Deanna Sutton, Ph.D., professor of pathology and longtime scientist in the Fungus Testing Laboratory at UT Health, died July 4. She was 74 and had only recently retired.
Dr. Sutton helped launch the fungus testing facility in 1987.
“Dr. Sutton had a major impact on our lives, department, and the world of mycology,” said the chair of pathology, Marsha C. Kinney, M.D., and Nathan Wiederhold, Pharm.D., director of the Fungus Testing Laboratory, an in email to faculty.
“During her career … she was an author on over 300 journal articles and book chapters, and gave over 140 presentations and workshops,” they noted.
She was the recipient in 2008 of the Billy H. Cooper Award from the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas (North and South America), which recognizes an outstanding contributor to the practice of diagnostic clinical mycology. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Maxwell L. Littman Award from the Medical Mycology Society of New York.
In 2016, she was honored to have a new fungal species named for her: Acremoniopsis suttonii.
“With her passion for life, teaching, clinical research, colleagues, and most importantly, faith and family, Dr. Sutton has completed her journey with us and has ventured into the journey she prepared for all of her life,” said Drs. Kinney and Wiederhold.
A service of Divine Mercy was held July 10 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 8500 Cross Mountain Trail in San Antonio. A funeral Mass was celebrated July 11 at the church, with burial at Resurrection Cemetery.