i
Duke University
Medical Center
Intercom
VOL. 25, NO. 46
NOV. 17, 1978
DURHAM, N.C.
Wakeman Award address
If ever there was an opportunity to alleviate suffering...
At last month's Wakeman Award banquet here
(see Intercoms 929/78 and TO/6/78), one of
the principal speakers was a layman whose
substantial knowledge of paraplegia and nerve
regeneration research goes beyond his extensive
study of the field. He is a paraplegic himself. The
speaker was Alan A. Reich, deputy assistant
secretary of the U.S. Departmentof Commerce and
a founder and the current chairman of Paraplegia
Cure Research. Because of Reich's succinct
statement of research needs and his call for
activation of a 10-point program, the text of his
address, "If Ever There Was an Opportunity ..."
is being published here.
Prior to World War II, there were few
paraplegics. They simply did not survive.
Medical science and the commitment of
numerous dedicated people (including
ALAN A REICH, seated here with Dr. and Mrs. James H. Semans of Duke, was a special guest at
the Oct. 4 Wakeman Award banquet for presentation of the 1978 Wakeman Award for Research
in the Neurosciences. Reich's address on the need for continuing research in central nervous
system function and regeneration is reprinted in the accompanying article. (Photo hy Lewis Parrish)
many here tonight) have made it possible
for paraplegics to live and accommodate
to wheelchair living.
Rehabilitation has facilitated an
increasingly normal existence and
opportunity for personal fulfillment. In
the United States more than in any other
country, there has been a climate of
encouragement for this process.
In March of 1970, the year the word
"impossible" was redefined by landing a
man on the moon, at a conference
sponsored by the National Paraplegia
Foundation in Palm Beach, Fla., scientists
overturned the old dogma that central
nervous system regeneration was
impossible. For the first time a group of
neuroscientists declared, "the problem
should no longer be considered hopeless;
it is amendable to solution through basic
research." This validation challenged the
world's scientists and strengthened the
hope of paraplegics.
Significant progress
At that time too, Mrs. Gardiner
established the Wakeman Award in
memory of her paraplegic husband to
stimulate central nervous system
regeneration research aimed at curing
paraplegics. Have her generosity and
foresight brought results? The answer is
a resounding yes!
While we may not be able to make
First participant helped shape new residency
4
By John Becton
(From a report by Linda Wilson, reporter for
speech and hearing.)
As knowledge in the health care field
continues to expand, specialized training
becomes more of a necessity for a
significant number of health
professionals.
In response to a perceived need for
specialization in speech pathology and
audiology, Duke is developing a residency
program funded by a seven-year grant
from the Veterans Administration.
The Speech Pathology-Audiology
Residency Program is designed to offer
one-year, post-master's degree curricula
in each of five areas of specialization. It is
under the overall direction of Dr. Luvern
H. Kunze, professor and director of the
Center for Speech and Hearing
Disorders, and Dr. Robert G. Paul, chief of
the VA Hospital's Audiology-Speech
Pathology Service.
The first resident, Mary Ann Barden,
recently completed training in
neurogenic speech and language
disorders in adults.
This year, the second for the pilot
program, there are residents in childhood
language disorders, communications
disorders associated with craniofacial
abnormalities or trauma and audiology,
as well as a new participant in the
neurogenic disorders specialty. The -
program also will offer a residency in
organic voice disorder and laryngectomy.
As the pioneer speech pathology
resident, Barden was supervised by Dr.
Jennifer Horner, assistant professor of
speech pathology and coordinator of the
neurogenic disorders residency.
Horner explained that the program is
called a "residency" because it is roughly
patterned after the medical model.
Participants' clinical fellowship year
which follows completion of their
masters' degree is essentially an
internship, and like the degree program,
general in nature.
"In contrast, the Speech Pathology-
Audiology Residency program offers a
course of specialization in the medical
(Continued on page 3)
specific connections, I believe it is
reasonable to ' attribute much of the
progress to the momentum generated by
the Wakeman Award process. That
progress includes:
— In 1970 only a handful of scientific
articles was published on central nervous
system regeneration. Last year there
were over 400. Many more investigators
throughout the world are now working
on the problem.
— Government funding by the
National Institute of Neurological and
Communicative Disorders and Stroke
and by the Veterans Administration of
regeneration research has increased from
about $200,000 in 1970 to about $5
million last year, Both agencies have
sponsored conferences.
— The National Paraplegia Foundation
has held four international conferences
on CNS regeneration. Its new research
division has published bibliographies and
has initiated an exciting fellowship
program.
— The Paralyzed Veterans of America
has created a new research foundation
which has funded close to a quarter of a
million dollars of CNS research.
— Several universities have started up
regeneration research programs and
laboratories.
— Six annual congressional luncheon
reviews, hosted by Congressmen Orval
Hansen and Bill Frenzel, have been held in
the Captiol in Washington.
— The government's Neurologic
Institute sponsored an 18-month task
force by eminent neuroscientists who
concluded "the field is ripe for a push."
(Continued on page 2)
Intercom takes break
Because of the Thanksgiving
holiday, Nov. 23, Intercom will not be
published next week. The next issue of
Intercom will appear Friday, Dec. 1.
Harper’s says Duke among best
Some of the best health care for women in America is available at Duke,
according to an article in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar.
Based on a poll of respected members of the medical profession, the
magazine listed the "best medical specialists" and "best medical centers" for
treatment of medical problems unique to or common among women.
Included on the lists were Dr. William T. Creasman, professor of obstetrics
and gynecology and director of that department's oncology division; the
Dietary Rehabilitation Clinic; the Division of Infertility in obstetrics and
gynecology; and Highland Hospital, a division of the Department of
Psychiatry located in Asheville.
lU Uliiavsit I
■AUNT BEE'-Dean of
Nursing Ruby Wilson
leans over to greet
Betty Dumaine of
Pinehurst, a long-time
friend and supporter of
the medical center,
known to many Duke
people as "Aunt Bee."
Aunt Bee was here for
many of last week's
Medical Alymni Week
end activities. For more
photos from the
weekend, see page 4.
(Photo hy Parker Herring)