outreach
An American hero
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© 2014 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
by Paul McKellips This is my last compilation of musings in this column for at least a year. But, just like the common cold that rears its ugly head every winter, I may be back when you least expect it. Grab a Kleenex. You’ll be fine. If you’ve followed any of my rants over the last two years, then you already know that the US military is very near and dear to my heart. When we think of men and women in uniform, we almost immediately think of war and bloodshed. But the millions who have served and worn those uniforms will tell you that their highest codes of discipline and order were more often than not used for h umanitarian efforts and public health advancements. Even now, thousands of troops are in Africa trying to set up c ommand and control operations against the Ebola virus epidemic, while quick reaction forces wait for the next tsunami or earthquake. The contributions made to global health by military physicians, nurses, veterinarians, medics, researchers and scientists have been nothing short of amazing. Few among us have not heard about the Walter Reed National Medical Military Center in Bethesda, MD. Combat-wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have been sent to Walter Reed for decades to receive the very best treatment and care that a grateful nation could possibly offer. Presidents and Congressional leaders have been treated there, as well as American journalists as they, too, recover from wounds suffered while covering the news of war. But perhaps fewer of us know how Walter Reed himself personifies the spirit and character of American men and women in uniform with grace and humility. Five months before his 19th birthday, Walter Reed graduated from the University of Virginia’s medical school with an MD degree in 1869. Reed enrolled at New McKellips is Executive Vice President of the Foundation for Biomedical Research in Washington, DC.
LAB ANIMAL
By 1893, Reed had completed course acteriology at work in pathology and b Johns Hopkins University and then joined the faculty at the George Washington University School of Medicine and the Army Medical School in Washington, DC. Beyond practicing medicine as a physician, Walter Reed followed his passions of b acteriology and clinical microscopy. In fact, Major Walter Reed established himself as a medical investigator. He was a biomedical researcher. In 1896, Reed offered the breakthrough research proving that enlisted men s tationed along the Potomac River were contracting yellow fever not from c ontaminated d rinking water but rather because of a mosquito-borne virus. To this day, yellow fever causes 200,000 illnesses and more than 30,000 deaths each year, mostly in Africa. But Reed’s early work with human volunteers who deliberately agreed to be infected with yellow fever led to v accines and t reatments. Though Major Reed
was widely credited with ‘beating’ yellow fever, he himself humbly credited Cuban p hysician Dr. Carlos Finlay for the breakthroughs in the war on yellow fever. At a US Army encampment in Cuba in 1898, Reed and his colleagues showed that contact with fecal matter and food or drink contaminated by flies was the cause of typhoid fever. In 1902, at the age of 51, Reed’s appendix ruptured and he died unceremoniously from peritonitis. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery among American heroes and Presidents. Major Walter Reed’s story represents but one of thousands of American men and women who answered the call to serve their country. I have walked the halls of Walter Reed National Medical Military Center many times, visiting men and women who have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan with unimaginable life-altering wounds. I remember talking with ‘Brandon’ from New York, who at 18 years of age lost both of his arms and both of his legs in a blast from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. But his face was filled with optimism and hope as he told me, “At least I’m at the best research facility in the world.” And within 12 months, Brandon was taking steps on his prosthetic legs and playing video games against his brother using prosthetic hands and arms. I had never thought about Walter Reed being a researcher or about the medical complex named after him being a research center. But when Reed, not yet 19 years old, earned his medical degree, the course of military medicine—and military research— was changed forever. Veteran’s Day is often no more than a brief pause on the November c alendar before Thanksgiving and the holiday seasons of December. This year, take a moment to remember Major Walter Reed, a physician, a biomedical researcher and an American hero.
Volume 43, No. 11 | november 2014 417
York University’s Bellevue Hospital, where he earned a second MD in 1870. With practical experience limited by his youth, he joined the US Army’s Medical Corps, and he was sent to the western frontier where he cared for several hundred Apache Native Americans, including the infamous Geronimo. Though it was probably not the coveted assignment that young Dr. Reed was looking for, his service reminds us that soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines follow orders and do whatever task under whatever conditions they are ordered to perform.
Walter Reed himself personifies the spirit and character of American men and women in uniform with grace and humility.
An American hero
npg
© 2014 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
by Paul McKellips This is my last compilation of musings in this column for at least a year. But, just like the common cold that rears its ugly head every winter, I may be back when you least expect it. Grab a Kleenex. You’ll be fine. If you’ve followed any of my rants over the last two years, then you already know that the US military is very near and dear to my heart. When we think of men and women in uniform, we almost immediately think of war and bloodshed. But the millions who have served and worn those uniforms will tell you that their highest codes of discipline and order were more often than not used for h umanitarian efforts and public health advancements. Even now, thousands of troops are in Africa trying to set up c ommand and control operations against the Ebola virus epidemic, while quick reaction forces wait for the next tsunami or earthquake. The contributions made to global health by military physicians, nurses, veterinarians, medics, researchers and scientists have been nothing short of amazing. Few among us have not heard about the Walter Reed National Medical Military Center in Bethesda, MD. Combat-wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have been sent to Walter Reed for decades to receive the very best treatment and care that a grateful nation could possibly offer. Presidents and Congressional leaders have been treated there, as well as American journalists as they, too, recover from wounds suffered while covering the news of war. But perhaps fewer of us know how Walter Reed himself personifies the spirit and character of American men and women in uniform with grace and humility. Five months before his 19th birthday, Walter Reed graduated from the University of Virginia’s medical school with an MD degree in 1869. Reed enrolled at New McKellips is Executive Vice President of the Foundation for Biomedical Research in Washington, DC.
LAB ANIMAL
By 1893, Reed had completed course acteriology at work in pathology and b Johns Hopkins University and then joined the faculty at the George Washington University School of Medicine and the Army Medical School in Washington, DC. Beyond practicing medicine as a physician, Walter Reed followed his passions of b acteriology and clinical microscopy. In fact, Major Walter Reed established himself as a medical investigator. He was a biomedical researcher. In 1896, Reed offered the breakthrough research proving that enlisted men s tationed along the Potomac River were contracting yellow fever not from c ontaminated d rinking water but rather because of a mosquito-borne virus. To this day, yellow fever causes 200,000 illnesses and more than 30,000 deaths each year, mostly in Africa. But Reed’s early work with human volunteers who deliberately agreed to be infected with yellow fever led to v accines and t reatments. Though Major Reed
was widely credited with ‘beating’ yellow fever, he himself humbly credited Cuban p hysician Dr. Carlos Finlay for the breakthroughs in the war on yellow fever. At a US Army encampment in Cuba in 1898, Reed and his colleagues showed that contact with fecal matter and food or drink contaminated by flies was the cause of typhoid fever. In 1902, at the age of 51, Reed’s appendix ruptured and he died unceremoniously from peritonitis. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery among American heroes and Presidents. Major Walter Reed’s story represents but one of thousands of American men and women who answered the call to serve their country. I have walked the halls of Walter Reed National Medical Military Center many times, visiting men and women who have come back from Iraq and Afghanistan with unimaginable life-altering wounds. I remember talking with ‘Brandon’ from New York, who at 18 years of age lost both of his arms and both of his legs in a blast from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. But his face was filled with optimism and hope as he told me, “At least I’m at the best research facility in the world.” And within 12 months, Brandon was taking steps on his prosthetic legs and playing video games against his brother using prosthetic hands and arms. I had never thought about Walter Reed being a researcher or about the medical complex named after him being a research center. But when Reed, not yet 19 years old, earned his medical degree, the course of military medicine—and military research— was changed forever. Veteran’s Day is often no more than a brief pause on the November c alendar before Thanksgiving and the holiday seasons of December. This year, take a moment to remember Major Walter Reed, a physician, a biomedical researcher and an American hero.
Volume 43, No. 11 | november 2014 417
York University’s Bellevue Hospital, where he earned a second MD in 1870. With practical experience limited by his youth, he joined the US Army’s Medical Corps, and he was sent to the western frontier where he cared for several hundred Apache Native Americans, including the infamous Geronimo. Though it was probably not the coveted assignment that young Dr. Reed was looking for, his service reminds us that soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines follow orders and do whatever task under whatever conditions they are ordered to perform.
Walter Reed himself personifies the spirit and character of American men and women in uniform with grace and humility.
