Taking the lead
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H.
As I’ve come to know the leaders of Baylor College of Medicine, along with those of other institutions in Houston and beyond, I’ve realized that leadership in science means more than deep thought, technological skill and understanding of biological processes.
Those who lead in science and medicine possess a passion for their field and a commitment that extends beyond profession, ego and even retirement. They truly care about what they do and they are willing to put themselves on the line to further that truth.
When the science of embryonic stem cells raised tempers and temperatures and an executive order took the wind out of the sails of those who sought to understand them, scientists like William R. Brinkley, Ph.D., senior vice president and dean of the Baylor College of Medicine Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, advocated for a second look. They testified in state legislatures, before Congressional panels and in public forums. They absorbed the barbs and attacks of those on the other side, and they kept their tempers and their cool.
"It’s important to educate the public," said Brinkley after a surprise debate with one on the opposite side.
When the state textbook committee appeared poised to weaken the curriculum on evolution, Brinkley and his colleagues again appeared, anxious to insure that children have access to the best science education possible.
There have been many like this. When Norman Hackerman, Ph.D., of Rice University addressed a forum at the University of Houston Downtown, he lit fires of enthusiasm under many young students – among them my own daughter, who came home to tell me about this wonderful man. Hackerman was chancellor at The University of Texas at Austin when I was a student there, and I remember the inspiration he was to many of us.
Today, Nobel laureate Harold Varmus, M.D., former director of the National Institutes of Health and now president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, puts his own beliefs out front when he advises President Barack Obama. Again, inspired science leadership takes the fore.
We are lucky that these scientists are willing not only to put their brains behind science, but also to use that brain power to lead – into new avenues of understanding that will keep us healthier longer.
