Sheffer, Albert L. MD of Weston died December 22, 2015 with his wife Barbara by his side. He is survived by his children, Andrew Sheffer, Susan Sheffer, Peter Sheffer and his wife Mary, and Linda Larabee and her husband John. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Emma and Bea, Will and Jack Sheffer, Matthew Larabee and Katherine Larabee Tuttle and her husband, Samuel Tuttle.
Dr. Sheffer was born in Lewistown, PA, raised in Reading, PA, and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College and George Washington University Medical School. He interned and completed his Internal Medicine and Pulmonary training at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Hospital and completed an Allergy/Immunology Fellowship at Temple University Hospital. This was followed by a one year post-doctoral research year at the Rockefeller Institute. He was then employed by the Lahey Clinic and moved to Weston in August of 1962. He was appointed to Harvard Medical School in 1964, where he held the rank of Clinical Professor of Medicine, and joined the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Peter Bent Brigham) in 1966. Dr. Sheffer and Dr. Frank Austen established the Allergy Clinic at that time and began the Allergy Training Program that has educated over 100 trainees, many of whom hold leadership positions in the specialty. He engaged in private practice from 1969 until 1993, when he became a full-time staff member of the Brigham, serving as the director of Allergy until 1998. In addition, he was past-president of the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology, the first chair of the expert panel that generated the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma, and co-chairman of the first Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Committee. He also served on the United Nations Technical Options Committee, which annually allocated the world’s chlorofluorocarbon supply. He was a past director of Beth Israel Hospital Allergy Clinic as well as the New England Deaconess Hospital Allergy Section. He also established the Massachusetts General Hospital West Allergy Section and was a member of the Children’s Hospital Staff.
A memorial service will be held on January 30, 2016 at 11:00 am at the First Parish Church, 349 Boston Post Road in Weston. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Albert L. Sheffer, MD, Fellowship Fund For Allergic Diseases (https://giving.brighamandwomens.org/sheffer), Development Office, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, 116 Huntington Avenue, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02116.