Obituary of Dr. Peter Mueller

Dr. Peter S. Mueller December 28, 1930 ��" March 29, 2013. Dr. Peter Mueller, of Princeton, N.J., passed away on Friday March 29, 2013, at the age of 82 years, surrounded by his family. He is predeceased by his parents, Dr. Reginald Sterling Mueller and Edith Louise Welleck of NY, NY, his younger brothers, Dr. Mark Mueller and Sterling Mueller, his younger sister Anne Foote, his son in law Murray Self and grandson Jory Self. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Ruth Antonia (Shipman). He is also survived by four children, six grandchildren, three sisters and numerous nieces and nephews: Anne Mueller of Jericho, VT and her 2 sons Milo and Aran, Peter (Lynn) of Andover, MA and their daughter Lauren, Paul (Ingrid) of Winchester, VA. and their three children Nicholas, Ryan and Anna Elise, and Elizabeth of Princeton, NJ, sisters: Rosamond Dauer of Asheville, NC., Ginger Rundlof of The Plains, TX., and Jeane of Bradenton, FL. Dr. Mueller was born in New York City. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy class of 1948, Princeton University class of 1952, and University of Rochester School of Medicine class of 1956. He completed his internship at Bellevue Hospital in New York in 1957 and then became a clinical associate at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland where he studied fatty acids and lipid metabolism in relation to cancer, and published numerous papers on this topic. He also met his wife Ruth Shipman of Chevy Chase, md who worked at NIH and they were married in Chevy Chase, MD in 1959. After pursuing his research goals for six years he entered the psychiatry residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD (1963-1966). During his residency he continued his research on insulin and glucose metabolism. After residency, he joined the faculty at Yale as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and practiced there until 1972. During this time he published extensively on the role of fatty acid metabolism and insulin resistance in psychiatric disease. Also, in response to his father's diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), he began studying the role of lipid and glucose metabolism is neurodegerative disorders. In 1972 he was recruited by College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Rutgers Medical School as a Clinical Professor to help build a department of Psychiatry. While working in his clinical practice he noted that some of his patients experienced relapses and mood variations at certain times of the year and theorized that this was due to seasonal light variation. He shared his ideas with researchers at the National Institutes of Mental Health. In collaboration with researchers there, he helped describe Seasonal Affective Disorder. Later, he speculated that seasonal light wavelength variation was the cause and described a Seasonal Energy Syndrome. Another notable contribution to neuropsychiatry, during this period, was his successful treatment of Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, a severe (and poorly treatable) reaction to a common psychiatric medications that previously had a very high mortality rate. Although he left full time academic work in the early 1980s and began his private practice in Princeton, NJ, he continued to pursue his research interests clinically and publish and speak about his areas of interest. He developed a reputation for successfully treating many patients, who had been poorly responsive to conventional treatments. His multiple honors over the years included: American Psychiatric Association Physician Recognition Awards in 1979, 1982 and Exemplary Psychiatrist of the Year Award in 1994. He also held multiple patents for novel uses of current medications. Dr. Mueller also served in the U.S. Public Health service actively with the title of Surgeon from 1959-1963 and Senior Assistant Surgeon from 1957-1959 and was in the inactive reserves until 1996, with the title of Commander. Calling hours will be held from 5:00 to 8:00 PM Friday, April 5, 2013 at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton. A memorial service will be held at a later date and in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad or a charity of your choice.