India ink to 3D imaging: The legacy of Dr. Deepak “Dee” N. Pandya and his influence on generations of neuroanatomists

Abstract

AbstractDr. Deepak “Dee” Pandya spent his career as an internal medicine physician as well as in his respective laboratories at the Bedford, Massachusetts Veterans Administration Hospital and at Boston University School of Medicine. His achievements mapping out the cytoarchitecture and connectivity of areas all over the nonhuman primate brain and small mammals are unparalleled. Dee made numerous discoveries and created painstakingly detailed reports, which impacted the field of neuroanatomy and expanded our perceptions of the many diverse inputs and suggestive functions of specific brain regions. The “old school” methods employed from microscopic work to detailed analyses yielded a product that was accurate and exciting all at the same time. We will all miss Dee's smile and tender manner, but more so, we will miss his wonderful and patient mentorship during the precious time we all spent with him. His mentorship resulted in all of his trainees becoming better scientists and left us with the understanding that people like Dee only come by once in a lifetime. In this tribute article for this special issue in the Journal of Comparative Neurology (JCN), the authors describe some of the tedious methods that were used to present our work as a way to provide insight into the extraordinary time and effort it took to produce and publish our articles with Dee in JCN. Dee's work with his colleagues set the stage for more modern methods of counting and mapping neuronal populations presented here, paving the way for such technologies as artificial intelligence and light sheet imaging to advance the field forward to reach new and exciting discoveries.