Obituary of Jose Anibal Yaryura-Tobias

Dr. José Aníbal Yaryura Tobias died peacefully at his home in Old Brookville, New York on March 5, 2016. He was 82 years old. Aníbal, as he was known to his family and friends, and Jose to medical colleagues, was a biological psychiatrist and an internist who worked in the treatment of mental health. Early in his career, he pioneered research in the dopamine theory of schizophrenia and worked with Dr. Linus Pauling on Vitamin C therapy. In the early 1970's he, worked with two other colleagues to establish the first Federation of Biological Psychiatry and held the first international congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina with over 1000 delegates from around the world. He later researched and developed the serotonergic theory of obsessive compulsive disorder which led to further research in OCD. Dr. Yaryura-Tobias spoke about OCD and related disorders when little was known about OCD; recognizing the obsessive-compulsive aspects of Tourette's Syndrome which, along with the book he co-authored in 1983 with Dr. Neziroglu, heralded the notion of the OCD Spectrum. He fought to bring the first OCD medication, clomipramine, into the US and conducted the first double blind placebo studies. Over his 40-year professional career, he authored and co-authored many books and academic papers on mental health, presenting and/or publishing over 270 scientific papers and book chapters. Aníbal was a professor of psychiatry at New York University and a member of various national and international professional associations, as well as a founding member of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine, the Argentine Society of Biological Psychiatry and the World Federation of Biological Psychiatry. In 1996, he received a Presidential Medal from the government of Argentina for excellence in scientific work abroad. Aníbal was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 11, 1934. He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires. After various internships in Argentina, he travelled to Regina, Saskatchewan, where he completed a residency in internal medicine and oncology, marrying Roberta Duncan, with whom he had five children. After several years back in Buenos Aires, Aníbal left Argentina in the mid-1970s and settled in the New York area definitively. There he met Dr. Fugen Neziroglu, sharing 38 wonderful years of marriage as soul mates and intellectual partners. Soon after their marriage, they founded the Bio-Behavioral Institute in Great Neck, New York, building it into an internationally recognized thriving research and treatment facility, providing state of the art treatment to thousands of patients. They travelled and presented all over the world together, their collaboration even more special because of their extraordinary chemistry--Aníbal's brilliant and unconventional theories blending perfectly with Fugen's dedication and talent for scientific rigor. They worked tirelessly in treating their patients, work which Fugen continues to this day as Director of the clinic. In addition to his achievements in psychiatry, Aníbal was the author of several books of poetry and prose, in both English and Spanish, including "The Integral Being" and his short story collection, "Dios de Dios de Dios." His poems were featured in the 1975 anthology New Voices in American Poetry, and in 1984 he received an honorable mention for the Federico Garcia Lorca International Poetry Prize and won the American Psychiatry Association Prize for Poetry in 1990. He also established the Latin American Poetry Group, Circular, and was on the Board of Directors of the Long Island Poetry Collective for many years. He read voraciously on all topics and relished discussions of current events, politics and history. Aníbal enjoyed social events and was typically at the center of any party he attended or gave. His Argentine asados were legendary. Aníbal was an accomplished dancer and played witness to the rise of the greats of modern tango, having danced to Astor Piazzola, Aníbal Troilo and others in Buenos Aires during the 1950s. Aníbal remained a tanguero to the end. Aníbal is predeceased by his parents, Emilia Tobias and Felipe Yaryura, his brother, Felipe Mario, and his son, Roberto. He leaves behind a mountain of professional accomplishments, wonderful memories of his love for his family, friends and the broken hearts of his children, Ana Maria (Tom Whitby), Ricardo (Deborah), Andrea (Simon Clark), Adriana (Micheal Traver), his grandchildren, Mackenzie, Connor, Olivia, Cameron, Lucas, Declan, Gabriela and Brett, his sister in law Toti Gargaglione, his sister in law Tijen Eron and her husband Murat Eron, his niece and nephews, Felipe, Nicolas, Maximiliano, Gaston, Timur, and Yasemin, his many loving cousins, and his ever devoted wife, Fugen. Many thanks and gratitude to Mery for years of devotion during all phases of his illness and to Luz for her loving care during his last years. Funeral services will be held at Weigand Brothers Funeral Home in Williston Park, NY on Saturday, March 12, 2016 from 1-4pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Dr. José Aníbal Yaryura-Tobias Research Fund at the International Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (www.iocdf.org/yaryuratobiasfund) or you may send your gift to: International OCD Foundation P.O. Box 961029 Boston, MA 02196.