Dr. Leon Jacobson: A Model Mentor
Ernest Beutler, MD
Dr. Beutler is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute. He was the 2003 recipient of the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize as well as 1979 ASH President, and received the Henry M. Stratton Medal in 1974.
If Leon Jacobson were alive today, he would surely receive the new ASH Mentor Award. "Jake," as he was called by his colleagues, is not well known to many of the younger members of ASH, but his contributions were of great importance in the development of hematology. He is sometimes regarded as "the father of bone marrow transplantation" because his studies, showing that rat spleen cells rescued lethally irradiated mice, served as the major stimulus for early attempts to transplant marrow from one human to another. But although he was a pioneer in the field of radiation biology, he was a versatile investigator. Through an elegant series of experiments, he showed, in 1957, that the kidney was the main source of erythropoietin. Eugene Goldwasser, who also benefited from Jake's mentoring, has written an elegant summary of Jake's career1.
Having made rounds with the hematology group as a medical student and intern at the University of Chicago, I decided that it was his division with which I wanted to affiliate during my residency. Accordingly, I made an appointment to see Dr. Jacobson. He asked me only one question: "Do you get along well with everyone in our lab?" I said that I did, and he accepted me into the group. His single question spoke volumes. It was clear that having people in a group getting along well was of paramount importance.
Jake's mentorship consisted of teaching by example. He was never secretive and shared his ideas freely with visitors to the laboratory. He had three technicians that had been with him for more than a decade BE Evelyn Gaston, Melba Robson, and Mrs. Marks. (At the time, none of us knew her first name; she was just Mrs. Marks.) He treated these talented assistants with consideration and respect, and they all stuck with him until the end of their careers. In my long association with Jake, first as a resident, then as what would now be considered a fellow, and ultimately as a member of the junior faculty, we co-authored only one paper2. I published numerous other papers during the time that Jake was my mentor, but when I asked him about co-authoring papers his answer was always the same BE that this was my work and not his. As I developed my career as a biomedical scientist, it gradually became apparent to me in how many ways I was emulating what he had done. For example, throughout my career I have been privileged to work with equally talented technical assistants, of which there have been too many to acknowledge here. Recently, Carol West retired after working with me for 38 years, and Terri Gelbart is still going strong after more than 26 years.
I also owe a great deal to Jake for the example that he set as an administrator. First and foremost, he delegated responsibilities to his staff, and having done so never second-guessed the recommendations that were made to him. There must have been times when Jake was angry and may have raised his voice in ire. But I never witnessed such an occasion. He never seemed to act in undue haste; he taught me that not all problems need to be met head-on. Some take care of themselves, but the others must not be allowed to fester. It is better to frankly tell someone something they do not want to hear than to avoid the unpleasant task BE leaving them in uncertainty and, ultimately, feeling frustrated and resentful. I have now been a department chairman for 47 years and what I learned from Jake in those few years at the University of Chicago has served me very well.
Jake was also a fine role model when it came to the art and science of clinical medicine. He was a caring and conscientious doctor and his patients adored him. He was a very experienced clinician and was at the forefront of clinical research, having been the first to use nitrogen mustards in the treatment of lymphomas. Although I had great respect for his clinical judgment, we did not always agree on details of management of our patients. I recall that once he suggested that I give one of his patients 6 millicuries of 32P. I was appalled. My experience led me to consider this much too high a dose and I felt compelled to tell Jake what I thought. "How much would you give?" "No more than 3 millicuries," I said. "Okay, we'll compromise," Jake said. "Give her 5 and 1/2 millicuries." I did, and she survived.
In 1959, while still in Jake's division, I was invited to serve as Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the City of Hope. It was summer, and Jake had a vacation home in Indiana. I wanted his advice, and he invited me to visit him there. We had a long talk, and Jake was non-directive, but he made it clear to me that whatever I decided I could count on his support and friendship. And, of course, he was as good as his word. He served as a valued advisor to our program at the City of Hope and at Scripps, and I always enjoyed a warm personal relationship with him. When Jake turned 80, his former and current associates celebrated his career with a symposium, in which I was privileged to participate. He knew, but told no one, that he had lung cancer. Within the year he had died, depriving the world of hematology of a great biomedical scientist and role model.
References:
1. Goldwasser E. Leon Orris Jacobson: December 16, 1911 - September 20, 1992. Biogr Mem Natl Acad Sci 1996;70:191-202.
2. Beutler E, Robson MJ, Jacobson LO. Prolongation of the lag phase of irradiated Escherichia coli. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1954;85:682-685.
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Nominate a Mentor for the ASH Mentor Award
Through the creation of ASH's newest award program, you can help recognize and reward outstanding mentors like Dr. Leon Jacobson. The Mentor Award is designed to showcase and reward a different type of outstanding contribution to hematology, that of mentoring others. Superb mentors from any of the different branches of hematology are eligible for this award, including adult or pediatric hematologists; academic or community practitioners; basic, clinical, or translational researchers; hematopathologists; transfusion medicine specialists; and individuals working in industry or government. For more information or to nominate a mentor, visit www.hematology.org/education/awards/mentorship.cfm.
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ASH Presents First Katrina Relief Fund Donation to New Orleans; the City Responds With Overwhelming Outpouring of Affection
James George, MD
Dr. George is George Lynn Cross Professor in the Hematology-Oncology section of the Department of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and was the 2005 ASH President.
I visited New Orleans as President-Elect of ASH in February of 2004 with ASH staff to plan for our 2005 annual meeting. I remember being so impressed by what the city had to offer for our expected 20,000 meeting attendees. Everything was set for a wonderful scientific and social experience. The ambience of New Orleans was perfect and was uniquely captured by the images in our Announcement of Meeting brochure sent out in the summer of 2005. Then Hurricane Katrina struck, the levees broke, and all of the destruction and tragedy was witnessed by everyone around the world. The widespread devastation was beyond imagination.
When ASH realized that the 2005 annual meeting needed to be moved, we knew we couldn't forget the people and city of New Orleans. ASH established the Katrina Relief Fund that has raised $433,000 from ASH members, meeting attendees, exhibitors, vendors, and the city of Atlanta. A portion of this money will aid institutions with hematology training programs in the Gulf region. The institutions to be supported include Tulane University, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, and the Ochsner Clinic Foundation. In addition, the Society plans to help hematologists/oncologists reestablish their practices so they can provide needed medical care to people returning to the area.
In acknowledgment of the impact that ASH's meeting has on the host city, the Society has also committed support for the displaced workers of New Orleans' tourism and hospitality industry. Through contributions to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors' Bureau Employee Relief Fund and the New Orleans Tourism Workers Relief Fund, ASH's Katrina Relief Fund will assist the employees of the New Orleans hotels, convention center, and restaurants in rebuilding their lives and businesses. All of this money will go to help the victims of Katrina; ASH provided the staff effort as part of our contribution. These donations are the key to rebuilding the city back to what it was when we planned the 2005 annual meeting, and what it will be when ASH returns to New Orleans in a few years.
On February 23 of this year, I returned to New Orleans to present the first donation from the Katrina Relief Fund. On behalf of ASH, I presented a check for $225,000 to the New Orleans Convention & Visitors' Bureau (CVB) employee relief funds. All of this money will go directly to the displaced convention and tourism workers who were devastated by Katrina. The response was overwhelming. I had expected warm appreciation, but I had not anticipated the outpouring of affection for ASH. The attention and conversations surrounding this event - from the waiter in the restaurant to the president of the CVB -emphasized the importance of the relationship between our Society and our host cities.
The downtown area and the French Quarter look almost as though nothing happened. However, other areas are still in terrible shape and much more help is needed. New Orleans still has a long way to go, but after visiting and talking with many people, I have no doubt that it will be back to its glory days once again.
I want to thank all of you who donated to the ASH Katrina Relief Fund. I wish all of you could have joined me in presenting this donation to the city and experienced the gratitude those in the hospitality industry have for ASH. I was extremely proud of the Society during this visit.
The ASH officers are finalizing the other donations to institutions and private practitioners that will fulfill the full purpose of the ASH Katrina Relief Fund. We will share the details of these donations in a future issue of The Hematologist.
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Blood Launches New Online Manuscript Submission System
On February 1, 2006, Blood launched its new online manuscript submission and management system, Blood Bench>Press. Bench>Press, developed by Stanford University Libraries' Highwire Press, is a complete manuscript submission, tracking, review, and publishing system. The change to the new system from Blood Manuscript Central was made to achieve more accurate matching and tracking of papers through the use of new technology. Other capabilities of Blood Bench>Press include:
- better author and referee service
- wider system flexibility
- faster turnaround times
- easier report generation
In 2005, Blood received more than 5,000 manuscript submissions, averaging more than 425 manuscript submissions per month. One goal of Blood's Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Sanford Shattil, University of California, San Diego, is to shorten turnaround times. " Blood Bench>Press provides the editors with a tool to decrease the time between submission and first decision about a paper," said Dr. Shattil. "The new system also allows easier processing of First Edition papers."
At press time, the new system had been in use for almost eight weeks. According to Blood's Managing Editor, Ms. Anna Trudgett, the system is working well but the editorial staff continue to monitor the system and make needed changes to assure that it is working effectively for authors and the editors.
Although new submissions are processed in the Bench>Press system, the journal continues to process a limited number of revised papers and publish-ahead-of-print (First Edition) manuscripts through Blood Manuscript Central. For full details on manuscript submission in Blood Bench>Press, visit http://submit.bloodjournal.org.
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Letter-of-Intent Deadline Approaching for EHA-ASH International Fellowship Award
The American Society of Hematology and European Hematology Association's EHA-ASH International Fellowship Award will allow hematologists from North America and Europe the opportunity to conduct research in another country. The intent of the program is to give both clinical and laboratory-based researchers an opportunity to establish new collaborations and experience research in a different environment. This program will benefit not only the individual participants, but also each host institution, with the ultimate goal of building stronger ties between the North American and European scientific communities.
A letter of intent must be submitted in English by September 1, 2006, in order to be eligible to submit a full award application by the October 1 deadline. For complete eligibility requirements and application information, visit www.hematology.org/education/awards/ifa.cfm.
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What You Learn in Vegas Should Not Stay in Vegas!
At the ASH State-of-the-Art Symposium, attendees will meet with leading experts in hematology and discuss the latest discoveries, research, and treatment options for hematologic malignancies. The next State-of-the-Art Symposium, Hematologic Malignancies: Recent Advances in Therapy, will take place in Las Vegas, NV, on September 15-16, 2006.
This clinically-focused event will include a state-of-the-art educational program including lectures on myeloma, chronic and acute leukemia, and lymphoma, as well as multiple opportunities for networking. Program co-chairs Joseph M. Connors, MD, and Alan F. List, MD, will lead an internationally renowned team of speakers to present the current cutting-edge approaches to managing hematologic malignancies. Visit www.hematology.org/meetings/sas/index.cfm for more details and to register for this event.
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