THE DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY ALUMNI NEWSLETTER         No. 1/May, 2000
A Department in Transition

I would like to extend my welcome to you on behalf of University of Iowa Health Care's Department of Pathology! As most of you know, I assumed the headship of this department in November 1999 after 19 years of extraordinary leadership by Dick Lynch. This inaugural newsletter is dedicated to the transition in departmental leadership.

The Department is proud of its reputation for excellence in patient care, education, and scholarship. We have a long history of accomplishments and I urge you to look at our history. It was researched and written by Fred Stamler, MD, an Emeritus Professor in the Department, who spent his entire career here, primarily as a surgical pathologist. Fred Dee, who currently serves as Vice-Chair for Educational Affairs, kindly wrote additional comments about the Lynch years. We are truly fortunate to have outstanding people within the Department who are dedicated to achieving our goals.

I consider myself lucky to help guide this Department into the new millennium. I am fully committed to the professional development of both the faculty and staff in the department. I have been busy since November and with six months under my belt I am still on the steep part of the learning curve. Believing that the transition in leadership has been smooth and effective, I am very optimistic about our future as we strive to reach the goals we have set.

I look forward to working with all of you to ensure the continued growth of the Department of Pathology in the future. Please feel free to contact me (michael-cohen@uiowa.edu) for sharing your thoughts, ideas, and comments.



New Head of Department of Pathology

On November 1, 1999, Michael B. Cohen, MD, became the new head of the Department of Pathology. He succeeded Richard G. Lynch, MD, who had led the department since 1981.

Michael Cohen joined The University of Iowa faculty in 1990 and became a full professor in 1996. Before his arrival at The University of Iowa, he served as an assistant professor, first at Columbia University in New York City and then at University of California San Francisco. Cohen received his bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in Haverford, PA, and earned his MD degree from Albany Medical College in Albany, NY.

Cohen’s research is focused on prostate cancer and, in particular, on apoptosis as a potential avenue to therapy. In collaboration with two other physicians from University of Iowa Health Care, Cohen discovered a prostate-specific, surface-reactive monoclonal antibody, named 5E10. This will now be further used by IDEC Pharmaceutical Corp. to develop new treatments for prostate cancer. Cohen’s multiple ongoing projects are broadly funded by the NIH, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

In addition to his research, Cohen serves on the editorial boards of several journals and has contributed significant amounts of time reviewing grant applications for the NIH, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Department of Defense. He is a dedicated teacher in the discipline.

Cohen has also been active with various professional societies, including the College of American Pathologists, the American Society for Cytopathology, and the American Society for Investigative Pathology.



Outgoing Head of Department of Pathology Honored

On November 5, 1999, the Department of Pathology organized a farewell celebration in recognition of Professor Richard Lynch’s long and dedicated service to University of Iowa Health Care. At the dinner party, Michael Cohen, MD, professor and head of pathology, delivered the following farewell address:

"Welcome to this special occasion to honor the many and varied contributions of Dr. Richard Lynch during his tenure as Head of the Pathology Department here at The University of Iowa. Today we honor Dr. Lynch’s contributions to The University of Iowa and his support to many of us in this room.

"As most of you know, Dr. Lynch grew up in Brooklyn and did his pathology and research training at Washington University. Lauren Ackerman trained him as a surgical pathologist, and Herman Eisen as an experimental immunologist. Dick came to UI from St. Louis in 1981 to head this department. Under his leadership, the Department of Pathology has grown and improved in all of its core missions: teaching, service, and research. In his book Men Against Fire, Marshall said: "The art of leading, in operations large or small, is the art of dealing with humanity, of working diligently on behalf of men, of being sympathetic with them, but equally of insisting that they make a square facing toward their own problems." By these criteria Dick, you have been an outstanding leader.

"Dr. Lynch has been involved with peer reviewing at the NIH and other organizations for more than 20 years. In fact, according to Dr. Alan Rabson, Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute, Dick has committed more time to peer reviewing at the NIH than any other individual he is aware of in the world. Further, he has contributed time to editorial boards, serving as a referee for journals, organizing meetings, and being active in numerous professional organizations. For example, he has served as President of the American Society for Investigative Pathology, the leading pathology research society in the country. He has also given of his time here in Iowa, by serving on many committees and as an Interim Dean. Lastly, at the request of then President Hunter Rawlings, he took off a couple of months at home to successfully write the UI Cancer Center planning grant. In short, he has lived up to the model set up by Dag Hammarskjold, the late secretary general of the UN, who stated: ‘You have not done enough, you have never done enough so long as it is still possible that you have something to contribute.’ Dick, I personally believe you still have much to contribute, and I sincerely hope you will continue to share your wisdom with us.

"On a more personal note, I would like to thank you, on behalf of the entire faculty and staff of the department, for your leadership and, in particular, your role as a mentor. For one, you have always had a wonderful enthusiasm for what you do. Secondly, you have been an outstanding model by being a thoughtful advisor.

"As you assume a new phase in your career, I am comforted by the fact that you have other interests. On behalf of the department, I would like to present you with this book by Kobbe. For those of you who don’t know, Dick and [his wife] Nancy are avid opera fans. Dick, in recognition of the countless hours you have dedicated to this institution, the department would like to treat you and Nancy to some well deserved vacation time with an all-expense-paid trip to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City."

On September 23 and 24, 1999, an international conference on Advances in Experimental Immunology was held at University of Iowa College of Medicine in honor of Professor Richard G. Lynch, MD, the outgoing head of the Department of Pathology. The closing comments of Michael B. Cohen, MD, the successor of Lynch at the helm of this department, provide a good sense of this event’s atmosphere.

"Welcome to all of you, and thank you for participating in this very special event to honor Dick Lynch, Nancy, and his family. It is a real pleasure to see so many of you here tonight. Although I am not an immunologist, I was truly impressed by the scientific presentations today, all of which clearly were influenced by an outstanding scientist.

"Let me read a poem that might as well have been written for Dick, but was in fact written for a former head of the Department of Urology here at The University of Iowa, Dr. David A. Culp:

‘Instructs without demanding
Teaches but is not condescending,
Cares but is not crippled by his concern,
Becomes increasingly humble and awestruck as he learns,
Cries when that’s all that can be done,
Plays because no one is indispensable,
Works because the work itself is fun,
Thinks like a scientist but feels like a poet,
Is independent but chooses to work with others,
Remembers that power structures and political alliances
are normal parts of simian behavior,
Wants to be influential but has not a need to be exploitive,
Seeks equal, reciprocal, mutually satisfying intimate relationships
without allowing the participants to lose their individuality,
Wants to help others and has a need to treat them responsibly,
Respects death as well as life.’

The Proceedings of the scientific symposium will be published later this year as a Festschrift in Immunology Letters.

As many of you know, the Department for some time has had a mid-winter party in February in lieu of a Christmas time party. At the Year 2000 party, Dr. Frank Koontz was recognized for his 35 years of service to the Department and the institution. As such, he had the opportunity to help recognize other employees and shared with us his own thoughts in the form of a poem, which is reproduced here with Dr. Koontz’s permission:
"They keep saying ‘Do the Crime, Do the Time
Now I love all music from opera to Soul
So I’ll tell you about 35 years without Parole
I can’t keep up this rap, I ain’t that Loose
So the rest of the story will be by Dr. Suess
I came to Iowa to spend two Years
Then back to Maryland, hot crabs, and cold Beers
But something funny happened along the Way
When Maryland recruited, I decided to Stay
This town, this University is just like a Drug
Live here a while and you’ll catch the Bug
I don’t mean the springtime water’s taste and Smell
I mean the town and department people - they’re Swell
You can’t leave a place that’s so great for your Wife
Your kids, your job, Man - You’re sentenced to Life
But it’s all self imposed because Path has been Great
I grew academically at a place First-rate
Our teaching efforts increased resident Contact
So well that a few took micro Track
All of a sudden we had national renown
And I spent a lot of time, out of town.
Giving talks in hospitals and labs across the nation
So along came Dick Lynch and I should shout and holler
Cause we worked together to get my buddy Mike Pfaller
Now the lab really began to sizzle and move.
As Mike and I developed our own special groove
Dick allowed us free rein, to go our own ways.
Man I wanna tell ya "those were the days."
Pfaller, Koontz, and Dick Wenzel, man what a trio
We showed off this place from Berlin to Rio.
Now our micro lab was one of the 'Top Ten'
And along came Jones and we "shot off" again.
Streetwalking, sweet talking Jones, he attracts Money
As easily as bees make honey.
Now we have the era of Gray Doern and Mike Cohen
And God only knows how much we’ll keep "growin"…
So I’ll say it from the street or shout it from the steeple
A Department, any work place is only as good as its people.
So now we go back to where this epic was begun
I came, I stayed and boy, did I have fun
Challenges by the pound, enjoyment by the ton
So that’s why I stayed - I had chances to go
But as Dorothy said, "We’re at home, Toto"
Who else would put up with my humor and sass
Even with Kooky Koontz here, this department has class"

The 9th Iowa Anatomic Pathology Course for the Practicing Pathologist
September 22 and 23, 2000 at the Sheraton Iowa City Hotel, 210 South Dubuque Street, Iowa City, Iowa.

For program information and registration please contact:
Continuing Medical Education Division
University of Iowa Health Care
200 Hawkins Drive, 300 CMAB
Iowa City, IA 52242-1101
Voice 319-335-8599; Fax 319-335-8327

PathBeat is published for alumni and friends of the Department of Pathology, UI College of Medicine. Feedback and suggestions regarding PathBeat should be directed to Vicki Brown, 319-335-8232, fax: 319-335-8916 or E-mail: vicki-brown@uiowa.edu. For easy contact, please send us your e-mail address.