I was fortunate enough to attend graduate school at a university that offered access to a medical school, teaching hospital and a comprehensive cancer center. As a result, select students performing oncology research were provided the invaluable opportunity of shadowing physicians during hospital rounds and patient consultations. It was our chance to put names and faces to diseases, learn about the most current treatment paradigms and see for ourselves the impact that research has on medicine.  During one of these shadowing assigments, I encountered an elderly gentleman suffering from bone metastasis of his primary cancer. The oncologist had warned us that bone pain is one of the most painful symptoms of the metastatic disease and that we should prepare ourselves for the obvious suffering we would see. To all of our surprise, when we introduced ourselves to this gentleman, he was warm, effusive and animated. He immediately welcomed us into his room and proceeded to tell us how it is imperative that young people like ourselves continue to pursue careers in medicine and research and how patients like him are counting on us to find cures to conditions like his. He wanted to hear about each of our research projects and whether any of our laboratories were involved in clinical trials. He then thanked us for visiting him and told us that it was these visits and student training sessions that kept his mind off the pain and looking toward a better future.

That one encounter sustained me through the rest of my graduate training. I did my share of complaining and feeling completely defeated when experiments failed for months at a time or results just didnt seem to make any logical sense. But that gentleman’s words and his face smiling through the pain would always come back to me and put me back on track. As I completed my graduate training and joined the pharmaceutical industry, I often wondered where I would find such inspiration again.

My question was answered last Friday when Pfizer Global Research and Development hosted Judith Fox- author and photographer of ” I Still Do”- a  glimpse into the life of Edmund Ackell, an Alzheimer’s patient and the author’s husband. While speaking at a town hall meeting, Ms Fox said she was there to provide the “human element” and encouraged us all to use her husband’s name and husband’s face if we needed to put a name and face to the disease we work to battle daily.  Her candor, willingness to share and appreciation for the contribution of research to the knowledge and treatment of the disease instilled in me the same sense of urgency and pride in my work that I had felt in the elderly gentleman’s hospital room.  And I once again consider myself very fortunate to work in an environment that exposes me to the kind of inspiration that only the human element can provide.

Tags: Alzheimer's, inspiration, Judith Fox