Sharing Some
THOUGHTS
by
Dr. William G.
Aniyan
Vice President
for ^
Health Affairs
Face-to-face meetings have some real
advantages over the written w/ord. For
one thing, they give people a better
opportunity to size up one another. For
another, more important, reason they
allow people to ask questions and get
answers right on the spot.
But because of the size of the medical
center, the thousands of people who
work here and the different
responsibilities each of us has, it's
impossible for all of us to get together for
person-to-person talks.
For that reason. I plan to take the
opportunity from time-to-time to discuss
with you. in an INTERCOM column,
some of the things that come across my
desk. I plan to pass on some of the good
and some of the bad — both the
compliments and the complaints —
because it’s through compliments that
we can take greater pride in what we do
and it's through complaints that we can
see what we re doing wrong and attempt
to do it better.
One of the comments many of us hear
about Duke occasionally is how large it
has become, the idea being that the
larger an institution gets, the more
impersonal and cold it becomes. That
may be true in principle, but it doesn't
have to be in practice.
Whether the atmosphere of a place is
warm or cold, personal or impersonal,
helpful or indifferent depends on one
thing and one thing only — us. the
people who work here. If we re friendly
and courteous to one another and to our
patients; if we go out of our way to try to
be helpful to people who come here; if
our faces and our voices and our
attitudes are congenial, then that’s the
atmosphere we II have throughout the
medical center.
In the letters we receive from patients,
there is evidence that very often we do
reflect that kind of an atmosphere. For
example, onepatienttold us:
“It s unbelievable that a place so large
could show so much kindness.'
Anotherwrote:
"From the bottom of my heart,
appreciate so .. jch everything. I will
never forget ail of you for everything you
did.
And another, who had been on Reed
Ward, expressed her thanks for the care
she received, and then offered us this
advice:
"Keep your sense of humor. Nothing is
worse thangloominthehospital."
This last comment brings to mind a
less complimentary expression from
another patient. He observed what he
called a “carnival atmosphere' in the
hospital.
The lesson here for all of us is that
there s a place for good humor,
backslapping and laughter, but they are
out of place in the corridors of the
medical center and the wards of the
hospital. It s one thing to be
good-humored with our patients, but it s
quite another thing to laugh and cut up
and be loud with our friends at a nursing
station or while accompanying a patient
on a stretcher down the corridor.
Courtesy and consideration for our
(Continued on page 4)
ntetjcom
6ukc univcRsity mc6icM ccntcn
VOLUME 22. NUMBER 13
MARCH 28,1975
DURHAM. NORTH CAROLINA
WHAT A VIRUS SEES AT DUKE—This is a “virus-eye view ' from the inside of a containment line device, designed to protect
scientists while they study viruses at the recently opened Animal Laboratory and Isolation Facility (ALIF). Dr. Darell Signer,
associate professor of pathology and chairman of the ALIF committee, demonstrates how the accordion-like protective rubber
gloves work. (Photo by Jim Wallace)
Emphasis Placed on Safety in Design
ALIF Opens for Cancer Studies
By William Erwin
Researchers have suspected for years
that viruses — the pesky organisms that
give us colds and warts— may also give
us some forms of cancer.
Virus-like particles have t>een found
in the cells of patients with leukemia,
breast and stomach cancer, Hodgkin's
disease and cancer of the cervix. But
unmistakable proof is lacking that
viruses trigger these or any other
human cancers.
That proof may be found at last deep
within a new one-story building here.
It's the $1.7 million Animal Laboratory
and Isolation Facility (ALIF) which is
beginning operation this month as part
of the Comprehefnsive Cancer Center.
From its non-porous floor on up, the
structure was designed as a place
where investigators could work safely
with “every known microorganism —
virus, fungus, bacteria, rickettsia,
protozoa — of any degree of risk to
man,' according to Dr. Darell Signer,
chairman of the ALIF committee. -
It is the first facility of its kind in the
southeast to be devoted to cancer
research, Signer said.
The laboratory resembles, in
principle, a warehouse containing four
submarines. Walk inside and you'll see
that its windowless exterior walls
surround four off-white fiber glass
modules, or suites, each 44 feet long
and 36 feet wide.
The modules are self-contained and
bristle with air conditioning and heating
ducts. Inside each, you'll find airtight
animal cages and an airtight
containment line that could be
mistaken for an elongated delivery
room incubator.
This is where Duke researchers will
be cultivating their viruses. Protected
by accordion-like rubber gloves
protruding into the lines, they can
handle infected animals and tissue
cultures without worrying about
catching the organisms they’re
studying.
The danger is not confined to
possible human cancer viruses. Signer
said.
“Many animal tumor viruses have
some degree of hazard,' he explained.
Some scientists think cats may t>e able
to transmit the feline leukemia virus to
man, for instance.
Because of the risks involved, “some
experiments simply could not be done
at Duke before, " the specialist added.
“Now Duke investigators may work with
many viruses that previously could not
be handled here. We can greatly
expand, as well, our attempts at
discovering candidate human tumor
viruses without endangering ourselves
or contaminating the environment,"
One safeguard against contamination
is ALIF's absolute air filters. These are
fiber filters that can trap the tiniest of
viruses. Air from the modules passes
through them twice before being
expelled outside the building.
Liquid wastes passing out of the
modules are treated in a concentrated
chlorine solution for two hours before
being released into sewer lines.
Solid wastes from the cages and the
carcasses of sacrificed animals are
sterilized in massive ovens called
autoclaves before they leave the
modules to be incinerated.
The laboratory's 25 autoclaves —
worth $700,000 — were donated by the
Federal government when its biological
warfare centers in Arkansas and
Maryland were were converted into
medical research units.
Yet another fail-safe device has l>een
built into the facility. Air pressure inside
the cages and containment lines is kept
lower than the pressure outside them.
The modules, in turn, have a lower air
pressure than the rest of the building.
(Continued on page 4)
Engel To Discuss
Recent Research
One of the nation's leading clinicians
in the field of psychosomatic medicine.
Dr. George Engel, will be at Duke April
1-4 to discuss research and
developments in his specialty.
According to a spokesman for the
university's Council on Aging and
Human Development, Engel has
significantly influenced contemporary
attitudes and treatment of illnesses
through his classic book,
“Psychological Development in Health
and Disease” and his more than 250
research papers.
He is the twin brother of the late Dr,
Frank Engel, professor of medicine and
associate professor of physiology here,
who died July 10. 1963. The Duke
physician and scientist, before his
premature death at the age of 49. was
ranked among the leading experimental
endocrinologists of this generation.
George Engel is currently professor
of psychiatry and medicine at the
University of Rochester School of
Medicine, His first address^ entitled
(Continued on page 2)