Medical pioneer specialising in diseases of the immune system

Evelyn Hess, who has died aged 90, developed an international reputation for her study and treatment of diseases of the immune system, including Aids, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

She founded the department of immunology, rheumatology and allergy at the University of Cincinnati and ran it for 31 years, and her research, especially on the environmental aspects of lupus, gained her worldwide recognition.

Sandra Raymond, president of the Lupus Foundation of America, described her as "a major contributor to the body of knowledge about the causes of lupus, as well as a mentor and inspiration to many in the field whose work today is helping the science and medicine of lupus". The Cincinnati Enquirer referred to her as "a compassionate clinician and standout teacher".

Evelyn Victorine Hess was brought up on Kincora Avenue, Clontarf, in Dublin. Her mother, Mary Hawkins, came from Galway and her father, Ernest Hess, from Switzerland. He managed the Red Bank restaurant on D'Olier Street and later owned Hyne's Restaurant on Dame Street.

Medical books

She attended the Dominican Convent, Dún Laoghaire, as a boarder and wanted to study medicine from the time she was 15.

Her best friend’s father was a physician and she loved to visit their house and read the medical books there.

She went to University College Dublin in 1943 to study medicine and was awarded the college medical society’s O’Connell medal in 1947.

She graduated in 1949 with the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Obstetrics.

She met Michael Howett, who was also from Clontarf, while they were both studying medicine at UCD and they married in 1954.

Following a short stint in Jervis Street Hospital, she went to London, where she was successively an intern at West Middlesex Hospital, resident at Clare Hall Hospital and then research fellow in the epidemiology of tuberculosis at the Royal Free Hospital.

In 1958, she went to the University of Texas South Western School as a fellow and two years later was recruited by the University of Cincinnati to establish an immunology, rheumatology and allergy division.

From 1969 to 1995, she held the Walter A and George McDonald Foundation Chair of Medicine at the university. Among her many achievements was setting up the Cincinnati Task Force on Aids, at a time before it was realised that the disease was infectious.

She received many professional honours throughout her career. In addition, the Lupus Foundation of America established the Evelyn V Hess MD Research Award in 2005, the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Physicians presented the first Evelyn V Hess Master Teacher Award in 2007 and her university established the Evelyn V Hess Chair for Lupus Research in 2009.

Sailing

Music and the theatre were among her hobbies. She used to sail in Dún Laoghaire with her father, which gave her a love of boating, and she spent most of her summer holidays boating in Maine, where she owned a boat.

She is survived by her husband, Michael Howett, her brother Ernest Hess and her nieces and nephews.