Hooked on ID with Kenneth M. Kaye, MD
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My first infectious diseases paper was published when I was 7 months old. Before I was even capable of creating memories and while I was still crawling, my relationship with infectious diseases was off and running.
Let me explain! In my first year of life, I was reported as patient KMK in a case report in The New England Journal of Medicine. I contracted Salmonella from our parakeet — the first transmission reported of its kind. The family pet and I lived in close quarters in our small apartment near New York Hospital where my dad, Donald Kaye, MD, was doing his ID fellowship. It marked the second journal publication of my dad’s ID career (the first one he co-authored with his late good friend, Dr. Glen Koenig, on enterococcal endocarditis, also published in The New England Journal of Medicine.)
Although it seems that ID pointed its finger at me early, I am pleased to say that there was also free will and conscious thought involved. It pointed firmly to a pathway that I loved then and still do. The subject matter was fascinating, and my role models, including my dad, were inspirational.
In college, I had the privilege of doing my senior thesis project in the lab of the eminent late virologist, Bernie Fields. My medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and my ID fellowship at Brigham and Women’s/Beth Israel Hospitals resonated with ID pearls taught by luminaries like Mort Swartz, Louis Weinstein and Bob Rubin, consummate clinicians who have died but left an indelible mark on our proud field. In addition, I continued my research pursuits in the laboratory of Elliott Kieff, renowned for his discoveries that improved our understanding of the molecular basis of Epstein-Barr virus pathogenesis.
Fast forward a few decades, as I write this report, I am attending on the ID consult service, teaching but always continuing to learn from both students and colleagues in this expansive and complex specialty. Just the other day, the ID fellows and I were enthusiastically taught the nuances of determining mixed malaria infection while reviewing our patient’s smears with Jamie Maguire, a leading expert in tropical medicine and beyond.
My research is focused on cancer viruses, specifically Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (HHV-8) and its role in cancer pathogenesis. The excitement of pursuing the unknown and the thrill of discovery on those occasions when it occurs never gets old. I have enjoyed forging my pathway as a clinician-scientist — which some say is a dying breed — but I feel fortunate to be living it, despite its challenges, as many of my esteemed colleagues are doing as well.
I am pleased that I have not been the subject of any additional ID reports of curiosity. I did contract COVID-19 while consulting on the ID service in March 2020, but happily for me, I recovered fully and my story, unlike too many others, was not remarkable or reportable.
- References:
- Kaye D, et al. N Engl. J Med. 1961;doi:10.1056/NEJM196104272641708.
- Koenig MG, Kaye D. N Engl J Med. 1961;doi:10.1056/NEJM196102092640601.
— Kenneth M. Kaye, MD
Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member
Professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School
Senior physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital