Faculty Bibliography

Not so long ago, government officials and medical leaders all but pronounced the end of infectious diseases as a major public health problem. These striking examples of new and emerging diseases prove that prediction wrong. They join a list that includes, among others, AIDS, legionnaire's disease, Lyme disease, Lassa fever and bleeding and fever from the Ebola and Marburg viruses. Some were unknown or minor hazards only a decade or two ago. Others increased significantly in incidence over the last 20 years. Still others threaten to become bigger hazards in the near future. Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. The toll is swelling as a result of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, which is estimated to have infected 14 million people, mainly in Africa and Asia, since it was first recognized in 1981. By 2000, experts estimate, the number infected will be 40 million. The sudden, unexpected appearance of AIDS shocked health officials into a belated recognition of the need for improved surveillance and an awareness that such vigilance might serve as an early warning system to prevent new and emerging infections from becoming public health disasters. But the report said, 'The ability to detect what is new or emerging depends on the capacity to identify and track the routine as well as the unusual.'

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. The toll is swelling as a result of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, which is estimated to have infected 14 million people, mainly in Africa and Asia, since it was first recognized in 1981. By 2000, experts estimate, the number infected will be 40 million. Not so long ago, government officials and medical leaders all but pronounced the end of infectious diseases as a major public health problem. These striking examples of new and emerging diseases prove that prediction wrong. They join a list that includes AIDS, Legionnaire's disease, Lyme disease, Lassa fever and bleeding and fever from the Ebola and Marburg viruses. Some were unknown or minor hazards only a decade or two ago. Others increased significantly in incidence over the past 20 years. Still others threaten to become bigger hazards in the near future

Federal health officials and researchers at the University of Pittsburgh came under renewed attack on May 11, 1994 at a congressional hearing for dealys in disclosing falsified data and other irregularities in major studies that changed the way breast cancer is treated

Medical researchers in New York City have found a strong correlation between low amounts of testosterone, the male sex hormone, and the degree of coronary artery disease, which underlies most heart attacks. The researchers, however, said they did not know precisely how low levels of testosterone might lead to a heart attack or normal amounts might protect against one

Not so long ago, Government officials and medical leaders all but pronounced the end of infectious diseases as a major public health problem. These striking examples of new and emerging diseases prove that prediction wrong. They join a list that includes, among others, AIDS, legionnaire's disease, Lyme disease, Lassa fever and bleeding and fever from the Ebola and Marburg viruses. Some were unknown or minor hazards only a decade or two ago. Others increased significantly in incidence over the last 20 years. Still others threaten to become bigger hazards in the near future. The sudden, unexpected appearance of AIDS shocked health officials into a belated recognition of the need for improved surveillance and an awareness that such vigilance might serve as an early warning system to prevent new and emerging infections from becoming public health disasters. But the report said, 'The ability to detect what is new or emerging depends on the capacity to identify and track the routine as well as the unusual.' Surveillance also relies on an effective laboratory system. Microbiologists can be the first to detect genetic changes in organisms that could signal an impending outbreak of antibiotic-resistant infections. Microbiologists can also be the first to detect known diseases that have spread to new geographic areas and populations. Laboratories can be vital for the early detection of exotic microbial agents that might be used for biological warfare or terrorist activities

Officials of the National Cancer Institute have threatened to cut off all financing for a breast cancer project coordinated at the University of Pittsburgh unless the university takes further steps to revamp the flawed project's leadership. Specifically, institute officials said they objected to retaining the project's two top scientists, Bernard Fisher and Carol Redmond, in leadership roles

Acting under orders from the cancer institute, Pitt officials last month removed [Bernard Fisher] as administrative head of the studies. Fisher, a surgeon who is 75, had earned many tributes for his leadership of the studies for nearly 30 years. [Carol Redmond] is the project's chief statistician. In a letter dated Monday, Lyn Bacon, an official of the National Cancer Institute, wrote to Michael M. Crouch of Pitt saying that it was inappropriate to respond to the university's plan because of the inquiry about possible scientific misconduct by Fisher and Redmond. Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, the interim chairman of the breast cancer project, said he was 'surprised and disappointed' by the cancer institute's letter because 'we felt our plan was such that we would not be depending on Dr. Fisher for leadership of the group.' He added that it was important to maintain Fisher's 'expertise and scientific contributions.'

The author of the report, Dr. Joel D. Cooper, a leading chest surgeon at Washington University in St. Louis, said the surgery markedly relieved shortness of breath for those with severe emphysema, allowing most to walk and climb stairs without using oxygen supplements. Cooper said he had applied new techniques to a procedure that was performed on about 30 patients in the 1950s by Dr. Otto C. Brantigan, a surgeon at the University of Maryland and Baltimore City Hospital

Federal health officials said on Apr 29, 1994 that they had ordered the University of Pittsburgh to determine whether a formal inquiry should be made into possible misconduct by Bernard Fisher and Carol Redmond, two scientists who had led the flawed breast cancer studies that changed the way the disease is treated

Joel D. Cooper, a leading chest surgeon at Washington University, reported that a new operation eases the effects of emphysema by removing 20% to 30% of the damaged lung tissue. While the operation is not a cure, Cooper said the surgery markedly relieved shortness of breath for those with severe emphysema, allowing most to walk and climb stairs without using oxygen supplements