Edward I. Ciaccio, PhD

A tribute

Dr. Edward I. Ciaccio

A life of scientific rigor, generous teaching, and service to others.

Scientist, educator, decorated veteran, mentor, husband, father, and community servant— Edward brought an exacting intellect to his work and an uncommon kindness to the people around him.

Read his story
Black-and-white portrait of Dr. Edward I. Ciaccio wearing glasses, a suit, and a tie.
Dr. Edward I. Ciaccio at work.

Brilliance joined with kindness

A remarkable scientific life

Across microbiology, biochemistry, cancer research, pharmacology, toxicology, and public health, Dr. Ciaccio followed difficult questions wherever they led. Yet the measure of his life was not only the breadth of his work. It was also the way he encouraged young minds, shared his knowledge, and placed his abilities in the service of family, students, colleagues, and community.

Life & work

From Fort Detrick to Hahnemann

Military service and early research

Korean War service and Fort Detrick

Early in life, Edward volunteered for service during the Korean War and became a decorated veteran, receiving the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. At the Army research facility at Fort Detrick, Maryland, he collaborated with microbiologist J. Werner Braun on the genetics, variation, and virulence of Brucella. These studies introduced themes that would recur throughout Edward's career: precise measurement, biological variation, and the search for mechanisms hidden within complex data.

Family recollections preserve a remarkable episode from this period: physicist-turned-biologist Leo Szilard sought to recruit Edward for doctoral study at the University of Chicago. Edward ultimately remained closer to his New York roots, but the interest of a mind of Szilard's stature was a striking testament to the promise already visible in his work.

Cornell University

Training in nutritional science and biochemistry

Edward earned a master's degree in nutritional sciences and a PhD in biochemistry at Cornell University, studying with Walter L. Nelson. With Nelson and George P. Hess, he helped develop a rapid quantitative assay for proteolytic enzymes—a method that became a durable contribution to analytical biochemistry. At Cornell, he transformed the quantitative discipline of his early microbiological work into a command of enzyme chemistry and mammalian tissue analysis.

Merck, Sharp & Dohme

Cancer metabolism at the Rahway laboratories

After Cornell, Dr. Ciaccio joined George E. Boxer's cancer research group at Merck in Rahway, New Jersey. There he studied the altered metabolism of malignant tissue, including the pathways associated with aerobic glycolysis, now widely known as the Warburg effect.

His work with Boxer, Doris L. Keller, Thomas M. Devlin, and others combined biological insight with methodological invention. He developed sensitive analytical techniques and contributed to large-scale screening studies for the Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center—work that helped establish the quantitative foundations on which modern cancer pharmacology would continue to build.

Hahnemann Medical School

Professor, investigator, and mentor

Drawn to academic life and the formation of students, Edward became Professor of Pharmacology at Hahnemann Medical School. His scholarship ranged widely. With his cousin Cyrus J. Bacchi and their colleagues, he investigated the biochemistry and enzymology of trypanosomatids, including Trypanosoma and Crithidia. By identifying distinctive metabolic pathways in these organisms, their work helped clarify possible targets for antiparasitic therapies.

He also pursued biochemical toxicology, drug metabolism, inflammation, and burn injury. His studies examined how systemic inflammation and acute trauma alter hepatic enzymes and metabolic priorities— observations that anticipated questions still central to critical care and the study of the gut–liver axis.

Dr. Edward I. Ciaccio seated in a laboratory office wearing a white lab coat.
Dr. Ciaccio in his laboratory at Hahnemann Medical School.

Teaching beyond the conventional classroom

Industrial and environmental toxicology

Edward understood that science carries a public obligation. With physician and toxicologist Benjamin Calesnick, he was called upon to explain the health and environmental hazards of the 1977 Rollins Environmental Services plant fire in Logan Township, New Jersey. During the same era, he created a popular evening course at Hahnemann entitled Industrial and Ecotoxicology, opening a demanding subject to working professionals at a time of rapidly growing environmental awareness.

Public service

Knowledge placed at the service of others

Edward's commitments extended far beyond the laboratory and lecture hall. In Scouting he served as a District Commissioner, Scoutmaster, and merit badge counselor in public health, astronomy, and other scientific subjects. His leadership was recognized with the Silver Beaver Award, the highest distinguished service honor a local Scouting council can bestow upon an adult volunteer.

He also received the Cherry Hill Golden Deeds Award in recognition of his generous contribution of time, knowledge, and talent to the community. These honors reflected something his family and colleagues already knew: for Edward, achievement mattered most when it could be shared.

Dr. Edward I. Ciaccio at a Scouting award ceremony with his wife, Concetta, standing beside him.
Edward with his wife, Concetta (“Connie”), at a Scouting recognition ceremony.

Legacy

A complete and consequential life

“He brought a brilliant mind to science and a generous heart to every community he entered.”

From bacterial genetics at Fort Detrick, to cancer metabolism at Merck, to pharmacology and toxicology at Hahnemann, Edward I. Ciaccio lived a life of rare intellectual range and sustained purpose. His published work remains part of the scientific record. His deeper legacy endures in the students he taught, the colleagues he strengthened, the community he served, and the family who knew his warmth, humor, steadiness, and love.

We remain grateful for his life and for the example he left us.

Selected scientific work

Publications spanning three decades

Dr. Ciaccio's bibliography reflects the unusual breadth of his career—from bacterial mutation and enzyme methods to cancer metabolism, protozoan biochemistry, inflammation, and burn injury.

View selected publications
  1. W. Braun and E. Ciaccio. “Determination of mutation rates in Brucella abortus involving alanine-resistance, colonial and antigenic characteristics.” Bacteriological Proceedings, 1954.
  2. L. A. Mika, W. Braun, E. Ciaccio, and R. J. Goodlow. “The nature of the effect of α-alanine on population changes of Brucella.” Journal of Bacteriology 68 (1954): 562–569.
  3. W. L. Nelson, E. I. Ciaccio, and G. P. Hess. “A rapid method for the quantitative assay of proteolytic enzymes.” Analytical Biochemistry 2 (1961): 39–44.
  4. E. I. Ciaccio, D. L. Keller, and G. E. Boxer. “The production of d-α-glycerophosphate during anaerobic glycolysis in normal and malignant tissues.” Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 37 (1960): 191–193.
  5. E. I. Ciaccio. “A rapid and sensitive method for the determination of l-α-glycerophosphate in animal tissues.” Analytical Biochemistry 3 (1962): 396–402.
  6. E. I. Ciaccio, G. E. Boxer, T. M. Devlin, and R. T. Ford. “Screening data from selected in vitro enzymatic systems: I. Standard test compounds from the Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center.” Cancer Research 27 (1967): 1033–1069.
  7. E. I. Ciaccio, G. E. Boxer, T. M. Devlin, and R. T. Ford. “Screening data from selected in vitro enzymatic systems: II. Compounds specifically selected for the dehydrogenase inhibition screens.” Cancer Research 27 (1967): 1070–1104.
  8. C. J. Bacchi, E. I. Ciaccio, K. M. O'Connell, and S. H. Hutner. “Biochemical properties of trypanosomatid lactate dehydrogenases.” Journal of Bacteriology 102 (1970): 826–834.
  9. C. J. Bacchi, E. I. Ciaccio, D. B. Kaback, and S. H. Hutner. “Oxaloacetate production via carboxylations in Crithidia fasciculata preparations.” Journal of Protozoology 17 (1970): 305–311.
  10. E. I. Ciaccio and E. J. Barbieri. “Effect of adjuvant polyarthritis on liver alcohol dehydrogenase in the rat.” Biochemical Pharmacology 28 (1979): 943–944.
  11. E. I. Ciaccio and R. J. Fruncillo. “Urinary excretion of D-glucaric acid by severely burned patients.” Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 25 (1979): 340–344.
  12. E. I. Ciaccio and R. J. Fruncillo. “Decreased aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase after a 15% burn injury.” Biochemical Pharmacology 28 (1979): 3151–3152.