It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of a great paediatrician Professor Barbara M. Cabalska - a pioneer of neonatal screening and organizer of the care system for patients suffering from phenylketonuria and other rare diseases in Poland.

During World War II, teenage Barbara fought to defend Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising (1944) as a nurse for the legendary underground organization Szare Szeregi. During the fighting she was severely wounded and spent many months in war hospitals. Since 1980 she was an active member of the Solidarity movement.

After WWII in 1946 she started studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Warsaw and in 1952 she graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical Academy in Warsaw (now Medical University of Warsaw).

For the first 3 years after graduation, she worked as a paediatrician in a provincial hospital in western Poland where she became the head of the neonatal and paediatric ward. She also worked as a paediatrician in one of the orphanages.

Since 1956 Prof. Cabalska was professionally involved with the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw, where she worked until her retirement in 1998. From 1998 to 2000 she was a consultant for inborn errors of metabolism and worked at the Outpatient Clinic for patients with phenylketonuria.

In 1964 she defended her doctoral thesis entitled “Research on the use of amino acids in malnutrition in children”. In 1973, based on her thesis “Phenylketonuria - early diagnosis and treatment”, Prof. Cabalska was appointed associate professor of medicine and in 1984 she obtained the position of full professor of medicine.

Prof. Barbara Cabalska completed many international internships. From 1965 to 1976 she visited numerous scientific centers in US where she met American pioneers of neonatal screening and experts in inborn errors of metabolic diseases, including Dr. Robert Guthrie, Dr. Robert MacCready, Dr. Richard Koch, Dr. Earnest Beutler and Prof. Harvey Levy.

One of Professor Cabalska's greatest achievements was the introduction of population newborn screening for PKU in Poland in 1965, after her visit and training with Robert Guthrie at the Buffalo Children's Hospital.

Later on, for almost 20 years, in the difficult times under communism, Prof. Cabalska managed to set up a network of screening laboratories in the whole country.

For many years she was the head of the largest PKU center in Poland at the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw which currently takes care of 1200 PKU patients.

In 1977, Prof. Cabalska published in European Journal of Pediatrics (Eur. J. Pediat. 126, 253—26) her study about an absolute imperative to continue treatment of PKU patients beyond their first years of life, which was an important voice in the discussion that was held internationally at that time.

She was the author of over 130 publications in Polish and international medical journals. The main subject of her research was the diagnosis and treatment of phenylketonuria, prevention of maternal phenylketonuria, consequences of early termination of dietary treatment, genetic aspects of PKU, distant effects of dietary treatment and nutritional status of PKU patients and tetrahydrobiopterin deficiencies, but also other inborn errors of metabolism, including galactosemia, non-ketotic hyperglycemia and cystinuria. In her scientific work she worked also on many other general paediatric topics.

Prof. Cabalska was a professional and scientific supervisor of numerous paediatricians. For many generations of paediatricians in Poland she was an unquestionable authority. She was a demanding and very supportive boss, highly respected by her team. At the same time she was a very modest person.

Prof. Cabalska was deservedly recognized internationally as a renowned specialist in the field of phenylketonuria. Dr. Guthrie considered her to be one of the world's foremost authorities in newborn screening and PKU and she certainly was that, often consulted on many of the most difficult questions. In fact, Prof. Cabalska bridged the connections of both fields as few did. In so doing she was able to make seminal discoveries that have resulted in revolutionary changes in both fields. The contribution of Prof. Cabalska will be forever lasting.

Apart from medicine, her passion was literature and animals, mainly dogs. She was a keen tourist and an amateur photographer.

She died at the age of 92 surrounded by her family, leaving in deep sorrow not only her loved ones but also the whole Polish PKU community. Thousands of children with phenylketonuria in Poland owe Professor Cabalska their proper development and health.