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Michael A. Weber, MD, reflects on a career focused on hypertension
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Throughout his career, Michael A. Weber, MD, FACP, FACC, FAHA, has been a leader in the diagnosis, management and treatment of hypertension.
Today, Weber is a professor of medicine at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in New York and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Clinical Hypertension. He also serves on the executive committee for the International Society of Hypertension and the board of directors for the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. On the research end, Weber is involved in trials of patients at high risk for CV events and stroke.
Weber started his career after receiving an undergraduate and Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Sydney in Australia. After his residency at Nassau County Hospital and Bellevue Hospital in New York, he completed research and clinical fellowships at Sydney Hospital in Australia. Weber returned to the United States as an assistant professor of medicine at Cornell University and attending physician at New York Hospital. He next spent nearly 2 decades as chief of the section of clinical pharmacology and hypertension at the University of California, Irvine, and the Long Beach VA Medical Center and eventually returned to New York in 1995 to serve as chairman of the department of medicine at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center and then as an associate dean of research at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine.
His accomplishments are numerous and include founding and serving as past president of the American Society of Hypertension. Weber also has published more than 500 journal articles and several books, including the reference volume Hypertension along with Suzanne Oparil, MD.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not practicing medicine?
After many years of traveling for only work-related reasons, I now find it particularly enjoyable to finally catch up on seeing more of the United States. This summer, my wife and I, together with friends, are planning to explore Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Mount Rushmore. I am really looking forward to finally exploring some of the great natural sites of this country.
If you hadn’t gone into cardiology or medicine, what would you have done?
I might have practiced law. Unlike medicine, which is based almost entirely on solid scientific evidence, law fascinates me because it is a man-made concept. It really challenges a good lawyer to understand the essential elements of organized human life. Of course, having served on a number of occasions as an expert witness, I recognize that, for the most part, lawyers have been largely unsuccessful at this, but I would have liked to try.
What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?
It has been about 30 years, but I was one of the very first people to work on developing automated devices for measuring BP throughout the day, and for even longer periods. I have had the opportunity to work with NASA and one of its astronauts, William Thornton, to develop a high-tech BP device that could be worn during a space mission. We worked for months with skilled engineers to create this instrument. It worked with only moderate reliability when on the ground, but to our utter delight it functioned perfectly during the 3 days of the space mission.
What is the last book you read?
I found Ken Follet’s Fall of Giants very informative. It is a wonderful historical novel that not only explains how the world got engulfed in World War I, but makes it clear how World War II and other future events could now be predicted. Even to the present time, it is possible to understand so many of the social, economic and other changes that, even now, are unfolding.
Whom do you most admire and what would you ask that person if you had 5 minutes with him/her?
A person I have always admired is Winston Churchill. Apart from his great historical contributions, he was a superb writer and user of the English language. I have read many of his books and speeches, but was fascinated to learn that he helped support his extravagant lifestyle through honoraria earned by writing daily newspaper columns on an array of diverse subjects. I would love to ask him how, in the face of his many duties, he was able to turn out several hundred words of highly readable prose just about every day.
Dr. Weber and his wife meet the Holy Men of Nepal.
Photo courtesy of: Michael A. Weber, MD
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
As a very young physician, I had the opportunity of spending a brief time with my well-known uncle, Sidney Farber, MD, for whom the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is named. When discussing my future plans, he made the point that while it is praiseworthy for doctors to busily see as many patients as possible, it is even more productive to have a life in medical research where your work potentially has the ability to affect the lives of thousands of patients, or even greater numbers than that. His comment was a large factor in my choosing a career in academic medicine.
Whom do you consider a mentor?
Probably the single most influential person was John Henry Laragh, MD, for whom I worked at the Cornell University Medical Center. He taught me how to think about data and how to write, and was fond of reminding me that the most-effective writers in America are the people who can strike the headlines for the New York tabloids.
What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you follow?
For almost my entire adult life I have been a runner — or, more accurately, a slow jogger. Sadly, I do not match this with a sensible diet, but since I live in Manhattan and am surrounded by an incredible array of wonderful restaurants, I can at least claim that my dietary habits are extremely enjoyable.
What do you think will have the biggest influence on cardiology in the next 10 years?
Despite the amazing progress we have made in recent times, we are now, in our older patients, often confronted with supporting life in people whose myocardiums have been largely compromised during years of ischemia and HF. I believe that the next great step will be some of the innovative remedies that may allow us to rejuvenate and revive the wall of the heart.
What is your favorite travel destination?
During the many years I lived in California, I loved to visit New York. Now that I live in New York, I realize that my favorite destination may be at my doorstep.
What is your favorite restaurant?
Despite the wonderful restaurant selection in New York, I always enjoy going to Orsay on the Upper East Side. It is a relatively informal French restaurant where the staff are entirely French and the whole demeanor and look of the establishment is exactly as I recall from restaurants in Paris. – by Stephanie Viguers