ASH News Daily 2012 - Monday, December 10, 2012 - (Page B-8)

Page B–8 ® ASH NewS DAily My first attending physician in hematology/oncology, Stuart Kornfeld, saw the impending revolution and encouraged me to pursue molecular hematology in my training. I just listened to Stuart. Q: If you weren’t working in the field of hematology, what do you think you would be doing? Dr. Ley: I’m not sure. I grew up on a farm in northern Iowa. There were no doctors in the family and no role models in my life for this kind of career. For reasons I’ve never really understood, I had the idea to become a doctor and/or a scientist very early on, probably second or third grade. I knew what I wanted to be when I was 7 or 8 years old and never seriously considered other careers, with one exception; I thought about playing golf for a living when I was in high school, but it didn’t work out. I had a hook that I could never completely control. Q: What has been the biggest challenge in your career? How have you worked toward overcoming that? Dr. Ley: There have been many; it’s hard to single one out. This is a tough business, one that is filled with failure and rejection. Experiments rarely work out the way that you expect them to, and reviewers and study sections are pretty much invariably going to be tough on you. It’s just the way it is, and it’s not going to change. This is hard to get used to at first, but you have to learn not to take it personally. You have to find a way to use criticism as a way of improving yourself and your work. You must not let negative reviewers crush your spirit or discourage you from pursuing your best ideas. When conflicts arise, I always try to remember to put the patients first. That’s the reason I’m doing this, and it helps me to keep a proper perspective on things. Q: What was the best advice you received regarding your work? What is the one thing you wish someone would have told you? Dr. Ley: It wasn’t really direct advice per se, but the article, “Understanding Academic Medical Centers: Simone’s Maxims,” by Joseph V. Simone, provided insight into how medical centers and cancer centers actually operate. His articles are worth reading because they are a stone-cold reality check about the way things really work in biomedical science. He pulls no punches. I wish that I had read them earlier; they verified a lot of things I have observed and have kept me from doing some stupid things. Q: What is your favorite or most poignant work-related memory? Dr. Ley: It happened not too long ago, when we sequenced a tumor genome from a friend and colleague who had recently relapsed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. His disease was refractory to salvage therapy, which created the nightmare scenario. However, we found Monday, December 10, 2012 a potentially targetable lesion in his tumor genome that we had not originally thought about. The target turned out to be very important and the drug we selected to hit it worked. He responded with a complete remission, was transplanted, and has now returned to work. This kind of thing makes the whole journey worthwhile. At the end of the day, it’s all still about taking care of one patient at a time and the little victories that add up over time. Q: Outside of your work, what activity or pastime do you enjoy most? What would your colleagues be surprised to know about you? Dr. Ley: My family and I live on a farm far outside of the city. I had to live in a lot of cities during my training, but the farm kid inside me refuses to go away. Farming is still something that I love to do, and the country is where I feel most at home. My main outdoor hobby is our vineyard. We have the only organic vineyard in Missouri on our farm, and it keeps me plenty busy. “Laboring in the vineyard” is a truism that is true, but organic viticulture is a very interesting challenge that I really enjoy. I read volumes of history. I read as much as I can that’s new and interesting. The Civil War era is my favorite. I love good biographies that are well-written and scholarly. David McCullough and Robert Caro are two of my favorite authors of that genre. Thomas Lecture «« From Page B-1 however, represents his own greatness. To receive an award named for him is simply the ultimate for a hematologist. Don represented the spirit of ASH, and the award is about the high standards that he helped to create for the Society. The list of previous honorees is a list of heroes in the field. It is especially meaningful to me that Stuart Kornfeld, who greatly influenced my career choice, was the first recipient in 1992, and Stan Korsmeyer, one of my closest friends and colleagues, was the fifth in 1996. Q: What attracted you to pursue a career in hematology? Dr. Ley: The molecular genetics revolution started to get rolling in the late 70s as I was finishing medical school. It felt like what I assume NASA did a decade before. Hematology was in the lead because of the accessibility of blood and bone marrow for molecular studies, because early genomics (cytogenetics) had demonstrated the molecular foundations of leukemias, and because there were many important, inherited hematologic syndromes to investigate with molecular tools. Image: Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a lung cancer cell. Read more about the late E. Donnall Thomas in tomorrow’s paper. One visiOn: we aspire tO cure cancer. Our People Change Lives Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company is proud to have been recognized as one of FORTUNE Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2011 and 2012. • Focused on Oncology Drug Development • Entrepreneurial Culture • Outstanding Benefits • Flexible Work Environment To learn more and apply, visit: joinmillennium.com/108 Follow us on LinkedIn ©2012 Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All rights reserved. “From FORTUNE Magazine, February 6, 2012 © 2012 Time Inc. FORTUNE is a registered trademark of Time Inc. and is used under license. FORTUNE and Time Inc. are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, Licensee.” ASH looks forward to seeing you in New Orleans for the 55th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. 

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ASH News Daily 2012 - Monday, December 10, 2012

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