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Stuart to receive Partners in Progress award by Michael Baker Public Relations The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will present Robert Stuart, M.D., professor of medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, with the organization’s Partners in Progress award on March 13.  And while Stuart’s continuing medical work and cancer-related philanthropy earned his nomination, the honor also represents the personal hardship and ironic undertones of his career as an oncologist. By definition, oncologists study cancer, but Stuart has seen more facets of the disease than many doctors ever will. His knowledge of cancer arises not only from extensive work as an oncologist—he’s in the midst of his second stint at MUSC—but from two more personal encounters with the disease. Arriving at MUSC in 1985, Stuart brought a wealth of experience to the university. He worked previously at Johns Hopkins University as a member of the school’s bone marrow transplant team, and when he came to Charleston, he brought two goals. “I was hired to found the Hematology/Oncology Division and to develop the concept of multidiscliplinary cancer care at MUSC,” he recalls. “However, my personal goal was to raise the level of care in my specialty area, so that MUSC (and South Carolina) could have a bone marrow transplant program.” In addressing the latter task, Stuart quickly put his team to work. In 1987, he completed the first bone marrow transplant in South Carolina history. The team performed more than 500 transplants since that time, and it remains one of only two such transplant teams in the state (the other resides in Greenville). “The whole process was a team effort,” Stuart said. “Pathology and laboratory medicine, nursing, hospital administration, and many other disciplines all helped our division succeed.” Besides performing bone marrow transplants, Stuart also continued his work in autologous (self-donated) stem-cell research at MUSC. Autologous stem-cell research involves collecting stem cells from a cancer patient in remission. The cells are cryogenically frozen, and the patient receives high doses of radiation. After the treatment, doctors thaw the frozen cells and return them to the patient’s body. “In the past, many within the medical community, including me, had very little faith in the process,” Stuart said. “But the treatment has been successful, particularly for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma patients.”  True to the research-oriented, treatment-focused attitude that marked the beginning of his career at MUSC, Stuart maintained a certain pragmatism that held him to a strict level of professionalism when dealing with patients. “I definitely kept my distance, trying to minimize any emotional connection,” he recalls. “I’d never call my patients by their first names, even when they asked me to.” A new perspective altered his view in 1991, when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Although MUSC successfully removed the disease through surgery, Stuart’s experiences—the same experiences that many of his patients went through—changed the way he communicated.  “It definitely changed how I relate to my patients,” he said. “Our shared experiences allow me to interact with them on a more personal level.” After such an unexpected low point in his life, Stuart’s career appeared to be rising again. In 1997, he left MUSC to become chair of the Department of Oncology at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The new job put him in charge of more than 70 oncologists from around the world.  But the excellent experience fractured when Stuart’s wife, Charlene, former MUSC Medical Center CEO, learned that she had acute leukemia. Once again, Stuart’s frame of reference shifted from professional to personal. “I never expected to assume the role of a caregiver,” he said. “Even considering my own battle with cancer, it’s one thing to see your patients on a scheduled, clinical basis. It’s another matter to live with a loved one who has cancer.” The couple returned to MUSC, and Stuart stopped working for four months to care for Charlene. In Charleston, Charlene underwent the bone marrow transplant procedure that her husband had pioneered at the institution almost 13 years earlier. Now, her cancer has been in remission for more than three years. “Spiritually, there’s something very mystical about devoting your life to something and having it affect someone you love,” Stuart said of his work with cancer. Furthering the couple’s connection, Charlene’s doctor in Saudi Arabia was a man whom Stuart had trained while at MUSC. After bringing a breakthrough procedure to South Carolina and battling cancer in both himself and his wife, Stuart will accept the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Partners in Progress Award at the inaugural Leukemia Ball. Darlene Benton, the society’s campaign director, and Ashley Alderman, the society’s event manager, both spoke of Stuart in glowing terms. “He’s always been there for us, just a phone call away,” Benton said.   Alderman credited Stuart’s work in oncology as the impetus for the award’s creation. “This is the first time we’ve given the award to anyone,” she explained. “Dr. Stuart will set the standard for any future recipients.”  She added that the award always will hold a strong sense of meaning. The society won’t give the annual award unless it can find a worthy nominee who suits the precedent set by Stuart. “This isn’t a hollow honor,” Alderman asserted. Stuart’s devotion to and experience with cancer present themselves most prominently in an anecdote from his charity work in the summer of 2003. He became a finalist in the Tour of Hope, world champion cyclist Lance Armstrong’s Los Angeles-Washington, D.C., bicycle team relay for charity. To participate, Stuart had to complete an application. On the form, the question, “What is your connection to cancer?” appeared with the options: health care professional, researcher, survivor, caregiver, and journalist. He checked four out of five.     Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.