March 06, 2019 Wednesday
Bedtime Story
Roger F. Steinert
It is simply in the individual’s avarice
(of the leading professor of the laboratory in this instance) to maximally utilize
and commercially profit from any molecule or chemical that displays a
therapeutical effect.
Dr. Baruch D. Kuppermann has scaled great
heights and is today the Roger F. Steinert Endowed Professor and Chair of the
Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute and
School of Medicine.
The chair has been named after Professor
Roger F. Steinert who was the head of the department during my fellowship
tenure at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute and whose textbook “Steinert Cataract
Surgery: Technique, Complications and Management” was a standard for residents during
our post graduation days.
Dr. Steinert passed away in 2017 after
battling with glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive cancer that begins
from the glial cells (non-neuronal cells) of the brain at the age of 66.
The average length of survival in humans
following its diagnosis is a mere 12 to 15 months.
66 years is a life cut short considering that
Dr. Steinert was a citizen of United States, was a highly specialized and
well-placed medical doctor and a classical breed of White Anglo-Saxon
Protestant (WASP) who, whether you like it or not, represent the epitome of “The
Establishment”.
Even today, in spite of being a highly
diverse and multi cultural society, WASPs are still the dominant group of the
American society highly well placed in major financial, business, legal and
academic institutions.
This kind of elite monopolist placement is
not by accident but deliberate intermarriage and nepotism as we see with upper
class Hindus and Baniyas of Hindu society.
The Ivy League Universities (on which I did
a series of bedtime stories) and the Seven Sisters colleges (seven liberal arts
colleges also in the Northeastern United States) have a strong historical tie
to WASP.
The influence of these universities and
colleges is in open exhibition till this very day with its students occupying
prominent positions in American society with the current President of the
United States being one of them.
Moreover, with the life expectancy at birth
for a baby born in United States being close to 80 years, 66 years does become
admittedly short.
Glioblastoma multiforme is very difficult
to treat because the tumor cells are very resistant to known forms of treatment
used for other cancers and secondly those therapies themselves are highly
damaging for the brain (unlike other organs and tissues which tolerate them far
better).
Even worse, unlike other tissues and
organs, brain has very limited capability to repair itself.
As a mark of respect and tribute to Dr.
Steinert and his achievements the chair of Professor of the Department of
Ophthalmology of UC Irvine’s Gavin Herbert Eye Institute has been named after
him which is now occupied by Dr. Kuppermann.
It is daunting just to go through the
academical credentials of Dr. Kuppermann.
Stay tuned to the voice of an
average story storytelling chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
Advertisements
Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
No comments:
Post a Comment