From the Desk of Dr. Louis M. Weiner

Greetings on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I head off to Houston for a cancer center EAB on Sunday evening, and am busy reviewing a copious amount of information in advance of the meeting.

I was expecting to spend Wednesday evening and Thursday at the Board of Directors meeting at Georgetown Downtown, but everything changed in a flash. We were notified that the Wednesday-evening dinner was cancelled, and shortly thereafter were informed that Jack DeGioia had suffered a stroke, was being treated at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and was stable. As of this afternoon, there has been no further substantive update.

Jack is a remarkable leader and exemplifies all that is good about Georgetown. He is a deeply good man whose unerring moral compass provides all of us at the University with a coherent mission, stability and purpose that is rare in these troubled times.

All we can do is wait and hope for his speedy and full recovery. But like everyone who knows Jack, I care for his well-being and am keeping him and his family in my thoughts.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Greetings from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago. I remain awed by the unbelievable extent and depth of the clinical research being presented at this absolutely huge meeting. I am writing this blog after a very long Saturday that started with a 7 a.m. flight. I am so tired that I chose to forgo the annual Lombardi get-together at a local establishment; I hope my colleagues understood.

I just want to take a moment to thank Ed Healton as he enters his final month of service as the medical center EVP. He took on an exceptionally challenging task in 2015 as interim EVP, planning to do that job for two years. Nine years later, here we are.

When I think about Ed’s tenure, several thoughts leap to mind. First of all, when he assumed his new responsibilities, he asked me to escort him to Lombardi’s labs and clinics so he could meet folks, see the facilities and immerse himself in his role. I was quite taken by his sincerity, gentlemanly demeanor and genuine warmth as we walked around. It was an early insight into his fundamental humanity.

The limits of that humanity were profoundly tested by the pandemic. His humility and steady hand proved to be pivotal as Georgetown navigated through a challenge unlike any in its history. We somehow emerged from that dark period not only intact, but better and more cohesive, bound by the experience of how we confronted and overcame common adversity. A lesser leader would have failed.

Ed’s time as EVP has positioned GUMC for future success by strengthening its sense of community through the re-energization of the Research Committee. He has promoted important collaborations across the University and has re-energized GUMC’s relationship with MedStar Health, through our Scientific and Educational Councils and by resurrecting the Council of Chairs. He reorganized GUMC research, creating two new schools of Health and Nursing, each with distinctive and crisp missions that resonate with GUMC’s key priorities.

I am grateful for his support of the cancer center’s mission, marked by two renewals of our comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. We have had many conversations, many of them wonderful, some of them difficult, over the years, but Lombardi is stronger and more impactful in 2024 than it was in 2015.

Ed has my gratitude and best wishes as he moves into the next chapter of his life. What on earth will he do without three looming catastrophes and 10 Zoom calls each day? I’ll bet he can’t wait to find out.

He has made Georgetown a better place. Let’s honor his service by making the world a little bit better this week, each in our own way.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Greetings on an absolutely glorious Saturday morning. By the time you read this week’s blog, Memorial Day observance will have come and gone.

Traffic to the Delaware beaches was especially horrible when we drove in after I finished my work. Our maps app directed us to a detour off Route 50 before we got to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (aka the scariest bridge in the USA). However, the detour was even more crowded than the main road (no doubt due to other users of Waze), so we shrugged our shoulders and found a place to eat in West Annapolis called Chessie’s. It’s a burger-and-beer-type place, but it was quick and really good. Bonus: There is a nice ice cream shop nearby.

By the time we were done, traffic had thinned out a bit and we made our way across the bridge, detouring past the U.S. Naval Academy and a memorial to the fallen in World War II. It is a powerful reminder that Memorial Day is far more than a long weekend that kicks off summer festivities. It teaches that freedom is not free, and that the courage and sacrifice of many people were terrible but necessary prices that they paid so that all of us can strive to achieve our best selves.

So, when you are grilling something with family and friends this summer, and perhaps enjoying your favorite libation, remember to pause for a moment to thank those who made all of this possible.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Congratulations to all of our Georgetown University graduates. For many of them, this is a chance to “make up” for what was not possible during the pandemic.

I missed the on-campus activities, as we went away with friends for a long weekend trip to southern Vermont to enjoy the spring countryside. It was a fabulous getaway. We flew from DC to Burlington, Vermont, where I completed my internal medicine residency and chief residency a long time ago.

Perhaps it is the faulty memory of an aging brain, or the extraordinary changes in any community over four decades, but I barely recognized the place (though I would be on more familiar turf in the downtown portion of Burlington). The drive from the airport was easy, and predictably beautiful.

One of our companions studies evolutionary biology in cancer, and during our walks through the woods, our conversations turned to the dazzling complexity of the environment and the seemingly endless adaptations that maintain the ecosystem’s equilibrium. We could not help but wonder at the hubris of humans, who believe we can control these processes and influence health and diseases rather well.

Looking at this from a 40,000-foot (or 1,000,000 year) perspective, one can see this as a deadly serious, multidimensional game of evolutionary chess. We make our moves, which are seemingly successful efforts (in one or two dimensions), while the “ecosystem” makes a series of countermoves in multiple dimensions of varying cadence. We play a fascinating pas de deux with the ultimate grandmaster.

I was captivated by this idea in part because I attended an amazing presentation this past week by David Liu from the Broad Institute, entitled “Laboratory Evolution of Genome Editing Proteins for Precise Gene Correction and Targeted Gene Integration in Mammalian Cells.” He and his team, and their many collaborators and competitors around the world, can do just that. It is no longer science fiction or boastful overreach; it can be readily reduced to practice. They can fundamentally alter the human genome to prevent or treat diseases. The concepts and the data are simply jaw-dropping. This is the next “big thing” in biomedical research. It is going to be a fundamental building block of translational biomedical research for the foreseeable future.

So, what happens when fatal genetic diseases are cured by these approaches? How will this be done? Will it be done equitably? Can (and should) we suppress our inevitable desires to “improve” the germline, to accelerate evolution, which is slow but sure when it comes to creating and selecting favorable characteristics? A wonderful recent book by Yuval Noah Harari, “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,” has explored some of these issues, which are both thrilling and terrifying.

These issues are so overwhelming to consider that I really treasured the opportunity to walk in the woods with Harriet and cherished friends, marveling at all that could be accomplished by old-fashioned natural selection, looking forward to a busy week, refreshed by an interlude filled with wonder.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

I hope you had a great weekend. Mother’s Day was lovely for us, and I hope it was for you too.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I have been thinking about my late mother and grandmothers, and of course celebrate all the mothers in my immediate and extended family. But I would be remiss if I did not think of all the mothers who have been my patients. Some of them have emerged from their cancer challenges intact, but changed, while others succumbed to their illnesses, leaving behind grieving loved ones and tears in the fabrics of their communities that can never be fully mended. I honor their memories each Mother’s Day.

It has become customary for breast cancer fundraising to be a focus on Mother’s Day, and that is a good and necessary thing. However, the vast majority of my patients have suffered from other cancers, and we must always remember the urgency of the task before us — to cure all cancers in all people, as our highest priority and with a sense of urgency.

We are making progress. As I noted at the time of our CCSG site visit in September, cancer death rates in the District of Columbia have dropped by about 50% since 2000. That is heartening progress, but continued investments in research are needed for us to achieve our goals of halving cancer death rates yet again over the next 15 years or so. We owe this to our mothers and to all of their children, now and in the future.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Greetings on a rainy Sunday morning. I am recovering from quite a week. After our wonderful Lombardi Gala, the week then was highlighted by the exciting receipt of our Notice of Grant Award for our CCSG. It was expected, but it still felt pretty terrific, I must say.

However, I am still feeling the psychic aftershocks of the CCSG competitive renewal process. On Saturday night, I had a work-related performance anxiety dream of the highest order. It was the day of our site visit, and I was ready to do the Director’s Overview. However, I didn’t have the cable to connect my laptop to the internet (don’t blame me for any deviations from reality in my dreamscape). Somebody found the cable while the site visitors waited. However, the laptop and the mouse kept slipping off the table in front of me. Then Clark, our youngest grandson, detached the cable from the laptop — another delay. Finally I started, but the company helping with the AV had switched the presentation, with one that had a flower-filled background and described what life is like as a Georgetown student. Then I woke up. I think I need a bit of a reset!

Meanwhile, back on Earth, I want to note that this is National Nurses Week. Complex medical care requires expert nurses, and we are very lucky to have wonderful nurses who are our patients’ best advocates. At Georgetown Lombardi, we also are so fortunate to work with clinical research nurses and coordinators who help us offer hope and tomorrow’s treatments today to our patients. They earn our appreciation every single day.

Be well, and make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Greetings on a Sunday night. I am still buzzing from our Lombardi Gala, which was held on Saturday evening at the Anthem on the Wharf. It was a simply marvelous event, with great energy, a fabulous venue and a program that was moving and inspiring. We honored Ellen Sigal and Marlene Malek, the co-founders of Friends of Cancer Research, a pioneering and highly effective advocacy organization for new cancer treatments. We also recognized the efforts of Lombardi supporters Scott LaGanga and Tim Lawrence, who organize our wonderful annual golf tournament to benefit the Ruesch Center, and our very own rising stars, Alejandra Hurtado de Mendoza and Sreejith Nair, who were introduced by Vince Lombardi II, grandson of the legendary coach for whom we are named. We also had the privilege of hearing from this year’s co-chairs, Bud Hawk and Cindy Stark, and their spouses, and Laurie Lapeyre, daughter of Margaret Hodges, the founder and inspiration of our Gala. A particular highlight was a video about one of our patients, Jaime Posada, and his fight against lung cancer with the help of his oncologist, Stephen Liu. Watch his story, and prepare to be moved.

We even hyped the 2024 BellRinger ride! Never in my life did I ever think I would mount a bicycle while wearing a tuxedo!

We raised a lot of money and had a wonderful time doing it. More importantly, that money will save lives, and that is what this event is all about. I am deeply grateful to everybody who made this event a success, with particular thanks to Kim Grassia and Alana Cassidy Bateman, who in just a few months since their arrival as our events team engineered a flawless event, supported by a small army of volunteers.

I would be remiss if I did not recognize the tireless work of Bud Hawk and Cindy Stark, who introduced many friends to Lombardi, plus the Auction Committee, led by Carolyn Kolben, with support from Jaimie Garvey. I actually got into a bidding war over a bottle of 15-year Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, but got outbid after a vigorous contest with one of our attendees! Just as well, I suppose. Last, but certainly not least, Donald Dunn and Justine Weissenborn worked their usual magic to make this event possible. It was a great, great night.

No rest for the weary; we drove to Philadelphia this morning to help out while our son Ken has shoulder surgery. I’ll be back in town on Wednesday.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Well, it has been quite a week! We met our incoming Executive Vice President, Dr. Norman Beauchamp Jr., and learned a bit about his exciting plans for the future of our medical center. Plus, the notice of grant award for the competitive renewal of our CCSG is imminent as well.

Harriet and I headed off to the beach this past weekend to get a head start on our family’s observance of Passover, which formally begins on Monday evening. We’ll be with our DC contingent on Tuesday, and our Ellicott City branch is up in Boston with Ben’s family this week. We were joined on Saturday by our kids and grandkids from Philadelphia for an early Seder, where we tell the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, led by Moses. It is a powerful story; its many layers remind us of the degrading nature of enslavement and the yearnings of all people to have freedom and dignity. The actual telling of the story can be tiresome for the little ones, so we mixed things up a bit this year. The actual reading of the Seder was abbreviated (but the traditional meal was not!), and we then sat down to watch the movie “The Ten Commandments,” released in the 1950s, starring Charlton Heston as Moses.

Now, I am a sucker for classic flicks, but this movie is impossibly cheesy, with a script composed of slogans rather than actual human dialogue. The special effects are not so special by today’s standards. But, what an experience! Everyone loved all three hours and 40 Technicolor minutes of it — even our 6-year-old granddaughter, Isabelle. I think the grandkids learned more about the Exodus than any Seder could have possibly taught them. Go figure; we have a new holiday tradition.

What’s not so new is that the story of the Exodus describes a seemingly intractable conflict in what might loosely be called the Middle East. You’d think we humans might have learned something in the roughly 3,400 years that have elapsed since those events, which we still recount to this day. Perhaps not, but hope springs eternal.

Since the time of the first Seders, Jews around the world have ended their Passover Seders with a prayer that ends with “Next Year in Jerusalem!” For most of us, this is not a statement of specific geographic intent, but rather expresses our hopes for freedom and a just peace for all peoples. That seems like an especially appropriate wish in these troubled times.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Greetings from 30,000 feet in the air on Sunday afternoon. Harriet and I are flying back from Denver. It is my second set of long airplane flights this week. It started off well enough, as I attended the AACR meeting in San Diego last weekend, leaving on Friday and returning on Tuesday afternoon. The weather was not idyllic, but the meeting was wonderful. However, we received the sad news that Judy, my daughter-in-law Sarah’s (Ken’s wife) mom, passed away that Sunday.

Judy, who was my age, was a primary care physician in Denver for many years, specializing in women’s health, until her retirement about eight years ago to care for her ailing husband, who died in 2017. She was incredibly bright, thoughtful and sensitive, and was a wonderful writer who had a blog called “Fe-mail Health News.” Starting a few years ago, she began experiencing cognitive decline, punctuated by a series of strokes caused by atrial fibrillation (something she had treated countless times). Her decline accelerated over the past two years. Even with the support of her son and daughter-in-law, who lived nearby, she had to be moved to assisted living near Ken and Sarah about seven months ago, and her decline continued to accelerate.

Sarah was a simply remarkable support for her mom — loving, fiercely protective and consistently doing anything that was in Judy’s best interest throughout her tragic illness. I have always felt that adversity reveals character, and I am filled with admiration for Sarah, whose grief can be properly tempered by the knowledge that she gave her mother the soft landing she deserved.

Judy’s memorial service was held in Denver on Saturday. Harriet and I made quick arrangements and flew out on Friday afternoon, and will return later on Sunday. The service, which was packed with friends, former patients and family, was a testimony to the life Judy had lived, and truly was a celebration of that life.

The eulogies, particularly Sarah’s, were moving, heartfelt and illuminating. In another eulogy from one of her close friends we heard about Judy’s freshman year at Georgetown (she was in the first class of women admitted to the college, and lived in Darnall Hall), and her subsequent transfer to the University of Colorado to complete her undergraduate and medical school degrees. We learned that she and some of her close friends loved to walk through Glover Archbold Park near the campus. We learned about her adventurous spirit, which included a later-in-life fascination with, and apparent great skill in, belly dancing.

Judy raised two wonderful children, and she cared for countless thousands of patients. She made no great discoveries, did not write the Great American Novel, but made the world a better place in so many ways. The final eulogy of the service was given by our 6-year-old granddaughter, Isabelle. Sarah picked her up and asked her what she wanted to say about her JAMA (we think Judy viewed this name as a badge of honor for an internist). Isabelle replied, “She liked to try new things.” Nothing more needed to be said.

I am glad to have known Judy, and I am the better for it.

On a happier note, please consider signing up for and supporting our Walking Warriors, led by our own Jeanne Mandelblatt, who once again will walk to raise money for breast cancer research. It is a wonderful initiative worthy of our participation and support. You can learn more about it on their website.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

Greetings after this long holiday weekend. I hope that all of you who celebrate Easter had a wonderful and meaningful observance. I took a bit of a break late in the past week — a few meetings but lots of writing. The coming week will be busy, and I’ll be off to the annual AACR meeting on Friday, so there will be no blog next week.

I think the time has come to modify this blog’s tagline, “Stay safe and be well.” It was adopted at the beginning of the pandemic, four years ago. It was a wonderful sign off during a dark and frightening moment, but that moment has passed, thankfully. While it is always a good idea to stay safe and be well, it’s also a very good idea to “take good care.” However, for this edition I have chosen a different way of saying bye for now.

Make the world a better place this week.

Lou

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.