Faculty Bibliography

Ever since American doctors discovered AIDS in 1981, the origins of the viral disease have been a scientific mystery. Many scientists believe that H.I.V.-1, the main AIDS virus in the world, derives from a simian virus in chimpanzees. But the unanswered question is how the virus jumped to humans. The most widely accepted theory is that passage must have occurred in blood-to-blood contact, like a bite or cut during the slaughter of chimpanzees

Of all the infectious diseases that afflict Americans, meningitis ranksnowhere near the top. But meningococci, the bacteria that are a cause of bothmeningitis and other serious health problems, bring chaos disproportionate tothe low case numbers. That is why a federal health advisory panel urged the 520,000 collegefreshmen who live in dormitories to get the meningococcal vaccine, even thoughit is not expected to prevent much more than a couple of dozen cases. Peakseason for the disease is November through January. The panel, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention onimmunization practices, called on universities and health professionals totell college freshmen and their parents about the availability of awell-established vaccine that is safe and effective against most subtypes ofthe bacteria that affect college- age Americans

The reason his file is so extensive is that Mr. [John] McCain, a Navy pilot whose jet was shot down over North Vietnam, was treated for major fractures and other injuries during more than five years as a prisoner of war and received the standard psychological evaluations that were given to all P.O.W.'s after their release. Mr. McCain's campaign carefully controlled the release of the records in what appeared to be an effort in part to counter discussions of whether Mr. McCain, a Republican, has the temperament to be president. The campaign released a statement by Dr. Michael M. Ambrose, director of the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies, and Dr. Jeffrey L. Moore, a clinical neuropsychologist at the center, that said: ''Senator McCain has never been diagnosed with or treated at the center for a psychological or psychiatric disorder. He has been subject to an extensive battery of psychological tests and following his last examination in 1993, we judged him to be in good physical and mental health.''

The ultimate dream of AIDS researchers is to find a nonvirulent strain of H.I.V. and turn it into a safe, effective vaccine. Since the late 1980's, a team of Australian scientists has believed such a strain existed in a small group of people inadvertently infected with H.I.V. through transfusions from one blood donor. In February, after losing 75 pounds in five months, John (Mills), who asked that his last name not be used, was found to have an AIDS-related infection of the brain and spinal cord. And two recipients have shown signs of weakening immune systems but have not become ill. Three other group members remain healthy. (The remaining three died from causes believed unrelated to AIDS.) Australian Red Cross officials initially rejected his request to meet the people he had inadvertently infected. Jennifer C. Learmont, the Australian Red Cross social worker whose research identified the rare cluster in the late 1980's, said she discouraged John from meeting recipients, fearing it could harm him psychologically. But after learning that John had repeated the request, Ms. Learmont promised to try to arrange a meeting between John and any infected recipient willing to meet him, but no session has yet been held

To the astonishment of many experts, the two men recently given new hands in Lyon, France, and Louisville, Ky., are progressing well, without rejection crises. With less publicity, surgeons elsewhere have successfully performed experimental knee, larynx, trachea, femur, nerve and muscle transplants. Leading transplant surgeons envision a future where they can put new faces on burn patients, give a woman new breasts or a uterus, transplant penises and reconstruct jaws and neck tissues. In Madison, however, UW-Madison Medical School physicians have avoided the more exotic, nonessential transplants, fearing that the negative side effects of current powerful anti-rejection drugs would outweigh the positives of a new hand or trachea, Dr. Hans Sollinger, one of University Hospital's most well-known transplant surgeons, said Monday

To the astonishment of many experts, the two men recently given new hands in Lyon, France, and Louisville, Ky., are progressing well, without rejection crises. With less publicity, surgeons elsewhere have successfully performed experimental knee, larynx, trachea, femur, nerve and muscle transplants. Still, as word of the early successes spreads, doctors are beginning to stretch their imaginations. Leading transplant surgeons envision a future where they can put new faces on burn patients; give a woman new breasts, or even a uterus; transplant penises; and reconstruct jaws and neck tissues for patients with cancer, gunshot wounds, dog bites or accident injuries. But the new, nonvital transplants raise disturbing ethical questions. With rare exceptions, transplant recipients must, for the rest of their lives, take powerful anti-rejection drugs, whose side effects include increased risks of infection, diabetes, cancer and other conditions. Who should decide if the risk is worth the reward? Who should pay for the procedures? If they prove effective, will people be willing to donate their tissues for nonessential operations?

Transplant surgeons who once concentrated on vital organs like hearts, livers and kidneys are branching out, transplanting an array of body parts with surprising success, and possibly heralding a day when tissues not essential to life are routinely given to others. Still, as word of the early successes spreads, doctors are beginning to stretch their imaginations. Leading transplant surgeons envision a future where they can put new faces on burn patients; give a woman new breasts or even a uterus; transplant penises; and reconstruct jaws and neck tissues for patients with cancer, gunshot wounds, dog bites or accident injuries

[Clint] Hallam is gaining feeling in his new fingers and hand. He has clipped new fingernails, and hair is growing on the forearm. Hallam, who says he is a former computer consultant, looks trim and healthy. He says he's going to a gym at least four hours a day and taking lessons to resume playing the piano and flying an airplane. Hallam flew halfway around the world from his home in Perth to get a dead Frenchman's hand from a team of doctors from Australia, England, France and Italy that Dr. Earl Owen, a microsurgeon in Sydney, assembled at the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyons. Hallam says that eight months before the transplant, he told Owen the precise circumstances, but Owen says Hallam had told him he was a carpenter, omitting the part about prison

The ultimate dream of AIDS researchers is to find a nonvirulent strain of HIV and turn it into a safe, effective vaccine. Since the late 1980s, a team of Australian scientists has believed such a strain existed in a small group of people inadvertently infected with HIV through transfusions from one blood donor. People in the group were never treated for HIV infection, yet they have carried the strain for up to 17 years without developing AIDS symptoms. Because no similar group has been found elsewhere, world attention has focused on the Australian effort to use this strain of naturally weakened live virus to make a vaccine. Australian Red Cross officials initially rejected his request to meet the people he had inadvertently infected. Jennifer Learmont, the Australian Red Cross social worker whose research identified the rare cluster in the late 1980s, said she discouraged John [Mills] from meeting recipients, fearing it could harm him psychologically. But after learning that John had repeated the request, Learmont promised to try to arrange a meeting between John and any infected recipient willing to meet him

Ms. Elion developed drugs for use in a vast array of conditions. They included drugs for herpes, leukemia, malaria, gout, immune disorders, and AIDS, and immune suppressants to overcome rejection of donated organs in transplant surgery. In perfecting one compound after another, Ms. Elion worked for four decades with Dr. George H. Hitchings, who died a year ago. Ms. Elion broke down sex barriers in the male-dominated world of scientific research, becoming one of the rare women to win a Nobel Prize and, even rarer, a scientist who did not have a doctorate. Ms. Elion shared the Prize with Dr. Hitchings, who hired her as a $50-a-week assistant in 1944. Also sharing the Prize was Sir James Black of Britain, who discovered two classes of drugs, beta blockers, for high blood pressure and heart disease, and H-2 antagonists, for ulcers