Lois Barth Epstein was a limitless woman who exceled as a physician and scientist, as wife, mother and grandmother, as a community leader, and as an artist.

A 1959 graduate of Harvard Medical School, Lois achieved international recognition for accomplishments in medical research. As UCSF Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the interferon and Tumor Immunology Laboratory in the Cancer Research Institute, Dr. Epstein pioneered in interferon, cytokine and Down syndrome research. Her many honors include a National Institutes of Health MERIT award, the Lifetime Achievement in Research Award from the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research, and an honorary Doctor of Science degree. The author of more than 130 scientific publications, she has served on advisory committees to NIH and on editorial boards of scientific journals. She has lectured and chaired scientific sessions around the world.

Lois mentored students and younger faculty throughout her career. She was Chair of the Mentoring Committee of Women in Cancer Research. Service to community has been equally important: She has served as Chair of Endowment of the Marin Symphony, President of the Board of the Dance Association, and the Art and Endowment committees of the Peninsula Library Foundation Board of the Belvedere-Tiburon Library.

Married for forty-five years to a fellow physician, Lois was been a steadfast presence. She took great joy in the lives of her daughter, her three sons and their wives, her five grandchildren, and her extended family. Lois prepared for retirement by training in the art of glass, and made mosaics and flame working in her home studio.