara (Ryan Thompson), his five grandchildren (Darly, Talia, Elliot, Lev, Moses) and his sister, Zipi Brook Yankoviz.