Dr. Ninan T. Mathew, 78, passed away on July 27, 2015. He was a beloved
and loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, and friend, and a highly
respected neurologist who will be greatly missed.
Dr. Mathew was born on May 21, 1937, in the beautiful state of Kerala in
south India, to T.N. and Rahel Mathai, a deeply devout Mar Thoma Syrian Christian
family. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Madras in Tamil
Nadu and his medical degree at Trivandrum Medical College, Kerala. His interest in
neurology started in medical school. Post-graduate training in neurology followed
at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
He married Sushila Abraham on May 17, 1962, and moved to Houston, Texas,
in the summer of 1970 and completed additional fellowship training in
cerebrovascular disease and stroke at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where
he subsequently served as a faculty member.
His interest in headache started through research, measuring cerebral blood
flow in migraine patients while at Baylor. In 1976, Dr. Mathew established the
Houston Headache Clinic, with outpatient and inpatient facilities for comprehensive
care, which was the first headache specialty center in Texas. In 1984, he started the
Dallas Headache Clinic. For 35 years, Houston Headache Clinic remained a major
referral and research center for treating headache patients from around the world.
Dr. Mathew served in various national and international organizations
related to headache. He was president of the International Headache Society and
the American Headache Society; chairman of the Headache Section for the American
Academy of Neurology, which he helped to form, and the American Council for
Headache Education.
Dr. Mathew significantly contributed to medical literature, with more than
200 scientific publications to his credit, in leading journals such as JAMA and Lancet
Neurology. He edited books on cluster headache and his Handbook of Headache
covers modern advances in headache. He was featured in a 2002 headache cover
story in Time Magazine and appeared on numerous radio and television programs
for the National Migraine Foundation and the American Council for Headache
Education.
In recent years, Dr. Mathew was the recipient of three Lifetime Achievement
Awards from the Texas Neurological Society in 2012; the Headache Cooperative of
New England in 2013; and the American Headache Society in 2014.
In addition to his active career, Dr. Mathew was a member of Chapelwood
United Methodist Church since 1978 and was involved with various cultural
institutions. He was a founding member of the Indian Doctor’s Club in Houston and
served as its second president. He was president of the India Cultural Center in
Houston and was on the advisory board of the Asia Society Texas Center. He and
Sushila were founding patrons of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts and the
Asian Galleries of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His interests included world
traveling, antiques, and gardening. But his biggest passion was his family.
Ninan is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sushila Mathew; his daughter, Rita
Morico and her husband, Paul Morico; his son, Dr. Sanjay Mathew and his wife, Dessi
Sherban Mathew; his son, Vijay Mathew and his wife, Charlotte Dubuc Mathew; and
his six grandchildren, Rachel Morico, Mathew Morico, John Morico, Léon Mathew,
Sofia Mathew, and Stefan Mathew; and Sushila’s three siblings and their spouses,
and dozens of loving nieces, nephews, and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Chapelwood
Foundation, 11140 Greenbay Drive, Houston, TX 77024.