Bay Area History of Medicine Society

Steno’s theory of muscle contraction 1667: The right theory at the wrong time.
Dr. Troels Kardel MD, physician and researcher in the history of medicine (Denmark)
October 2, 2019

A new geometrical model of muscle contraction was proposed in Florence 1667 by the Danish anatomist, geologist and later bishop, Niels Stensen, called Steno, 1638 – 1686. His new myology was intended to replace the ancient system favored by Descartes and others that contraction of muscles is caused by inflation by animal spirits channeled to the muscles from the brain through the nerves. Steno based his geometrical model of muscle contraction on just two elements, his observation that the structure of skeletal muscles most often is featherlike or pennate, and that the shortening of muscle is provided by the shortening of muscle fibers. The model of Steno is correct compared with concepts on contraction in our time. Nevertheless, it came under attack by Giovanni A. Borelli and Johann Bernoulli who adhered to the ancient view of inflation suggested to take place in a speculative pattern of rhomboid or ellipsoid machines. The inflation theory had upper hand until microscopy was sufficiently developed to allow observation of fiber contraction in the middle of the 18th Century. Around the new Millennium Steno’s model was confirmed in biomechanical investigations as recorded in doi: 10.1163/9789004360655_008.

Sick of Body and Sick of Heart: The Experience of Illness among the Jews of Old Cairo (1000-1250 CE)
Alan Elbaum, MD candidate, UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program
November 20, 2019

Alan is currently on a research fellowship prior to his final year of medical school, working to assemble and analyze the complete corpus of Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew letters from the “Cairo Genizah” which contain narratives of illness. The Genizah is an accidental archive of tens of thousands of documents from everyday life in the medieval Mediterranean, ranging from begging letters by the indigent to marketplace amulets to philosophical tracts and medical prescriptions in the hand of Moses Maimonides himself. Alan’s interests in medicine include palliative care and psychiatry.

Echoes of World War One in the Surgical World: Trench Warfare and the Development of Two New Specialties
Thomas L. Snyder, MD, Captain, Medical Corps U.S. Navy (Retired)
January 15, 2020

This talk will describe the roles of the American Harvey Cushing and New Zealander Harold Gillies in the development and promotion of neurosurgery and plastic/reconstructive surgery during and after World War I.

History and Role of Institutional Review Boards
Erica J. Heath, CIP, MBA, President, IRC (retired), Consultant, Advarra Consulting, UCSF
February 19, 2020

After an uninspired college career and after going through several uninspiring jobs, Erica got a job as a secretary in Biochemistry. A day before she was fired, she interviewed in the Academic Senate and got the job in December of 1970. Essentially, she says, she has been doing the same thing — running IRBs — for the next 49 years. She left UCSF in 1984 as Director of the IRB, IACUC, etc., and ran her own business, Independent Review Consulting, until she retired two and a half years ago. In January, she returned to her old job as the interim Associate Director.

Vesalius and Wrist Pain: Using Medical History to Solve Current Problems
David Lincoln Nelson, MD; Director, Bay Area Hand Surgery Society; formerly Head of Hand Surgery, UCSF
March 18, 2020 canceled, will be rescheduled at a later date

It is always enjoyable to add to current medical knowledge. It is even more enjoyable to correct current medical knowledge which is wrong but widely disseminated. In this talk, Dr. Nelson will discuss how he has successfully challenged conventional medical knowledge related to wrist anatomy. It is hoped that correcting these errors will enhance hand surgeon’s ability to address wrist pain.

The Life and Afterlife of Hans Eppinger: A Lesson in Making and Unmaking History
Michael Thaler, M.D., M.A. (History), Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at UCSF
April 22, 2020 canceled, will be rescheduled at a later date

The Nazi master plan for the domination of Europe was conceived as a grand public health scheme in which physicians became the caretakers of the Aryan nation’s gene and manpower pools. Empowered by laws enacted as Public Health Measures for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor (Nuremberg, 1935), doctors determined the fate of millions whose bioracial characteristics failed to meet the specifications dictated by the state. Prominent medical scientists also conducted criminal human experiments and ran the clandestine “Euthanasia” program. Following Germany’s defeat in 1945, a massive sub rosa effort was launched by the universities and professional organizations to distance the medical profession from its central role in the “medicalized” Nazi regime. Based on extensive archival research, interviews and trial records, the career of Hans Eppinger offers an instructive focus for a discussion of this history.

Medical Book Collecting and Historical Scholarship: A Recovering Bibliomaniac’s Perspective
W. Bruce Fye, MD, MA, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and the History of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
May 20, 2020 — Annual Dinner canceled, will be rescheduled at a later date