Letters to Felix Bronner
Keith Henley writes: “Thanks for your letter. I have been ‘retired’
for more than 10 years but am working full time and asked not to be
paid in exchange for an office. Can do what I like and have never been
happier going to work.
“I am a hepatologist who recognized that it should be studied where
most of the patients are, and this is not the US. I am, therefore,
spending about 80% of my time working with my Vietnamese colleagues in
education and research. Their appetite to learn is insatiable, and
their talent is limited by language but nothing else. With 15,000 Dong
to the $ they have no money, the growing number of Mercedes vehicles
notwithstanding. I have worked mainly with Prof. Ha van Mao in Hanoi,
the only Western trained hepatologist in Vietnam. Other than
educational work, (courses) we have done a couple of studies on H.
Pylori and there is an association with the lab of Juanita Merchant at
the U of Michigan. The development of Internal Medicine in Vietnam has
been handicapped by the isolation of the country, the embargo, and
that all the authority was invested in surgeons who survived the war
and knew little medicine. This has now softened in Ho Chi Minh City
and Hue, and even in Hanoi where the Dean who was openly indifferent
to Medicine and even more to Western influences has now mercifully
retired.
“As far as hepatology is concerned, I am working with Claudio
Tiribelli from Trieste who has done an excellent prevalence study in
Italy on the Framingham Model. It will be conducted at Linh Son
village near Thai Nguyen in North Vietnam. For that we need an
American trained hepatologist and a much better informed cadre of
hepatologists to work with. For that we are conducting a course on
hepatology literally as we speak involving 30 selected students from
each of the major medical schools. (Reprints, informal interaction, no
lectures, response very very positive). We will choose 10 of the best
and give them extra tuition by e-mail so that they are ready to come
to this country with little culture shock. There will also visiting
Professors engaged in that program. (No lack of volunteers there).
Then and only then will we have the people on the ground to do that
study and hopefully more.
“We focus on clinical hepatology with some pathophysiology thrown in.
I don’t know much about their teaching of physiology although it
features in the curriculum, probably largely in lecture form. Any
physiologist retired or otherwise who would like to know more is free
to get in touch with me.
“Health has to be vigorously addressed by an annual H and P perhaps
because I am so active and surrounded by younger people. Wife, son and
grandsons (two) are very well living an hour away. Off next week for a
family gathering in Cayman Brac (like Grand Cayman 100 years ago). My
unique arrangement lets me get away whenever I want to.”
Franklin H. Epstein writes: “It was great to hear from you. Thank you
for your letter and for your invitation to send an update to The
Physiologist.
“I’m still working full time in the Nephrology Division of the
Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,
Harvard Medical School in Boston, headed now by Vikas Sukhatme, a
remarkable scientist and leader. I take my turn as a renal consultant
and as a general medical doctor attending on the wards, and also visit
the Medical Intensive Care Unit once a week. By the time I am through
pontificating at various conferences and seeing my small group of
outpatients, the not very strenuous week is over.
“I work July and August at the Mount Desert Island Biological Lab in
Miami, where Patricio Silva (who now heads his own renal Division at
Temple University) shares a laboratory with me, investigating chloride
secretion by the rectal gland of the shark.
“I’ve always been interested in the medical complications of
pregnancy, and an unexpected pleasure has been the chance to
participate in the recent discovery of what seems to be the major
cause of preeclampsia, the production by the placenta of a circulating
receptor for vascular growth factors. This is particularly exciting
because it opens the real possibility of successful treatment.
“It seems to me that medical students and house officers are no less
humane, hardworking, conscientious and intelligent than I remember
them in the 1940’s at Yale Medical School.
“It’s a little startling to find that wonderful former fellows of mine
are starting to retire. But, as I tell myself, they deserve it.”
Malcolm Holliday writes: “Thank you for your nice letter. I am well,
living in Berkeley and enjoying modest activities at both the Berkeley
and SF campuses of the University of California. I retired in 1991
from the Department of Pediatrics, UCSF where I had been since 1963
and my wife and I lived ten years in Pt. Reyes, adjacent to the
National Park. Wonderful. In that time I managed a few publications
relating to history or commentary on body fluid physiology and growth.
Now, less agile, live in Berkeley with three of the five children
nearby.
“My fellowship was in Boston and New Haven (1948-51) with James Gamble
and Dan Darrow and a host of my contemporaries who were taking
advantage of the new opportunities to do clinical research. Some of us
described ourselves glibly as ‘whole body physiologists.’ I felt, and
still feel, that a strong basis in physiology was an asset in clinical
practice involving sick children (and adults). It is alas, often
neglected.
“I connected your name to the book Mineral Metabolism, successor to
Alfred Shohl’s book. Shohl had departed Gamble’s lab sometime before I
was a fellow but his book was constantly consulted as we set out to
describe changes in body composition and metabolic rate with growth.
We were particularly interested in the nature of ECF and the
consequences of dehydration—still a problem but in a different
setting. This interest I addressed in 1999 in writing a piece for my
fellow pediatric nephrologists who had lost interest. Since I cited
Elsie Widdowson’s chapter from your book in that article, I thought
you might like to see how a retired pediatric nephrologist used that
reference nearly 40 years on. Ernie Cotlove, another contributor to
your book, whose death still pains me, was a coworker in Gamble’s lab
when I was there. Later, I used change in body composition data and
organ metabolic activity to account for the decline in metabolic rate
per Kg during growth—my most inspired and ignored article.
“If I were to have a wish it would be that Pediatrics and Physiology
would find more common ground in the area of human growth and
development. On the other hand, both Pediatrics and Physiology have a
decidedly more communitarian and socially responsible outlook than
other branches of either medicine or biological sciences. I feel
fortunate to have had a place in each.”
William Ganong writes: “Thank you for your recent letter. I am not
quite 80 yet, but I will be in July. I stepped down as Chairman of the
Department of Physiology at UCSF in 1987, I partially retired from the
university in 1991, and completely retired in 1994. I still go to UCSF
once every 1-2 weeks, but mostly stay at home and work on my books. As
you may know, my main book, Review of Medical Physiology, comes out
every two years and the 22nd edition of this book will be published by
McGraw-Hill in February or March 2005. I also work on Pathophysiology
of Disease, which Steve McPhee and I co-edit. Hopefully, the 5th
edition of this book will come out in late 2005 or early 2006. When I
am not writing, I’m involved with a local charity that provides
scholarships for outstanding medical and dental students in the San
Francisco Bay area. Ruth and I have twelve grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren. Give my special regards to everyone in the APS.”
Ernest Foulkes writes: “It was with great pleasure that I received
your recent letter on the occasion of my impending 80th birthday;
thank you for your good wishes. I remain in good shape, although no
longer quite as active physically as previously. The stationary
bicycle has now replaced some of my more active pursuits, and a sleep
after lunch is always welcome.
“Some 25 years ago my wife recovered from major surgery. We decided at
that time that, instead of waiting for a healthy retirement which we
might never reach, we would try to start traveling as widely as we
could. This was one of the best decisions we have ever taken, and over
the years it led us to five continents. We visited the Galapagos
Islands, Kakadu National Park in Australia, Central China, India, the
Nile, the East African wild life preserves, the Amazonian jungle, the
Scottish Isles, etc. We followed the Ionian migrations into the Black
Sea, the Crusaders from Italy to Jerusalem.
“Health problems have now reduced these activities. We were not even
able to visit our latest grandchild in Germany. She is the latest of
nine, and we have completely run out of wall and counter space for
displaying their photos. Whether this will restrain our children in
the future remains to be seen. The grandchildren, aged 1 to 28, are
spread all over the world. The oldest, after two years in the Peace
Corps, returned to the States with a Paraguayan bride. Every two years
the whole family assembles for a reunion somewhere in North America,
with the aid of a specially created Foundation.
“I officially retired from the University of Cincinnati some six years
ago, after spending much time during the last few years in
administration. My scientific focus had shifted to the heavy metals
(one of my sons announced that ‘my dad, he has gone into heavy
metal’), and especially their effects on intestine and kidneys. Metals
tend, of course, to be highly reactive, with great affinity for many
biological molecules. This reactivity raises questions about attempts
to explain the toxic action of metals by identifying specific target
molecules or primary sensitive physiological processes.
“The University has enabled me to maintain my office, where on a part
time basis I continue to pursue such toxicological problems, through
editorial work, service on review groups, occasional lectures, etc. I
also find, at last, sufficient time to catch up on long postponed
reading (including 13 volumes of Proust), to attend concerts,
lectures, the theater, etc. All this applies, of course, also to
Valerie, who retired from the University faculty (Comparative
Literature) in the early nineties.
“Greetings to all of our friends, and thank you in particular for your
personal interest.”
Letters to Alan Hoffman
John Stirling Meyer writes: “This letter is in reply to yours of April
27, 2004 and specifically answers your questions in the order you
asked.
“I am still working in Academic Medicine and Medical Research at the
age of 80 and ¼. I am a Professor of Neurology at Baylor College of
Medicine and still see patients who are still referred to me and their
records comprise the database for my research on early diagnosis, risk
factor identification, prevention and treatment of cognitive
impairments and the neurodegenerative dementias. Because with
increasing life expectancy due to improved control of infectious and
cardiovascular disease, the incidence of dementia in the elderly has
become epidemic. Common causes of cognitive impairment are Vascular
Dementia (VAD), Alzheimer’s Disease (DAT), Parkinson’s Disease (PDD)
and rarer forms like Lewy Body and Frontotemporal dementias. Mild
cognitive impairment (MCI) can be detected as a prodrome in all,
before dementia supervenes. MCI is detected by serial brief
psychometric testing among the elderly with memory complaints, and we
have contributed by publishing psychometric screening tests and showed
that MCI is prodromal for VAD, as well as DAT. We have published quite
a bit on this work, which is continuing. Control of vascular risk
factors helps prevent all the neurodegenerative dementing disorders.
We are also doing numerous drug trials for treatment of dementia,
including three different cholinesterase inhibitors as well as NMDA
receptor blockers and a new drug that allegedly restores the
neurotransmitters ACH, NE, Dopamine and 5HT. I still enjoy this
research with my research postdoctoral fellows and feel my patients
and their families benefit.
“Looking back on my life with early training by Wilder Penfield and
Herbert Jasper at Montreal Neurological Institute and with John
Peters and John Fulton in Internal Medicine and Neurophysiology at
Yale, and with neurological and neurophysiological training at Harvard
with Derek Denny-Brown, Raymond D. Adams and Miller Fisher. I would
say that my contributions to the diagnosis of medical treatment and to
the physiological mechanisms involved in stroke, migraine, and
neurologic disorders in general, have been important. As an anecdote I
do remember
“John Fulton complaining that: ‘it costs me a thousand dollars
($1,000) to operate on the brain of each of my chimpanzees for my
experiments, while Wilder Penfield charges and gets paid $,1000 for
each of his published experiments on and from his grateful patients!’
“Regarding words of wisdom for younger colleagues: perhaps ‘Don’t be
discouraged by any slings and arrows of academic politics or
collegiate envy, just keep working, ultimately truth will win out.’
“My dearest professional colleague and friend was Niels Lassen of
Copenhagen, Denmark who, with his mentor and friend, Seymour Kety made
fundamental contributions to measuring and imaging physiological and
pathological principles responsible for changes in human regional
blood flow and metabolism both in health and disease, and there by
began the whole field of cerebral neuroimaging.”
Ed Masoro writes: “Thank you for your letter of April 27. I will try
to answer all your questions.
“My current activities are: writing, editing, and consulting. I have
written two books since retiring in 1996: Challenges of Biological
Aging, Springer Publishing Co., New York, 1999; Caloric Restriction: A
Key to Understanding and Modulating Aging, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2002.
Dr. Steven Austad and I have co-edited the fifth edition of the
Handbook of the Biology of Aging, Academic Press, 2001 and we
currently are in the process of co-editing the sixth edition. My
consulting activities include serving on the external advisory boards
of three NIH Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Biology of
Aging, the centers at the University of Michigan, the University of
Texas Health Center at San Antonio, and the University of Washington.
The last of my experimental work was published in a 2003 issue of the
Am. J. Physiol.
“I believe the study we published in 1992 in the Journal of
Gerontology: Biological Sciences (47: B202-B208, 1992) is my most
important work. It showed that a caloric restriction regimen, that
markedly extends the life span, also markedly alters the
characteristics of carbohydrate metabolism. That paper is the
forerunner of the current vigorous research of leading investigators
on the role of insulin signaling in the aging process.
“In regard to a choice anecdote, my PhD mentor, I. Lyon Chaikoff, used
to tell us that on Yom Kippur we should not start new work but rather
spend the day finishing the old work. He conveyed in that the
dedication that a scientist should give to research. I have lived by
that and accordingly have viewed Christmas in the same light. And that
is the word of wisdom I would pass to my younger colleagues. I hope
you find this of use.”
Marshall A. Lichtman writes: “Thank you for your letter. What a nice
idea to maintain records of a member’s career.
“In answer to your question, ‘What am I doing?’
“I retain my full-time faculty appointment at the University of
Rochester School of Medicine and Medical Center as Professor of
Medicine and of Biochemistry and Biophysics. I continue teaching in
the Cell Structure and Function Course for first year students and in
the Pathophysiology course for second year students. I also am a
member of the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center although I no longer see
patients.
“I am in the midst of co-editing the seventh Edition of Williams
Hematology, a principal text in the field. I am the lead editor for
this edition. I am editor-in-chief of Blood Cells, Molecules, and
Diseases, an electronic journal published by Elsevier. I also serve
currently on the editorial board of two other hematology journals.
“I am also Executive Vice President for Research and Medical Programs
for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Society has three research
programs: Career Development, Translational Research, and Specialized
Center of Research Programs. We award $42 million dollars per year for
new and continuing grants. As an architect of the Specialized Center
of Research Program, it is particularly gratifying to be supporting
ten, multimillion dollar centers exploring ways to improve the lives
of those stricken with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma. I call this the
‘two hundred years war’ since Hodgkin’s description of Hodgkin
lymphoma in 1832. In addition, I also serve in various capacities as
the Society’s medical expert.
“Several recent books that have been written or edited with colleagues
include a) Hematology: Landmark Papers of the Twentieth Century,
published by Academic Press in 2000, b) Williams Hematology Sixth
Edition published by McGraw-Hill in 2001, and c) a précis of the Sixth
Edition of Williams Hematology, entitled Williams Manual of Hematology
Sixth Edition published by McGraw-Hill in 2003.
“I continue to write and publish scientific articles. Several recent
papers that have been authored or coauthored by me are ‘The stem cell
in the pathogenesis and treatment of myelogenous leukemia’ in Leukemia
15:489, 2001; ‘Early gene activation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
lymphocytes induced toward a plasma cell phenotype” in Blood Cells,
Molecules, and Diseases 30:277, 2003; ‘Familial (inherited) leukemia,
lymphoma, and myeloma’ in Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases 32:246,
2004; ‘The relationship of patient age to the pathobiology of the
clonal myeloid diseases’ in Seminars in Oncology 31:185, 2004.
“My research work has evolved through several fields including: red
cells, hemoglobin physiology, leukocyte membranes, marrow
ultrastructure and cell trafficking, hematopoiesis, and the
pathophysiology of hematological malignancies, especially the
myelogenous leukemias.
“A paper of some practical value, still in use by diagnostic
laboratories nearly 30 years later is ‘Detection of mutant hemoglobins
with altered affinity for oxygen: a simplified technique,’ Annals of
Internal Medicine 84:517, 1976. There was controversy about the role
of lymphocyte potassium in the proliferative response of lymphocytes
in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and a paper that was the
culmination of about a dozen published by our laboratory was helpful
in clarifying the relevant events: ‘The regulation of sodium and
potassium transport in phytohemagglutin-stimulated human blood
lymphocytes,’ Journal of Clinical Investigation 64:834, 1976. Our
laboratory also made some contribution to understanding calcium
transport in lymphocytes and monocytes and among several papers in
this area are ‘Calcium transport and calcium ATPase activity of human
lymphocyte plasma membranes,’ Journal of Biological Chemistry
256:6148, 1981 and ‘Calcium exchange and ionized cytoplasmic calcium
in resting and activated human monocytes,’ Journal of Clinical
Investigation 74:589, 1984. We are still working on our description of
a transport abnormality unique to chronic lymphocytic leukemic cells:
‘Decreased L-amino acid transport in chronic lymphocytic leukemic
cells,’ Journal Biological Chemistry 257:9225, 1982 and ‘Phorbol ester
restores L-system amino acid transport in chronic lymphocytic leukemic
lymphocytes,’ Journal of Clinical Investigation 81:32, 1988.
“Of many interesting professional experiences, several notable ones
include participation on several grant review groups including the
Hematology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, service
as a Governor of the American National Red Cross and chair of the
American Red Cross Holland Laboratories Scientific Advisory Committee,
President of the American Society of Hematology, and Dean of the
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
“I have had the good fortune to work with many fine colleagues,
research fellows, graduate students, and superb technologists all of
whom contributed to any accomplishments of note. Few experiences are
as exhilarating as the weekly lab meeting with collaborators, fellows,
and students to discuss research results, to debate the validity and
significance of the experimental findings, and to determine the next
round of experiments. Few experiences are as rewarding as having a
patient with leukemia respond to therapy and recover good health,
often for too short a time. The ability to have one leg in the lab and
the other in the clinic is extremely stimulating and it is unfortunate
that medicine and science have become too complicated for that to be a
frequent opportunity for physicians in training.
“There are many anecdotes about life in the medical center. When I was
just starting my research career, I was given the opportunity to have
my lab in the Department of Radiation Biology and Biophysics, née the
Atomic Energy Project at the University of Rochester. The department
had co-chairs, each an extraordinary figure: William Neuman, an expert
in bone and calcium metabolism (the hard cell group) and Aser
Rothstein, an expert in membranes of yeast and later blood cells (the
soft cell group). They rotated the chair every two years. Both were
outstanding scientists, outstanding human beings, and had superb
leadership qualities. I was asked to join Aser and Bill’s tennis
group. The Medical Center had tennis courts within a stone’s throw of
the Department location so we would play at lunch-time, frequently.
There were five regulars in the group. I made six. Four players were
usually available on any day. One day Aser asked if I would play
singles with him; the rest of the group was not available that day. He
had an important meeting and could only play for 45 minutes. After
forty minutes of play I was ahead 4 to 1; he should have left. I said,
‘Aser, it is time for your meeting should we stop.’ He was too
competitive to stop with me ahead. He missed his meeting and beat me 7
to 5. I still am not sure whether I let up to avoid beating the
department chair. Much more likely was his unwillingness to lose and
his determination to win against a much younger upstart. The members
of our tennis group other than Aser and Bill included Leon Miller, a
distinguished biochemist and physiologist, Louis Hempelmann, a
renowned radiobiologist and radiologist, Taft Toribara, an outstanding
chemist, and author of the third most cited scientific paper ever
published. He also was a national squash champion six times and played
at the national level into his 80’s. Taft had a tennis stroke that was
unconventional and a reflection of his commitment to squash but his
shots were marked by pinpoint accuracy and angle shots rarely seen in
tennis. I was lucky to be associated with these extraordinary
scientists and gentlemen. When the Medical Center decided to build on
the site of the tennis courts, the influence of these highly respected
faculty lead to replacement courts being a part of the construction
project. The school’s founding Dean George Whipple was an advocate of
regular exercise and we have had a gym, basketball court, and squash
courts in the basement of the medical school and hospital complex for
over 70 years.”
Letter to Beverly Bishop
Julio Cruz writes: “What a surprise! Thank you for remembering that I
will reach you in 10 more years. If I remember well, the last time I
and my wife saw you and your husband was in Anaheim, CA at
Experimental Biology 1994. We still attend Experimental Biology
meetings. In fact, I had a couple of abstracts submitted for EB in
Washington DC this year. Thus, I am still trying to understand
alveolar gas mixing, what I started in Buffalo in 1964.
“Briefly, I retired from the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo in
1998. They did not want me any more after 15 years of work in the
Anesthesia Department. I left my medical practice and moved to
Columbus, OH to join Ohio State University at the School of Allied
Medical Professions. I became an Adjunct Professor. In 2000, I got a
Fulbright Scholarship and went to Universidad Nacional de Piura. The
next year, I became an Honorary Professor and now I teach adhonoren,
the subject of Respiratory Physiology at the Department of Anatomy and
Physiology, Faculty of Human Medicine. The title belongs to the Center
for Teaching, Research and Services, a non-profit organization that I
founded in 1998 in order to attract young people to the field of
science. So far, I got two new scientists, a pharmacologist and a
molecular pathologist. This organization, CEIS, is located within the
university campus. more details are available at http://www.ong-ceis.org.pe.
“Now my two great teachers are lost. I wish I could show them my
progress in the field of alveloar gas mixing.” |
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