Medicine Science and Dreams (eBook)

Dr. David Schwartz is serving as the director of the Center for Genes, Environment, and Health and as the Provost for National Jewish Health. He previously served as director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). David has made numerous contributions toward understanding the role that genetic determinants play in the onset of diseases that are influenced by environmental exposures. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians and the recipient the 2003 American Thoracic Society Scientific Accomplishment Award. David is a native of New York, and lives with his wife, Louise Sparks, and their three children, Tziporah, Samuel, and Kiera.

Preface 6
Acknowledgements 9
Contents 10
Contributors 12
About the Authors 14
List of Acronyms 31
1 The Loneliness of the Physician-Scientist 36
1. 36
2. 37
3. 37
4. 38
5. 40
6. 41
7. 43
8. 44
9. 45
10. 45
11. 45
12. 46
13. 47
14. 48
2 Gamow, Guppies, and the Search for GOD 49
3 The Epigenesis of an Epigeneticist 67
The Admission Directors Question 67
The Decision Itself 68
Childhood: From Math to Computers to Neuroscience 69
College, Briefly, or How I Became a Teenage Medical Student 71
How I Unchose Neuroscience and Chose Genetics 72
My Choice Did Not Make Things Easier 77
4 A Delicate Balance: Science, Medicine, and Motherhood 79
Prologue 79
Growing Up: I Was Supposed to Be a Boy 79
My Parents 81
High School and College 83
Medical School, Marriage and Residency: The Turning Point 84
Bill Paul and the NIH: A Hotbed of Immunology 86
Back to Harvard and some very tough years 86
Children 87
A Very Eclectic Scientific Career: Always Flying by the Seat of My Skirts 90
5 First Pick Good Parents 92
Early Inclinations Toward Science and Medicine 93
Mentoring Makes All the Difference 96
How Do You Help Your Mentee When Nothing Works 100
Leadership Development 104
Conclusion 107
Reference 107
6 The Long Way to Somewhere 108
My Life at the University 110
The Dawning of a Broken Dream 111
Arriving in Mexico 112
My Arrival to the (future) National Institute of Respiratory Diseases 113
My First Ripples and Eddies with Investigation 114
My First Approach to the Field of Pulmonary Fibrosis 114
Ruy Prez Tamayo 115
Annie Pardo 116
The Challenge of Iasha Sznajder 117
The Whispers of Wisdom 118
In Search of a New Hypothesis About the Pathogenesis of IPF 119
The Innocent Birds and Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis 120
The Research Unit at INER, My Other Son 121
Conclusions 121
References 122
7 Sputnik, Slime Molds, and Botticelli in the Making of a Physician-Scientist 123
Sputnik and Hemo the Magnificent 123
Saving the World, and Enter the Slime Molds 125
The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, in Biochemistry Class 127
Physician-Scientist Means Physician First 128
Botticelli Had It Right 129
One Life but Three Careers 136
The Basic Unit of Time in Academic Medicine Is the Decade 137
References 138
8 Success for the Whole Community 139
Hard Work and Education 139
Mrs. Cooper and the Weekly Reader 141
Pursuing the Dream: In the Valley of the Jolly Green Giant 142
The Family: The Highest Priority 143
Medicine as a Career 144
A Wakeup Call: Meeting the Challenge 145
Doctoring and Teaching 147
The Decision to Become a Subspecialist 148
Interstitial Lung Disease: Discovering a Lifelong Passion 149
Translational Research: From Bedside to the Bench 151
Building a Clinical Investigation Team 152
Referring Physicians and Patients 153
Reflections: Seven Habits of Successful Clinical Investigators 154
9 The Irony of Disease 156
Public School: Dreams, Commitment, and Signs of Confidence 159
Larry Grabin: Becoming Inspired 162
Fanny P.: Why Medicine and Science 163
Learning to Think Scientifically 165
Reflections and Lessons Learned 171
10 Serendipity and Stamina: Staying the Course 173
First Glimpses of Curiosity 173
Early Mentors 174
Medical School Mentors 177
NIH Mentors 179
Working in Collaboration with Astute Clinicians 184
AIDS Research 186
Lessons Learned on the Journey of Becoming a Physician-Scientist 187
Reference 188
11 Twists and Turns on the Road to Becoming a Physician-Scientist 189
Classic Sibling Rivalry with My Ultimate Hero 189
My Early Years 189
My Awakening: The Discovery of Books 191
Going to Medical School: A Chance Choice 192
Dermatology: What a Joke 193
A Summer Break During Medical School: A Life-Altering Experience 193
Dermatology: A Specialty That Suited Me 195
What Next Youre in the Army Now 198
Decision Time: Should I Pursue an Academic Career 199
Changing Countries and Refocusing 200
Choices Abound for Career Options 202
The NIH: The Possibilities Are Limitless 203
Establishing a Laboratory Program 205
Becoming Branch Chief at an Early Age 206
Mentoring Before It Became a Fashionable Term 207
Science Administration: Yet Another Challenge 208
Summing Up 210
12 Journeys from Bedside to Bench and Back 211
13 Life Comes to One 228
My Family 228
Medical School 229
Paediatrics 230
Munich Asthma and Allergy Study 231
German Re-unification 231
Stephan Weiland 232
Fernando Martinez 234
Charlotte Braun-Fahrländer 235
14 What Is a Guy Like You Doing in a Place Like This? A Physician-Scientist in the Private Sector 239
Mentors 250
Conclusion 251
15 The Jock and the Doc 252
1939: The Year of the Rabbit 252
1953: My First Medical Hero 252
1957: Go East Young Man 253
1959: Biology or History 254
1961: P S, Bootcamp II 255
1965: Bellevue, Not Just a Loony-Bin 255
1967: Anchors Aweigh 257
1969: Return from Paradise 258
1970: A Ramifying Career in Lung Disease 258
1972: Denver General Hospital 260
1982-2009: A Field of Dreams 261
TB Has Been Berry Good to Me 262
The Book: My Magnum Opus 263
Summary and Conclusion 264
16 The Making of a Medical Epidemiologist 267
17 Curiosity, Hard Work, and Tenacity 282
The Early Years 282
Medicine, Not My Choice 283
Jack Pepys: The Father of Occupational Asthma 285
New World, New Life, New Challenges, and Clinical Investigations 286
The Occupational Lung Disease Research Unit 288
David V. Bates: From Science to Public Policy 289
Return to My Roots 291
Reflections 292
18 Physician-Scientist: Linking Science, Medicine, and Public Policy 294
Introduction 294
The Early Years 295
On to College at Princeton 297
The Value of Student Research Experiences 298
On to Harvard Medical School and then Massachusetts General Hospital 299
Serving Our Country During the Vietnam War 302
To Seattle for 28 Years 303
An Interlude for One Year in Washington DC 305
Back to Washington DC: The Virtues of a Physician-Scientist Background 306
Back to the University of Washington for Eco-genetics and then Public Health 309
A Big Move from Seattle to Ann Arbor, Michigan: Back to Medicine 310
Reflecting on a Career as Physician-Scientist 311
References 312
19 Pursuit of a Patient-Oriented Research Career as a Physician-Scientist 313
20 What Went Right 327
Index 337