Faculty Bibliography

Feeling should return to her face in six months, and most facial functions in about a year, leading to her ability to smile after physical therapy to help train the muscles for that function

Transplant pioneers say the psychological effects of facial damage from injuries, birth defects, burns and a number of diseases can be psychologically devastating. Though reconstructive surgery is possible in many cases, proponents say that in other cases, an experimental face transplant could be worth the risks if patients and donors and their families understand them. In November 2005, a team in Amiens, France, performed the first partial face transplant. The recipient, Isabelle Dinoire, then 38, was seriously disfigured when her Labrador retriever mauled her. In 2006, Chinese doctors did a partial face transplant on a farmer who lost much of the right side of his face in a bear attack. In 2007, a French team performed the third partial facial transplant, on a 29-year-old man. His face had been disfigured by neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder of the nervous system that causes tumors to grow in tissues around nerves

[...] transplant pioneers say that the psychological effects of facial damage from injuries, birth defects, burns and a number of diseases can be psychologically devastating

The two other nominees are younger and apparently in good health, but less is known about their medical history. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, 47, the Democratic presidential nominee, released in May a one-page, undated letter from his personal physician stating that he was in 'excellent' health. Late last week, his campaign released the results of standard laboratory tests and electrocardiograms from his checkups in June 2001, November 2004 and January 2007. The findings were normal. The health of the four nominees is a matter of concern because in the past a number of candidates, and in some cases their doctors and aides, have distorted, kept secret or spoken about the facts only at the last minute when medical events forced the issue. Examples include Senator Thomas Eagleton (depression), Senator Paul Tsongas (cancer), Senator Bill Bradley (heart rhythm abnormality) and, as a vice-presidential nominee, Dick Cheney (heart disease). Since [John McCain] selected [Sarah Palin] as his running mate in August, questions about his health have intensified. In recent weeks, more than 2,700 physicians have signed a petition that ran as an advertisement demanding that McCain fully release his health records; the petition is sponsored by Brave New Films, the company led by Robert Greenwald, a Hollywood filmmaker who has contributed $2,250 to Democratic candidates and has made a number of anti-McCain videos. Beyond the advertisement, McCain's health has become the subject of both speculation and distortion on the Internet and other media

[Barack Obama] has had a notable medical problem: a difficulty in stopping smoking. It is not known how heavily he smoked. The doctor wrote that Obama began smoking at least two decades ago and had made several efforts to stop. Obama said he quit smoking in 2007 when he began his presidential campaign. But he has 'bummed' cigarettes since then, he has said. The health of the four nominees is a matter of concern because in the past a number of candidates, and in some cases their doctors and aides, have distorted, kept secret or spoken about the facts only at the last minute when medical events forced the issue. Examples include Senator Thomas Eagleton (depression), Senator Paul Tsongas (cancer), Senator Bill Bradley (heart rhythm abnormality) and, as a vice-presidential nominee, Dick Cheney (heart disease). Since [John McCain] selected [Sarah Palin] as his running mate in August, questions about his health have intensified. In recent weeks, more than 2,700 physicians have signed a petition that ran as an advertisement demanding that McCain fully release his health records; the petition is sponsored by Brave New Films, the company led by Robert Greenwald, a Hollywood filmmaker who has contributed $2,250 to Democratic candidates and has made a number of anti-McCain videos. Beyond the advertisement, McCain's health has become the subject of both speculation and distortion on the Internet and other media

If elected, Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, the Republican nominee, would be the oldest man to be sworn in to a first term as president and the first cancer survivor to win the office. In recent weeks, more than 2,700 physicians have signed a petition that ran as an advertisement demanding that Mr. McCain fully release his health records; the petition is sponsored by Brave New Films, the company led by Robert Greenwald, a Hollywood filmmaker who has contributed $2,250 to Democratic candidates and has made a number of anti-McCain videos

The institute said the other half of the award would be shared equally by two French virologists, Dr. Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Dr. Luc Montagnier, for discovering HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Since its discovery in 1981, AIDS has rivaled the worst epidemics in history. An estimated 25 million people have died, and 33 million more are living with HIV. The Karolinska Institute said that discovery of HIV by the French scientists, Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier, led to blood tests to detect the infection and to antiretroviral drugs that are effective in prolonging the lives of patients. The tests are now used to screen blood donations, making the blood supply safer for transfusions. The viral discovery has also led to an understanding of the natural history of HIV infection in people, which ultimately leads to AIDS unless treated. Dr. John Niederhuber, director of the National Cancer Institute, said Monday that Gallo 'was instrumental in every major aspect of the discovery of the AIDS virus.' He added: 'Dr. Gallo discovered interleukein-2, an immune-system-signaling molecule, which was necessary for the discovery of the AIDS virus, serving as a co-culture factor that allowed the virus to grow. Numerous scientific journal articles, many co-authored by Dr. Gallo and Dr. Luc Montagnier, cite the two scientists as co-discoverers of the AIDS virus.'

Dr. zur Hausen of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg 'went against current dogma' by postulating that the virus caused cervical cancer, said the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which selects the medical winners of the prize, formally called the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine