Paul Albrecht, age 66, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family members, on Sunday, July 2nd. Paul battled Parkinson's Disease with grace and dignity for 12 years, and a recent COVID 19 infection resulted in his passing. Paul and his family were recent residents of Plymouth, MA, and prior long-time residents of Bedford, MA.
Paul was passionate about medical technology and a prolific inventor (52 patents). He earned a PhD in Medical Engineering from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program. His graduate work focused on improving the detection and classification performance of automated electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring systems. Paul's initial post-graduate work was for Cerner Corporation where he developed a core component of an early Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, a technology now mature and broadly used in hospitals worldwide. Paul moved on as a founder and VP of Engineering for Cambridge Heart, developers of the CH2000, a cardiac stress test diagnostic system to identify patients at risk for cardiac sudden death. Subsequently, Paul was VP of Development for Careinsite (later acquired by WebMD), where he directed development of internet-based products to seamlessly connect all users of healthcare data (e.g., health care professionals, insurance companies, patients, and medical suppliers). A highlight of his career was working with renowned inventor, Ray Kurzweil, where he was co-inventor of multiple products, including the K-NFB Reader Mobile app (the first handheld reader for the blind) and wearable computing technology for ambulatory cardiac monitoring.
Paul is survived by his wife Sheila (Cooney) Albrecht, his son Michael and wife Christine Albrecht, his daughters Megan and Melanie Albrecht, his sister and brother-in-law Renata Albrecht and Adam Farkas, and many nieces, nephews, wonderful friends, and colleagues. He is pre-deceased by his parents Dr.'s Paul and Renata Albrecht.
There will be a celebration of life service for Paul at 2pm on Sunday, July 23rd, at the First Parish (Unitarian Universalist Church) in Bedford, MA (75 Great Rd). We welcome you to join us for a reception following the service in the Common Room of the Church.
In lieu of flowers, we encourage you to support the important work they are doing in the field of Parkinson's Disease. The Michael J Fox Foundation is an excellent research program, donations can be made to give.michaeljfox.org.