Full Text of SR0885 97th General Assembly
SR0885 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of
Dr. Donald Liu and wish to honor him for | 4 | | his great act of heroism in saving 2 boys from drowning on | 5 | | August 5, 2012; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Donald Liu was born on June 12, 1962, in New | 7 | | York, and grew up in Taiwan; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Donald Liu attended Johns Hopkins University | 9 | | in Baltimore, where he graduated with honors in 1984 and earned | 10 | | his bachelor's degree in natural sciences; in 1990, he earned | 11 | | his medical degree with high honors and his Ph.D. in immunology | 12 | | from Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University | 13 | | in Philadelphia; he later completed his internship and | 14 | | residency in general surgery at the Hospital of the University | 15 | | of Pennsylvania in 1995, followed by a 2-year fellowship in | 16 | | pediatric surgery at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott | 17 | | Children's Hospital; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Donald Liu was internationally recognized for | 19 | | his expertise in applying and adapting the techniques of | 20 | | minimally invasive surgery to children; he served as an | 21 | | assistant professor of surgery at the Louisiana State | 22 | | University School of Medicine's Children's Hospital of New |
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| 1 | | Orleans from 1997 to 2001; in 2001, he joined the University of | 2 | | Chicago's Department of Surgery as a pediatric surgeon; in | 3 | | 2007, he was named section chief of pediatric surgery and | 4 | | surgeon-in-chief at Comer Children's Hospital; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, During his career, Dr. Donald Liu developed | 6 | | innovative approaches to the treatment of numerous chronic | 7 | | abdominal pain syndromes in children, including median arcuate | 8 | | ligament syndrome (MALS), a little-known and under-diagnosed | 9 | | disorder; he was also a researcher of numerous medical topics, | 10 | | including Hirschsprung's disease, the pathogenesis of | 11 | | necrotizing enterocolitis, and the importance of gut bacteria | 12 | | in health and disease; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Donald Liu was a prolific scholar and the | 14 | | author or co-author of more than 70 research publications and 8 | 15 | | book chapters dealing principally with minimally invasive | 16 | | surgery, the human microbiome, and the surgical treatment of | 17 | | intestinal disease; he lectured around the world, especially in | 18 | | China, and contributed to 7 instructional films for various | 19 | | surgical societies; he also served as the principal | 20 | | investigator for multiple clinical trials and for 2 large | 21 | | grants from the National Institutes of Health; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, During his career, Dr. Donald Liu helped to | 23 | | develop a formal affiliation between the University of |
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| 1 | | Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital and the Shanghai | 2 | | Children's Medical Center through Project Hope, a | 3 | | collaborative effort that helped to train several | 4 | | international fellows who have gone on to become institutional | 5 | | leaders in China; as a result, he was honored with an endowed | 6 | | chair at Jiao Tong University/Shanghai Second Medical College | 7 | | and was given a grant and the "1000-Person Distinction" award | 8 | | by the Shanghai government, which recognizes collaborative | 9 | | clinical, research, and educational efforts; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Donald Liu was the recipient of numerous | 11 | | honors, including teaching awards from the University of | 12 | | Pennsylvania, the Children's Hospital of New Orleans, and the | 13 | | University of Chicago, where he recently won the Distinguished | 14 | | Senior Clinician Award; he was also routinely selected for | 15 | | local and national lists of top doctors, including Chicago | 16 | | Magazine in 2012; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, On August 5, 2012, two 12-year-old boys were | 18 | | kayaking in Lake Michigan when they were knocked out of the | 19 | | kayak by heavy waves and began to struggle in the choppy water; | 20 | | seeing that the children were in trouble, Dr. Donald Liu | 21 | | immediately went out into the water to help them; thanks to Dr. | 22 | | Liu's great bravery and quick thinking, the children made it to | 23 | | shore; tragically, Dr. Liu was swept away by the rip current | 24 | | and passed away; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Donald Liu is survived by his loving wife, | 2 | | Dana Suskind; his children, Genevieve, Asher, and Amelie; and | 3 | | his sister, Diana Liu; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 5 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 6 | | his family and friends, the passing of Dr. Donald Liu; and be | 7 | | it further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That we honor his great bravery and willingness | 9 | | to save lives at the cost of his own; and be it further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 | | presented to the family of Dr. Donald Liu as an expression of | 12 | | our sympathy.
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