Elvin A. Kabat; at 85 page B7, Boston Globe on 6/21/2000 | Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company Tom Long, Globe Staff, 6/21/2000 Courtesy Of The Kabat Family [Dr. Kabat receiving the National Medal of Science] Politics played a big role in the career of Elvin A. Kabat, a pioneer in the field of immunochemistry. He was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, but in 1991 was awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for scientific achievement, by George Bush at the White House. In an October 1991 National Institutes of Health Record story shortly after he received the medal, he said, "I sort of feel vindicated." Mr. Kabat died Friday in Royal Mergansett Nursing Home in Falmouth. He was 85. He was born in New York City. His interest in chemistry was piqued when he was about 5. "One of the boys in the house got a chemical set," he said in the story. "He invited me to see some experiments. I also had a cousin who was a physician. He was a role model for me." Mr. Kabat graduated from City College of New York, working as an usher in a Loew's movie theater one summer to help pay his tuition. "My father was trying to feed and house a family of four on $5 a week," he was quoted as saying, "I got a job in the laboratory of Michael Heidelberger at Columbia University, paying $90 a month. I used part of my salary to help pay the rent." He earned a master's degree and doctorate at Columbia, where he later taught. He also conducted research at NIH. During the McCarthy era, he was blacklisted after an associate alleged to the FBI that he had been a communist. Mr. Kabat made several appearances before loyalty boards, and his research grants were canceled. His right to travel abroad was restricted. Mr. Kabat was coauthor of the textbook "Experimental Immunochemistry" and author of the text "Structural Concepts in Immunology and Immunochemistry." He admitted to the NIH Record that, early in his career, he used himself as a subject for his experiments. "I injected myself with a whole lot of polysaccharides," he said. "It is illegal now," he said. "If you want to be a good immunochemist, you should be a good antibody-former. I have used gallons of my own blood in experiments. I gave my graduate students several gallons of it," he said. "I'm probably the most intensively studied human with respect to antibody formation to a variety of things." He leaves his wife, Sally (Linnick); three sons, Jon Kabat-Zinn of Lexington and Geoffrey and David, both of New York; and six grandchildren. A memorial service will be held in August in Woods Hole, where he spent summers for about 50 years. Articles: > Main Article                 > Obituary: Elvin A. Kabat (1914-2000)                 > In Memoriam Elvin Abraham Kabat September 1, 1914-June 16, 2000                 > Elvin A. Kabat; at 85                 > An Appreciation of Elvin A. Kabat (1914-2000)                 > Elvin A. Kabat CV                 > Photo Gallery