Harry S. Jacob, MD, on travel, music, his mentors and his time as president of ASH

In this first of our Meet the Board column series, HemOnc Today interviews its Chief Medical Editor.

Harry S. Jacob, MD, is a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and is HemOnc Today’s chief medical editor. He was head of the division of hematology at the University of Minnesota from 1968 to 2000, and served as president of the American Society of Hematology from 1998 to 2000. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honorary fellow of the Royal College in England, and recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Medical Sciences (DHC) from Hungary.

Harry S. Jacob

Did you always aspire to be a physician?

No. It was an incredibly lucky series of outside events that led me to medicine. I originally planned to go into biochemistry and had gotten through three years of college as a chemistry major. At that time, the Korean War was going on, and my advisor suggested I pursue a combined MD/PhD degree. In those days, medical students were the only ones given an automatic deferment. On that basis, I decided to matriculate in medicine, but I did not have some pre-med courses. In the first semester of my senior year, I had to take first-year biology and embryology. I was able to do that because I went to a small private college (Reed College), whose advisors/faculty were more than happy to help students in any way they could. In this case, I was provided a private embryology course given by the head of the biology department. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to Harvard. Once in medical school, I truly found a great affection for patient care as well as creative thinking, which led me into research and clinical work.

What made you go into hematology? If you hadn’t gone into hematology or medicine, what would you have done?

This decision was probably a classic one based on relationships with wonderful mentors. I was fortunate to have William Castle, one of the great men of American medicine and hematology, as my attending physician when I was a fourth-year medical student. He was a person who anybody interested in creative thinking plus compassionate care of patients found to be a giant. Other people would agree, including several ex-presidents of ASH (eg, Frank Bunn, Dave Nathan, John Harris) who also benefited from his mentorship. William B. Castle discovered Intrinsic Factor required for vitamin B12 absorption, thereby elucidating the cause of pernicious anemia. He was greatly recognized with many awards, but in particular was honored after his death by having a major medical building at Harvard Medical School named after him.

I was also fortunate to obtain my residency on the Harvard Services of the Boston City Hospital. Following residency, I became a hematology fellow at the Thorndike Laboratories with Castle and another master-mentor, James Jandl. Jandl was a young disciple of William Castle and, in turn, mentored a large number of prominent clinician/scientist/hematologists, including Frank Bunn, Richard Aster, Richard Cooper, Manuel Kaplan, David Allen, Albert Lobuglio and many others. One of the features of hematology that attracted many of us was that in those days, interns and residents did most of the initial blood work on their admitted patients. Most of us became interested in, and rather talented at, looking at blood smears of our patients. As young residents going through internal medicine programs, we were frequently able to make rapid and insightful diagnoses on patients by drawing their blood and completing significant lab work before they even arrived on the BCH wards.

What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?

I was able to initiate a new hematology/oncology division at the University of Minnesota, which ultimately became a major center of productive research and a major teaching and fellowship training success story. The program has received continuous NIH Training Grants for the past 38 years. My greatest pride is in young people who have become well known in their own right. My greatest pleasure was being elected President of the ASH and initiating relatively novel financial and intellectual contributions designed to assist third world countries by providing education and clinical expertise to hematologists in those areas. Research achievements that I would be most proud of include our work in the area of vascular injury fostered by adhesive inflammatory cells — an area impacting diverse clinical disorders including hemodialysis vasculopathies, adult respiratory distress syndromes and atherosclerotic plaque generation.

What do you think will have the biggest influence on hematology/oncology in the next 10 years?

The ability to produce rational medicinals for hematologic illnesses that are based on recognition of mutations causing these illnesses, particularly the hematologic malignancies. The best example of this new paradigm is the breakthrough work of Brian Druker, MD, who we proudly include as the Hematologic Malignancies Section Editor of HemOnc Today. The cures and near cures obtained now in chronic myeloid leukemia fostered by Druker’s and other’s work will predictably be obtained in various other hematologic illnesses with increasing understanding of their molecular biologic errors.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Probably the advice my parents gave me when I was 20 and still in college — which was to marry Lila, the woman I’ve been blessed with for almost 55 years. Probably the only advice I took from my parents, while still an adolescent.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not practicing medicine?

I’m athletic and I love to ski. The picture of me on the HemOnc Today editor’s page was actually taken in Austria where I have skied for many years. I more recently started to enjoy golf. I particularly enjoy playing with my co-editor Dr. Joseph Bertino, as well as two of our three sons. I love music, both classical and nonclassical and have been a financial supporter of a superb jazz series sponsored by the University of Minnesota.

My wife and I are devoted to theater and are supporters of the world-class Minnesota Children’s Theater Company as well as the Guthrie Theater and several other smaller theaters.

What is the last book you read?

The last book I read was The Man Who Loved China, by Simon Winchester — a biography of Joseph Needham a Cambridge University biochemist. Needham spent many years in China during World War II, sent by the British government to assist scientists in keeping their research going when forced to retreat westwards in front of the invading Japanese. Needham ultimately wrote a 23-volume history of Chinese scientific accomplishments — back to 500 and 600 B.C. — that included the first use of gunpowder and the navigational compass.

What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you have?

I’m fortunate to have good genes. When I must diet, frequently after the summer, I go on an Atkins diet. I essentially stop eating pasta (also discovered by ancient Chinese), which I love, and after two to three weeks I shed about three to five pounds. I love Italy and Spain and its food, especially the ambiance of eating places in those countries. I suspect that much of the American obesity epidemic is due to the quality of our mealtimes rather than the caloric quantity of eaten food. The way families used to dine — together accompanied by laughter, discussion lively debate and aromatic foods prepared by moms — likely fosters a metabolism that inhibits fat generation. Mediterranean people eat lots of carbohydrates, but (so far) seem not to have the obesity problem plaguing our population.

Our family spends as much time as possible in “breaking bread” together. As for exercise, I play golf a couple of times a week, try to walk rather than ride as much as possible. About two months prior to every ski season, I go to a health club simply to exercise my legs in an increasingly difficult effort to get my quadriceps ready for Alta powder. As soon as the ski season is over, I abhor and eschew the gym.

What is your favorite travel destination?

My most favorite place is the Arlberg, Austria. We stayed in a particular hotel there for years, a five-star right on the mountains next to the ski lift. In addition, my wife and I recently made a trip to Patagonia. I encourage anybody who is interested in incredible views and wonderful animals to go. It’s the southernmost tip of Argentina and Chile. We took a boat through the Straits of Magellan and around Cape Horn. A great place to visit, on a cruise with environmentally intelligent people that are more interested in birds and glaciers than chocolate sundaes.

What is your favorite restaurant? How often do you eat there?

A Chinese restaurant called Shun Lee that is located on 65th and Broadway in Manhattan. It is recognized as one of the best in Manhattan. I go frequently every year because we have a timeshare apartment close by, right near Lincoln Center. I went there with a friend 10 or more years ago, and was astonished to find in the menu a boxed area that presented the specialties of the house.

One of them, a dish of black mushrooms, had a description about University of Minnesota hemotologists (sic) discovering that the Chinese black mushroom called Mo-er was good for the heart and lungs. It turned out that it was our work. My laboratory published this in The New England Journal of Medicine (Hammerschmidt et al). The Chinese had known for centuries that these mushrooms protected folk from heart and lung diseases.

Mo-er is a most potent inhibitor of platelet and white cell aggregation, both of which are involved in atherogenesis and ARDS. I became good friends with the restaurant manager, love the food, but particularly enjoy the free martini I get each time I go there.