i
VOL. 25. NO. 28
Duke University
Medical Center
Intercom
JULY 14, 1978
DURHAM. N.C.
Busy person gets job done
LUCAS
Humboldt award goes to Reedy
TO
9:.
The Alexander von Humbolt
Foundation in Bonn, West Germany, has
selected a Duke physician to receive one
of its annual awards for senior United
States scientists.
The award will enable Dr. Michael K.
Reedy, associate professor of anatomy, to
spend a year in Heidelberg conducting
research at the Max Planck Institute for
Medical Research and the European
Molecular Biology Laboratory.
Reedy, whose scientific work is aimed
at explaining how muscles contract, will
be studying the arrangement and
behavior of certain tiny muscle structures
known as myosin crossbridges.
The rachet-like movements of myosin
crossbridges are believed to develop the
force necessary for muscle contractions,
Reedy said.
Reedy said he and Dr. Kenneth
olmes, an English molecular biologist,
will be applying the latest synchrotron X-
ray diffraction and scanning electron
microscopy techniques to their work. The
particular concentration of instruments
they need is available only in Heidelberg
and should allow them to conduct, in just
a few minutes, experiments that would
take several days in this country.
By Michelle F. Robertson
Staff Writer
Comprehensive Cancer Center
They say if you want a job done, ask a
busy person to do it. Sol Lucas is a busy
person.
He is teacher, advisor, researcher,
writer, reviewer, clinician, interested and
sympathetic listener — all of these
wrapped up in the job title of clinical
pharmacist. That's Sol Lucas.
At 8 in the morning, you might find
him at his desk digesting some new drug
information or writing a fact sheet on a
drug for doctors and nurses. Poke around
the blue zone about 9 a.m. on Wednesday
and you'll likely find him there working
with the people come to the head and neck
clinic.
After lunch, he might be giving
anticancer drugs to a patient with colon
cancer. Or he might be in his lab studying
and researching things most laymen
prefer to leave to the scientists. At 4 in the
afternoon he could be on the phone with a
nurse who's worried about her patient's
reaction to his drugs — yes, he'll be right
there.
Expert in drug therapy
A clinical pharmacist is much more
than a prescription filler. He is an expert
in drug therapy who works with
physicians and nurses directly in helping
care for their patients.
"What I've done," Lucas said, "is taken
the basic knowledge of drugs learned in
pharmacy school and applied it to
anticancer agents exclusively,"
When he came to work for the center
three years ago, he said, he was told
"You're supposed to know everything
there is to know about cancer
chemotherapy agents" — a formidable
task for even the most brilliant.
Since that time he has become a
resident expert at the cancer center on
the whole range of drug treatments
which might be used on a cancer patient
including anticancer agents, antibiotics
and pain relievers.
Making information usable
Armed with all that knowledge, Lucas
consults with cancer center physicians on
the best treatment for their patients. He
keeps them up to date on such things as in
what type of patient a drug works best,
the best way to administer it, adverse
reactions that might be expected, the
correct dosage — the list goes on.
Much of Lucas' time is spent pouring
over detailed, technical information
about drugs and dissecting it into a more
concise and usable form for health care
personnel. And, of course, he stores a
good bit of it away in his head for handy
future reference.
Three protocols
Clinical research is another very
important part of Lucas'work in which he
combines his extensive knowledge of
drugs with his concern for his patients. In
the relatively short time he has been at
the center, he has helped develop three
different treatment protocols.
A protocol, he explained, is a formalized
treatment plan that spells out everything
the researchers are looking for. His are
designed to test the effectiveness of
different combinations of anticancer
drugs. Each of the protocols is directed at
a special cancer. All three are aimed at
iCoiiHnurd I’ll I’m’i’ 21
CELEBRATING THE FOURTH—Pediatrics
patients, family members and medical center
staff enjoy a Fourth of July celebration, made
possible through the combined efforts of
dietary services, pediatric recreation therapy,
pediatric chairman Dr. Samuel L. Katz and
members of the B'nai B'rith, including Dr.
Shelby Josephs of pediatrics, Denise Altman of
psychiatry, Neil Altman, Dr. Robert
Rosenstein, Alan Levy, Jerry Rothenberg,
Gary Berman and Howard Margolis, who
served as organizer. For more photos, see
page four.
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