BOSTON — Dr. Michael Shannon, an internationally known specialist in the study and treatment of the effects of poisons in children, died unexpectedly Tuesday as he and his wife returned from a dancing vacation in Argentina. He was 55.
“We are nothing short of devastated by this news and this incredible loss,” Children’s Hospital Boston chief executive Dr. James Mandell and Chairman of Medicine Dr. Gary Fleisher said in an e-mail to staff.
The Harvard Medical School professor collapsed after getting off a plane in New York, said family friend Nancy Teumer, speaking on behalf of the family. The exact cause of death had yet to be determined, Teumer said Wednesday. He had no known health issues.
Shannon and his wife, Elaine, were retuning from a tango vacation in Argentina, where they danced every day, Fleisher said.
Shannon was known as the “dancing doctor” because he once danced professionally and continued dancing in Boston-area productions, including “Black Nativity” and the “Urban Nutcracker.”
Shannon was one of the premier pediatric toxicologists in the world and an expert on the effects of environmental hazards in children, including cold medicines, other drugs and lead paint.
He helped write a recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2003 that homes, schools and child-care centers near nuclear power plants stock pills to prevent thyroid cancer in the event of radiation release.
“He certainly was still moving forward in many innovative ways to work toward improved health for children,” said Dr. Helen Binns of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Shannon was a St. Louis native who developed his love of dance as an undergraduate at Washington University. He earned his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine.
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