Gerd G. Maul, 70, a Wistar scientist

Gerd G. Maul, 70, of Wynnewood, a scientist who had studied the nuclei of human cells at the Wistar Institute since 1973, died of a heart attack Monday, Aug. 23, at Lankenau Hospital.

Russel E. Kaufman, president and chief executive officer of Wistar, the independent nonprofit biomedical research organization in West Philadelphia, said in a statement that Mr. Maul was "a talented, thoughtful man whose cool and pleasant demeanor belied the passion that boiled beneath."

"We saw this passion emerge in both his art and his science, and I hold him up as proof that the creative human spark can know many outlets. He was an exceptional scientist."

The Wistar website states that Mr. Maul was widely recognized for the discovery of a new nuclear structure often referred to as "nuclear dots," which he first published in the Journal of Cell Biology in 1991.

"His hypothesis, supported by his later research, was that these bodies served as a storage area for proteins related to defending the cell from environmental changes," the website states.

Born in Silesia, now part of Poland, Mr. Maul earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1964 at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, and a master's in biology there in 1965.

He came to the United States and earned his doctorate in zoology at the University of Texas in 1967. He conducted postdoctoral research at what is now the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

From 1969 to 1973, he was an assistant professor at the Temple University School of Medicine.

After joining Wistar as associate professor in 1973, Mr. Maul became a full professor in 1986. He also was research professor in laboratory medicine and rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania.

He did not teach formal classes at Penn or at Wistar, a Wistar spokesman said, but trained students in his laboratories.

As an artist in private life, Mr. Maul worked in photography, sculpture, and silk-screen printing. A Wistar spokesman said that, among his shows, the Institute of Contemporary Art in West Philadelphia presented an exhibit of his sculptures.

He is survived by his wife, Ursula; son Julius; and daughter Monika.

A visitation was set from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, at Chadwick & McKinney Funeral Home, 30 E. Athens Ave., Ardmore.

A memorial is expected at the Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St., at an undetermined date in September.