Document jm8Lg6ROD2gNr4y5KgwpR10Xk

The K e tte rin g Laboratory o f Applied P hysiology, in i t * p re se n t f o r a , m e founded in 1330* a g i f t o f #130, 00% OC h arin g been made about a year b efo re to th e U niversity by th e Ethyl daaoline C orporation, the F rig id aire D ivision o f the General Motors C orp o ratio n , and S. 1, duFont do eaoura and Company, a n J o in t c o n trib u tio n . A ctu a lly , work on th e t o x i c i ty and behavior o f v ario u s chem ical compounds p rojected fo r use in industry and fo r general d istrib u tio n * had been c a rrie d out by m yself and a few a sso c ia te s In th e Department of Physiology ainoe This work had assumed such p roportions as to re q u ire g r e a tly in c re a se d f a c i l i t i e s in pace and equipm ent. When th e in d u s tr ia l groups who had in te re s te d them selves in i t were informed o f th is s itu a tio n , they agreed to provide the funds necessary to provide a b u ild in g and equipment; which would be ' adequate f o r immediate needs and fo r an a n tic ip a te d e(xpansion o f the work. . : . In view o f the p ra c tic a l, m w ell a* the ! , s c i e n t i f i c im portance o f th e problems under stu d y ,' I t was under-* ' . stood th a t th e s e c o rp o ra tio n s would provide funds f o r the m aintenance ,, o f th e in v e s tig a tiv e work, but i t was agreed t h a t th ey were under no ' o b lig atio n to do eo, and would d iscontinue t h e i r c o n trib u tio n s a t any : tim e they should choose to do s o . Such c o n trib u tio n aa th e y n ig h t sak e, however, in th e for of b u ild in g and equipment,' o r f o r the purchase o f fu r th e r equipment and s u p p lie s ?was to become, o u tr ig h t, the property o f the U niversity o f C in cin n ati, w ithout any quid pro quo except to th e ex ten t th a t th e work o f the la b o ra to ry , planned N22185 it, 0 4 5 G4 and c a rrie d out by the s t a f f o f th e lab o ra to ry ( i . e , the U niversity)* and published through the usual s c ie n tif ic channels* night be re garded as a u se fu l product worthy o f f u r th e r developm ent. {The problems involved being o f considerable significance in re la tio n to pu b lic as v e il a s in d u s tr ia l health * p roductive in v e s tig a tio n vould* of course* be useful and valuable in the form ulation of the o p e ra tin g programs and p o lic ie s o f th e se c o rp o ra tio n .) I t was also b e lie v e d t h a t o th e r i n d u s tr ia l o rg a n isa tio n s would b rin g some o f th e ir problems and tro u b les to th e lab o rato ry , and th a t the develop ment o f a ju d ic io u s p o lic y w ith re s p e c t to th e n atu re o f th e work accepted and th e methods o f handling such work* would r e s u l t in adequate and perhaps expanding fin a n c ia l support. T his b e l i e f h&a been j u s t i f i e d in th a t sotae twenty-odd in d u s tr ia l groups have made sig n ific a n t co n trib u tio n s to the supj*ort o f the lab o rato ry , and i t s ^'anm^al bu d g et has s te a d ily in creased , '-from 532*000.00 in 1930 to *105,000*00 in 19*50. Meanwhile a c a re fu l choice o f experim ental p ro je c ts M s been made* on the prim ary b a s is o f th e medical o r hygienic sig n ifican ce o f th e problems presented* and secondarily* o f c o u rse , in accordance, w ith the more o r l e s s s p e c ia lis e d i n t e r e s t s and s k ill of th e laboratory s ta f f . The budget i s aado up annually a f t e r conference of the D irector (o f the Laboratory) w ith contributors to th e budget o f th e p rev io u s year* o r w ith any a d d itio n a l groups o r persons who a rc in te re s te d in th e work. The g en eral n atu re o f th e work' on. lo n g time p ro je c ts M s been planned in advened* and th e probable cost has been estim ated* somewhat on th e high s id e . Any new p r o je c ts are sub n i t ted to the Board of D irecto rs o f the U niversity fo r approval or re je c tio n , with a complete statem ent o f the p o te n tia litie s of the -3 worse, s c i e n t i f i c a l l y , h y g ie n ic a lly anil f in a n c ia lly , In so f a r as ' these p o t e n t i a l i t i e s an he fo re se e n , A dditions to th e s t a f f are made c a u tio u sly l a r e la tio n to any new p ro je c t o r th e expansion o f old ones, and are believed to he ju s tif ie d only I f a reasonable assurance o f continued and adequate compensatIon can bpygiven th e c a n d id a te f o r vvv/ a position, . The m ajor fu n c tio n of th e la b o ra to ry i s the study o f occupational d ise a se s and in to x ic a tio n s, w ith p a r tic u la r emphasis on th e t o x i c i ty and mode o f a c tio n o f m a te ria ls handled o r manufactured by in d u s tr ia l w orkers, o r d is trib u te d fo r use in th e community*. This phase o f a p p lied physiology la developed, where f e a s i b le , In to a stu d y 3?*m ^ h a n ie ss of a g en eral ty n e . As on exmaple, we a re s y s te m a tic a lly working on c e r ta in phases of th e m ineral m etabolism , sin c e f o r p r a c tic a l purposes we cannot hope ) ; to understand the nature o f heavy metal poisoning without such in / form ation, b u t a lis o b ecau se, in our o p in io n , th e re i s no more I n te r e stln g physiological problem then the ro le of m inerals in the animal i organism . Our work also .embraces f i e l d s tu d ie s o f environm ental conditions' and groups of people, so as to render hygienic serv ice to in d u stry , and the community a t l a r g e , a s w ell as to c o r r e la te e x p e rl mental and c lin ic a l d ata. In an admin' s t ra tiv o sense, the Laboratory i s , in e f f e c t, m independent department o f the Medical School, I t i s , however, & branch o r sub-department o f th e Physiology Department, i t s autonomy being a m atter o f agreement between the Dean o f th e M edical C o lleg e, th e Hoad o f the Physiology Departm ent, add th e D irector of the Laboratory, For sev e ral y ears, I and c e rta in o f my a s s o c ia te s gave one u n it o f th e la b o ra to ry course in Medical physiology sing the space and equipment of the laboratory for th a t purpose. This was d iscontinued f o r reason u n re la te d to organisation and say be resumed a t any time thereby tu rn in g any and a l l o f our f a c i l i t i e s in to th e teac h in g o f physiology. We tak e o ccasio n al graduate students* One man took h ie Ph.i). in Physiology l a s t y e a r, we c o lla b o ra te w ith o th e r colleag u es in the Medical School as does any o th e r Department tout on a p u re ly v o lu n ta ry b a s is . In o u r f i e l d o f mediani work* we a r e regarded as sp e c ia lists^ in & sense and consequently the physicians on our s t a f f see (tout a re not re sp o n sib le f o r th e car o f) p a tie n ts in th e General H ospital and th e la b o ra to ry s t a f f c a rry out sp ecial d ia g n o a tic procedures f o r which we a re s p e c ia lly equipped These a re done n eed less to say w ith o u t c o st to th e H o sp ital o r to th e C ity o f C incinnati* We cannot avoid see in g p a tie n ts a t js th c r h o sp ita ls* s n or can we a lto g e th e r n e g le c t the performance o f d ia g n o s itio work f o r which th e re are no o th e r lo c a l f a c i l i t i e s W lim it those* eo : f a r as p o ssib le* to such as w ill toe in keeping w ith our experim ental in te re s ts * tout we cannot wholly Ignore s p e c ia l c a l l s upon o u r p ro fe e s lo n a l serv ices For example I see o r am consulted about most ' o f th e oases o f le a d poisoning in t h i s se c tio n of th e country* and unhappily* many a t d is ta n c e s co n sid erab ly removed f n m Cincinnati* The embers o f th e s t a f f o f th e L aboratory are appointed by th e u su al aechanleae o f the U niversity* and moat o f them f o r fu ll-tim e service* Two p h ysician who have o th e r p ro fe ssio n a l r e s p o n s i b i l i ti e s a re on p art-tim e* m are two m edical stu d en ts. A ll are sa la rie d research workers, with formai rank In th e U niversity* There a r e no fello w sh ip s a v a ila b le in the Laboratory sin ce we accep t no work o f any kind f o r which th e D irecto r and th e s t a f f do not tak e f u l l p ro fe s s io n a l and s c i e n t i f i c re s p o n s ib ility * r ~5- and sin ce we engage only In m edical and hygienic In v e s tig a tio n s , a l l th e work i s under th e d ir e c t su p erv isio n o f medloal men. Our o rg a n is a tio n , th e re fo re , has no resemblance to th a t o f th e Mellon In s titu te . Candor compels me to say th a t th e Laboratory was founded in t h i s Medical School because th e work out o f which th e Laboratory grew was brought to me in th e f i r s t instance* and s in c e I had no in te n tio n o f severing my connections w ith th e C ollege, I t remained h e re . I became in te r e s te d in the problem of heavy metal, poisoning as a s tu d e n t, sM continued my I n te r e s t as A s s is ta n t Pro f e s s o r o f Physiology from 1321 on* and when th e pred ecesso r o f th e Bthyl G asoline C orporation, then in Bayton, O hio, found I t s e l f In d i f f i c u l t i e s i t came to me* p a r tly a s p h y sician and p a r tly as in v e s tig a to r , to h elp i t o u t. I -have never considered th e p o s s i b i l i t y V o? medical in v e stig a tio n except in a U niversity Medical School, / p a r tly by reason o f my d e lib e ra te choice o f m edical teac h in g and research as profession, and p a rtly because, in ay opinion, the . kind of work I and ay asso ciates are doing must be done in a p u b licly resp o n sib le I n s titu tio n which m aintains complete freedom from even th e suspicion o f bias,w hich ^rightly o r wrongly* i s o ften asso ciated w ith p r iv a te ly sponsored re se a rc h . I am q u ite sure* fo r example, t h a t o u r work would n o t have re ceiv ed I t s p re se n t acceptance, even a f t e r some c o n sid e ra b le t e s t o f time* i f I bad not m aintained i t in name and in in f a c t as a u n iv e rs ity fu n c tio n . There is* moreover* no q u e stio n t h a t we have p r o f ite d g re a tly as a group from th e c r i t i c a l and cooperative co llab o ratio n o f our colleagues* ns well as from the evtensive c lin ic a l contacts which arc so re a d ily m aintained in a --6 -- ' . teaching h o s p ita l center* Our work involves c l i n i c s ! Judgment and experience, a s w ell as the techniques of chem istry, physics, biochem istry, physiology, pharmacology, b acteriology and pathology* Our la b o ra to ry i s in fa c t an i n s t i t u t e o f experim ental medic in. I t la d i f f i c u l t to see how we could c a rry on adequately In any o th er than a u n iv e rsity medical center* Ho doubt e v e n tu a lly we s h a l l have an endowment fund s u f f ic ie n t to m aintain th e nucleus o f our work in security* I am q u ite c e r ta in th a t some such endowment could have been obtained some tim e ago* I have not pushed th e m a tte r, p a r tly fo r th e reason th a t we have had no d i f f i c u l t y in o b tain in g funds to support o u r work, end p a r tly because, under p re se n t circu m stan ces, annual end lump c o n trib u tio n s from tim e to time a re more c e r ta in than the income from endowment^. Moreover, th e re I s a c e r ta in stim ulating^ e ffe c t on th e p ro d u c tiv ity o f the e n tire s t a f f , in th e r e a lis a tio n th a t th e work must make i t s own way, on th e b a s is o f it3 u t i l i t y as w ell a s i t s q u a lity , `fills p o in t need n o t.b e lab o re d , and indeed th is co n d itio n might be regarded a s one which would r e s u lt in the -promotion of-back-work of an-immediately p ra c tic a l type ra th e r than sound fundamental inform ation. N evertheless, while the present s ta tu e Of in d u s tr ia l toxicology imposes th e duty o f o b ta in in g c lin ic a lly and hyglenieally useful data* th ere is also an oppor tunity fo r developing basic physiologic concepts.