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Harvard's Folkman to lecture here Sept. 5Judah Folkman, M.D., Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery and professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School, will visit MUSC on Sept. 5.Folkman, the recipient of more than 20 significant awards, honors and honorary degrees from 11 universities, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The American Philosophical Society and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Here to accept the Lindbergh-Carrel Prize and present the MUSC Foundation for Research Development Biomedical Innovation Lecture, Folkman is known for his research in angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, as it relates to cancer cell growth. Folkman’s angiogenesis research began with experiments using a Lindbergh-Carrel perfusion pump, modified with a new circuit and a silicone rubber oxygenator to test hemoglobin solutions. The years were 1960-1962, Folkman was in the Navy and working at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda with Fred Becker, M.D., a pathologist from NYU. Folkman and Becker perfused canine thyroid gland with hemoglobin and implanted tumor cells in the thyroid glands. Tiny tumors grew but stopped at the same size, because as it turned out, they could not stimulate blood vessel growth in the isolated perfused organs. This led to Folkman’s hypothesis that tumors are angiogenesis-dependent. This and other experiments resulted in a landmark publication in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1971. The Lindbergh-Carrel Prize is named for the famed aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and French-born surgeon and biologist Alexis Carrel. Lindbergh, who is better known for his 1927 transatlantic solo flight from New York to Paris, developed the device with Carrel, known for his research in keeping organs alive outside the body. Also while in the Navy, Folkman and a colleague first reported the use of silicone rubber implantable polymers for the sustained release of drugs. Their findings became the basis for development of Norplant, the contraceptive used internationally, and initiated the field of controlled release technology. MUSC’s Vladimir Mironov, Ph.D., a Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology researcher, organized the Charles A. Lindbergh Symposium, held Feb. 4 at MUSC to celebrate the inventor’s 100th birthday, and the Lindbergh-Carrel Prize, designated for pioneers in perfusion and tissue bioengineering. Born in Cleveland in 1933, Folkman graduated cum laude from The Ohio State University, Columbus, in 1953. He continued his education at Harvard Medical School, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1957. Folkman began his surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and served as chief resident in surgery from 1964-1965. As a student, Folkman co-authored papers describing a new method of hepatectomy for liver cancer and developed the first atrio-ventricular implantable pacemaker for which he received the Boylston Medical Prize, Soma Weiss Award and Borden Undergraduate Award in Medicine. In addition to his distinguished accomplishments in research, Folkman has served as a surgeon and teacher. He began his career as an instructor in surgery for Harvard's Surgical Service at Boston City Hospital, Boston, was promoted to professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, and became the Julia Dyckman Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery in 1968. From 1967 he served as surgeon-in-chief at the Children's Hospital Medical Center for 14 years. Folkman also is professor of cell biology at the Harvard Medical School. Folkman’s visit and lecture is sponsored by the MUSC Foundation for Research Development, formed to establish relationships which bring ideas, technology, and expertise of the faculty, staff, and students at MUSC to industry and, ultimately, into public use. “Folkman is an excellent choice to present the Biomedical Innovation Lecture,” said Ken Roozen, Ph.D., executive director of the Foundation for Research Development. “Folkman has been a pioneer in stimulating relationships between the university-based biomedical researchers and the private sector. The results of his angiogenesis research has also provided the basis for numerous patents and has been the stimulus for considerable major corporation and start-up biotechnology company research and development.” Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as
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