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JAM'EYAT MUTAKHAREJE AL AMERICAYAT

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:00:00 GMT

اقامت جمعية متخرجي الجامعة الاميركية احتفال يوم المؤسسين الـ144 للجامعة الاميركية في بيروت في اوتيل البريستول. وكرمت بالتعاون مع "دار نلسن للنشر" وجوهاً نيرة في الجامعة الاميركية في بيروت"، وذلك من خلال المؤلف الذي وضعه الدكتور ميشال خليل جحا بهذا العنوان. ويضم الكتاب 25 شخصية اكاديمية ممن درسوا او تولوا مهمات بارزة في الجامعة منذ ما يقارب القرن. نخبة من كبار الرجال منهم من تولى مسؤوليات كبيرة في لبنان والخارج.

والكتاب يضم الاساتذة الذين علَّموا في الجامعة: انيس الخوري المقدسي، يوسف اسعد داغر، فؤاد صروف جبرائيل جبور، متى عقراوي، انيس فريحة، نبيه امين فارس، شارل مالك، نقولا زيادة، زين نور الدين زين، عفيف مفرج، قسطنطين زريق، وديع ديب، فؤاد طرزي، خليل حاوي، ابرهيم مفرج، احسان عباس، انطون غطاس كرم، محمد يوسف نجم، خليل سالم، سليم الحص، كمال الصليبي، ايلي سالم، طريف الخالدي، وفيليب سالم.

بداية النشيد الوطني ثم نشيد الجامعة الاميركية في بيروت، ثم قدم ابرهيم خوري الاحتفال محيياً الحضور ومقدماً رئيس جمعية متخرجي الجامعة الاميركية فواز المرعبي الذي رحب بالحضور وخصوصاً الرئيس سليم الحص، وتوقف عند الالتزام المادي والمعنوي للمتخرجين لدعم الجامعة ومساعدتها. وحيا ذكرى المؤسسين الذين عملوا لتبقى قيم الجامعة وتستمر وتنتشر.

ثم كانت كلمة لمدير "دار نلسن للنشر" الزميل سليمان بختي الذي قال: "تمنيت، وانا في سبيلي الى هذه الكلمة، لو اننا نستعيد زمن وجوه نيرة في الجامعة الاميركية في بيروت"، وما احلى النعم لو تدوم. ولكن الزمن الجميل لا يستعاد الا بروح التأسيس". واضاف: "يؤتى الكبار الغائبون والحاضرون كما تؤتى رؤوس الينابيع لاستعادة العافية البكر. وكم نحن في حاجة اليها في زمن الحيرة والقلق والتردي". واشار "الى ان هذا الوقت يشير الى معنيين وكتاب وصورة.

المعنى الأول يوم المؤسسين، والمعنى الثاني ان نكرم ونتذكر كوكبة من الاساتذة العلماء الذين اخذوا الرسالة من يد المؤسسين وسكبوا فيها ضوء العين وجذوة الروح وشغف العمر. وصنعوا نهضة تربوية وثقافية في الجامعة والمجتمع. والكتاب هو ثمرة الحب والوفاء. وان ما يبقى حياً في الوجدان هو العطاء الذي يدفع بالانسان نحو قيم اعلى. اما الصورة فهي في التعاون بين جمعية متخرجي الجامعة ودار نلسن للنشر لأجل لقاء حول معنى له طعم التأسيس ونكهة العطاء. انها صورة مشرقة للمجتمع المدني في ابهى تجلياته".

ثم كلمة لنقيب الصحافة محمد بعلبكي الذي حيا "يوم المؤسسين" الذين لولاهم، لخسرنا الكثير. تذكر النقيب انه تابع دراسته بمنحة من المقاصد ومنحة من الجامعة الاميركية. وتذكر "زمن الحرب الاهلية البربرية والدعوات التي طالبت بترحيل الجامعة وأقفالها، وكيف تصدى الرئيس الحص ورفاقه لذلك من خلال المؤتمر الدائم لدعم الجامعة الاميركية". وتذكر يوم دمر مبنى الكولدج هول. وقال ان "هذه الجامعة هي أمنا وبها ومعها ننهض نحو العلى". وختم محيياً الجامعة والمتخرجين وذكرى المؤسسين وتوقف عند الاساتذة في الكتاب الذين لهم الفضل الكبير على اجيال، ولأجل نهضة التربية والتعليم والثقافة. ثم كان توقيع للكتاب وسط حشد لافت من الحضور ترأسه الرئيس الحص والنائب تمام سلام، والوزراء والنواب السابقون محمد يوسف بيضون وعصام نعمان وبيار دكاش واحمد سويد وجبران طوق وبهاء عيتاني وصلاح الحركة والسفير المغربي علي اومليل. وكان مؤثرا حضور ابناء، واحفاد المكرمين الذين فتشوا حثوا في الكتاب عن صورة او فكرة تقول جديداً عن عطاء لا ينفد ولا يخبو لانه بناء للانسان.

13-Dec-10 7:00 PM

The invitation to the AUB Founder's Day (144th)

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:00:00 GMT

On the 144^thAmerican University of Beirut (AUB) Founder’s Day, Thursday, December 9, 2010, the university alumni commemorated the event in a reception held at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut. In collaboration with Nelson House for publishing, the alumni celebrated the launching of a new book on the most distinguished 25 professors of the university over its life span of 144 years. These faculty members excelled in academia and many of them served in extremely important posts at the university or outside it. Of the 25 faculty members depicted in the book, only 5 are still alive and they are Salim El-Hoss, Kamal Salibi, Elie Salem, Tarif Khalidi and Philip Salem.

The ceremony started with Mr. Ibrahim Khoury of AUB press and information department speaking on the meaning of the Founder’s Day. The president of the alumni, Mr. Muraby welcomed the audience and in particular Mr. El-Hoss who was the only one of the 25 faculty members able to attend the ceremony. Mr. Bakhti , the president of Nelson House for Publishing said “it is very befitting that we are here to remember and celebrate the genius of these faculty members and to remember the message of AUB. We are celebrating their contributions as they were responsible for the educational, cultural and scientific renaissance at AUB, Lebanon, and the Arab world”. At the end, the president of the press syndicate in Lebanon, Mohammed Baalbaki, spoke about the role of AUB and how AUB survived the war in Lebanon, and how important the message of AUB is, not only to the Arab world, but also to the whole world. Mr. Baalbaki said “contrary to the dark state of politics in this part of the world, these graduates and faculty members of AUB have contributed immensely for the advancement of mankind”. He spoke about “Mr. El Hoss and the other scholars in politics who refined the art of political debate” and he also spoke about “the Khalil Hawis who transformed Arabic literature, and the Philip Salems who transformed medicine and who alleviate human suffering every day.”

The book is authored by Mr. Michel Jeha, a professor of Arabic literature, and a graduate of AUB.

The above piece was published in Arabic in Annahar newspaper of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, December 11, 2010.

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13-Dec-10 7:00 PM

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Today is the 62^ndcommemoration day for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which constitutes one of the major achievements of the United Nations. This Declaration was born at the end of the Second World War and is considered the first attempt by an international organization to focus on the human individual and his rights. It was the beginning of the Cold War between the East and the West and there was then a conflict between two divergent ideologies: the first maintained that the individual must work, and even be sacrificed for the sake of the state, and the second believed that the state must work for the sake of the individual.

How proud, we, the Lebanese, are when we remember that a man from our land was the primary mover behind this Declaration, and if it were not for him, this Declaration would not have seen the light. This man was Charles Malik, one of the distinguished men who elevatedLebanon to the world. Also, he was one of the great philosophers who spoke on the uniqueness and the greatness of the individual person and the significance of freedom. Although I think this historical document is extremely important for the protection of human rights and for their promotion all over the world, I believe it failed to address in a clear and unequivocal way what I consider the most important issue relating to the future of man and his right to life. This issue is the right to health.

Article 3 of the Declaration states: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. But I would like to ask, what does the “right to life” in this article mean? Evidently, it does not mean the right to health as Article 25 stipulates: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family including food, clothing, housing and medical care, necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”. It is clear from the above two articles that those who authored the Charter of Human Rights [John Peters Humphrey (Canada), René Cassin (France), P.C. Chang (China), and Charles Malik (Lebanon)], failed to define the basic and organic relationship between the right to life and the right to health. Accordingly, the right to health was not a central issue in the Charter. This is where I differ. I believe there is no human right more important than the right to health, as health is necessary for life. Without health, there is no life and without life, there are no human rights. For this reason I recommended to the United Nations in the past to revise Article 3 and now I look forward to working with those serving on its Human Rights Committee to change this Article to read as follows: “The most important and sacred human right is the right to life, but this right is not possible without the right to health, as life depends on health. Consequently, all governments and societies are urged to consider healthcare a priority and should strive to provide medical care to all citizens”. What does this revision mean and what is its impact? This revision heralds a revolution in our commitment to Human Rights as the right to health becomes a priority in the policies and strategies of governments all over the world, contrary to the present situation, where healthcare is treated as a low priority. Also, one of the important indices to assess the commitment of a country to human rights will be its commitment to healthcare.

What does the right to health mean? It means three things: first, the right to prevention of disease. Second, the right to early detection. Third, the right to medical care when needed. To achieve these objectives, new health policies need to be established and civil society needs to be mobilized. Healthcare is not only the responsibility of governments as people may think, but is also the responsibility of society at large. The tragedy today is that most health policies around the world remain in the hands of traditional politicians, but it is my conviction that such policies should be above politics in its’ traditional sense, as health relates to every person irrespective of his political, religious or societal affiliation. Health should be apolitical. Take for example, the debate that lasted for many months this year in the United States Congress which revolved around one point, and one point only, and that is how to reduce healthcare costs. I cannot help but ask why not one single Congressman had the courage to speak on prevention of disease as the most effective way of reducing cost? Reduction of cost at the expense of the quality of medical care is a very expensive mistake. In my opinion the most efficient way of reducing cost without the risk of reducing quality of medical care is to establish comprehensive policies for the prevention and early detection of disease. What politicians do not know is that prevention of disease not only reduces financial costs, but reduces what is by far more important, human suffering. After the strategy of prevention comes the strategy of early detection. The latter demands health policies that provide the right of every person to undergo an annual check up. My motto in this regard is, “if consulting the doctor is necessary when you are sick, consulting him when you are healthy is even more important”. The chances of cure from any disease are extremely high when the disease is discovered early and these chances decrease as the disease advances. In regard to the right to good medical care when one falls ill, I do not know of a more threatening enemy to man than disease, or a more brutal power that could strip him of his dignity. Isn’t it a shame that people do not realize the significance of health and the sacredness of the right to health until they become sick? What about patients who need medical care for a prolonged period of time and who combat disease everyday? These people painfully know the meaning of humiliation and disgrace. Also, what about those patients who have no access to a doctor or medication? What do human rights mean to those people if they do not have the right to health? And what does the right to freedom or the right to education mean to a person who is battling death? This is why I am recommending that the right to health be the first and most sacred right of the human rights. I would also like to emphasize that the real index for measuring the status of civilization in a country, should not be the military power it possesses, or the social and financial prosperity of its citizens. It should be the commitment of that country to the health of its people. How shameful that there are great nations like the United States of America which claim to not have adequate financial resources to provide health care to their citizens, but at the same time have all the resources to launch the most expensive wars in history. Indeed, how ironic it is that people, who are considered heroes in the world today and in the past, are heroes of wars and heroes of death and destruction.

Life is a gift from God. It was given to man. Man is not capable of conceiving it or earning it. Only God is capable of creating it and giving it, but health is a necessary condition for the maintenance of life, as without health life may disintegrate. To glorify God, we should also glorify His gift and consequently acknowledge the role of health in preserving it.

May the believers amongst you, please come, and let us all glorify Him.

This article was originally published in Arabic in the Annahar newspaper of Beirut Lebanon as a front page editorial on Friday December 10, 2010

13-Dec-10 6:00 PM

MY MESSAGE TO THE GRADUATES

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Nearly half a century ago, I graduated from The American University of Beirut and began my career in medicine. From that time to this day it has been a long journey. A journey which was abundant in pain and joy, and was also rich in success and failure. I am not here today to give you advice but I have come to share with you what I have learned from success and failure with the hope that this will illuminate the road ahead of you.

I have learned that knowledge is the power that frees us from slavery and that ignorance is the most extreme and powerful kind of slavery. Thus, do not repeat the popular proverb, “I’m a slave to the one who taught me a letter,” but rather say, “The one who taught me a letter has freed me from my slavery.” No power can break the chains that enslave you like knowledge can. Also I say to you the deeper you delve into knowledge, the closer you get to God. And the closer you get to God, the more you become one and the distances that separate you diminish.

Here in our land, in Lebanon and the Middle East, there are two conflicting cultures struggling to survive and compete: The culture of knowledge of which you are its product and the culture of religious and ideological extremism. While religious extremism freezes man and draws artificial boundaries between him and his fellow man, knowledge comes and eliminates all these boundaries. Sectarianism divides while knowledge unites. Sectarianism pulls you down and makes you smaller while knowledge pushes you up and makes you taller. That is why we must insist on the separation not only between religion and state, but also between religion and education. The Lebanon we want will not rise from its ashes unless we free it from the chains of sectarianism.

I have learned that creativity and excellence are not possible if you do not love your work. Love is the force that converts work from something you do and remains outside of you into something you do and becomes you. "Work is love made visible," said Gibran. Also I dare to say to you, the type of work you do is not as important as how much you fill that work with love and how much you commit yourself to it. I would also like to emphasize to you that love is not just necessary to succeed at work but it is also necessary for a more important kind of success, success in life. If you want to fill your life with meaning, fill it with love. All shadows of Love. Love between you and your family, you and your friends, you and your country, and “When you love,” said Al-Mustafa in “The Prophet”, “you should not say, God is in my heart, but rather, I am in the heart of God ".

I have learned that the road to success always is paved with failure and that you cannot reach success without passing through failure. This is why those who are afraid of failure can never achieve success. Failure is not a sin. The sin is not to learn from it; as failure may be the greatest teacher you ever come to know. However, the largest sin is to blame others for your failure. It has been said “A man can fail many times, but he does not become a failure until he starts to blame others.”

I have learned that money, glamour, authority and fame are major powers. But, the biggest challenge is how you use them and how you tame them so they never work against you, but always remain power for you. Many reached the high peaks but also quickly tumbled to the bottom of the abyss. They tumbled because they were unable to tame success. Success is like riding a very wild horse, if you cannot reign it, you will fall from its back. To avoid tumbling to the bottom, you need to remember that humility is the highest summit you may reach within yourself. Also you need not forget that your success will not be success for you if it is not also success for others.

I have learned that one will not find happiness and contentment unless he is free from his outer rusted shells. Thus I came to tell you that if you don’t free yourselves from your false shells, you would never reach your truth, and those who do not reach their inner truth cannot be the masters of their lives, and hence, they constantly live in a state of psychological distortion and self deception. Thus, I say to you if you do not peel your masks off your faces and you stand naked before the face of God, your quest to achieve happiness will remain a mirage.

This is some of what I have learned, dear graduates, and I put it in your hands hoping it might be useful to you. But tonight I have to confess to you that I am worried about you. I am also concerned about man’s future throughout the world, as man’s greatest attributes are diminishing day after day, and man’s greatest virtues are being crushed by the daunting and harsh progresses of science and technology. I am afraid that a day may come whereby anything that cannot be programmed into a computer will be considered non-existent. This will be an enormous tragedy as the most important things in life cannot be entered into the computer. Love, compassion, affection, kindness, mercifulness, tolerance, pride, magnanimity, dignity and nobility... these are all attributes that define the greatness of the human experience but they clearly remain outside the realm of technology. Already, In the West, they laugh at you when you speak of nobleness, and I will not be surprised if one day our children search the word ‘nobleness’ in the dictionary and do not find it. Dear graduates, I am the son of science and technology and I am a proud student of medical scientific research but I am afraid that a day may come when the mind assassinates the heart and man becomes heartless. For then, life would lose all meaning and darkness would fall upon the world.

Also, I would like to address something which means a lot to me, loyalty. Loyalty to your parents, to your teachers, to those who have helped you and above all loyalty to your country. It is no secret that the Lebanese wars were not the result of our failure to build a strong and sovereign state, as much as they were the result of our lack of loyalty to our country. I want to ask you for forgiveness because our generation failed to build a Lebanon worthy of you. We hope your generation will build a new Lebanon; a Lebanon which is as great as its history and as great as its imposing worldwide presence.

When we look at this Arab Middle East, what do we see? We see deserts of frozen thoughts and political regimes that do not respect the greatness of the individual and do not believe in his freedom. We see the emergence of religious extremism and violence. These so-called “revolutions” of extremism and violence constitute the most significant threat to modern civilization and to man. They are actually revolutions against man and his dignity, as they cripple the mind, crush the individual, and assail God. Tomorrow you must rebel against this reality and change it.

Dear graduates. Go, work, sow the soil and follow your dreams but do not ever forget who you are, where you come from, who your parents are and which land is your homeland. Eight thousand miles away from here, on my desk, in my office in the city of Houston, there is an olive branch from my tree, a bottle of oil from my olive grove and a handful of soil from my home village. This is not only to remind me of where I had come from, but also to remind me of who I am.

Tomorrow, you begin a new chapter in your life and you will be busy with your daily work, but please set aside a few minutes every day to pray to God. Thank Him for all His blessings and ask Him to protect your parents and loved ones from harm. Also for Lebanon, please pray and ask Him to “look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock which Thy right hand planted.”

May the Heavens bless you. As for the Land, our homeland, it calls upon you and asks you, "Abide in my love as I have abided in yours."

May the peace of God be upon you, and may your parents’ prayers be with you.

Speech delivered at the commencement ceremony of the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Byblos, Lebanon on July 1, 2010. Dr. Salem was the commencement speaker and on this occasion LAU bestowed on him an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters. The speech was subsequently published as an editorial on the front page of Annahar daily news paper in Beirut on July 15, 2010.

2-Nov-10 6:00 PM

Oncology Humanized

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:45:00 GMT

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13-Sep-10 5:45 PM

Cancer Pioneer

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:00:00 GMT

St. Luke's official announcement of
Philip A. Salem, M.D. Chair

St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital (St. Luke’s) announces the Philip A. Salem, M.D., Chair in Cancer Research, established to honor Dr. Salem’s contributions to cancer medicine. “We are enormously gratified to announce that St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital has formally established the Philip A. Salem, M.D., Chair in Cancer Research to serve as a lasting tribute to his leadership and vision in the field of oncology. He has spent his professional life overcoming challenges that others only dreamed of conquering and this chair recognizes his contributions to advances in cancer treatment.” Said Margaret M. Van Bree, CEO, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, and senior vice president, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System.

“It is very humbling to receive such an honor,” said Dr. Salem, director of St. Luke’s Cancer Research Program. “I’m thankful and privileged for the opportunity to treat cancer patients and conduct cancer research. I hope this endowment will pave the way for future physicians to do more research and discover new treatments. Research is the key to diminishing human suffering.”

For patients such as Dallas businessman Daryl Snadon, Dr. Salem’s knowledge, commitment and compassion offer extended years of life and hope. Snadon, who received pancreatic cancer treatment more than 10 years ago at St. Luke’s, now leads a cancer-free life, thanks to Dr. Salem.

“It’s hard to find a doctor like him,” said Snadon, the principal fundraiser for the Salem Chair in Cancer Research. “His concern and unique approach to patient care is inspiring to others. I’m grateful that he and his team helped me become cancer-free. I hope his legacy will help other physicians and patients.”

Dr. Salem began treating cancer 42 years ago. He received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut College of Medicine in 1965. He began his career in cancer research and treatment as a fellow in medical oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York in 1968. After two years at this center, he moved to Houston and spent an additional year of fellowship at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

In September, 1971, Dr. Salem returned to Beirut and joined the American University of Beirut Medical Center where he established the first cancer research and treatment program in the Arab world. He continued to serve on the faculty of this university until 1986. In January, 1987, Dr. Salem joined the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, as professor of cancer treatment and research. In September, 1991, he joined St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital as the first director of its cancer research program.

“Dr. Salem’s vast experience in cancer research is a great testament to the extensive body of knowledge that the St. Luke’s medical staff is known for worldwide,” said Dr. Van Bree. “St. Luke’s is fortunate to have such an accomplished physician as Dr. Salem.”

Dr. Salem has been recognized for his contributions to cancer medicine all over the world. In the early 1970s he was among the first researchers to demonstrate that a chronic repetitive infectious insult to the gastrointestinal mucosa would eventually lead to inflammatory changes that left untreated would progress to malignancy. In addition, he discovered that treating these infections with antibiotics at an early stage could actually prevent and reverse the development of cancer. His work on Immunoproliferative Small Intestinal Disease (a form of intestinal cancer that starts as a benign process and deteriorates into malignancy), and the relationship between infection and the development of cancer in the intestine has become a classic in modern medicine. His pioneering work with chemoprevention (reversing the course of progression from benign to malignant disease), has led to some of today’s major research breakthroughs and concepts that focus on isolating and treating such precancerous infections and conditions. The pioneering work conducted by Dr. Salem and others during the last 30 years was part of the process that led to the Nobel Prize winning research linking a bacterium called H. pylori to stomach cancer. That prize was awarded to two Australian scientists in the year 2005. Dr. Salem says “The concept that a regular simple infection could eventually lead to malignancy and if this infection is treated and eradicated early, cancer can be prevented, was considered heresy 20 years ago, but now is recognized as one of the major achievements of modern cancer research”. He adds “The awarding of the Nobel Prize for research linking cancer to infection and the development of the cervical cancer vaccine has set the stage for the new era. In the last 50 years, research has focused on treating established disease, and that was good. However, it is time now to promote research for disease prevention. The impact of the latter research will be enormous”.

In 1992, as director of St. Luke’s Cancer Research Program, Dr. Salem led a team of St. Luke’s investigators in collaboration with the Texas Community Oncology Network from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The alliance resulted in the introduction of more than 30 clinical cancer research trials. He was the St. Luke’s principal investigator for the national study on chemoprevention of breast cancer. That study eventually led to the recognition that breast cancer is indeed preventable. These trials confirmed that women at high risk for breast cancer can reduce their chances for developing the disease in the future if they receive drugs like raloxifene or tamoxifen. This was a milestone in research on breast cancer and its prevention.

In addition to the above, Dr. Salem was responsible for defining the role of one of the major and most commonly used drugs in cancer therapy, cisplatinum. Cisplatinum was discovered in the early 70s as an agent of potential use in cancer treatment, but was extremely toxic when given in one single dose.

At M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and with his team, Dr. Salem worked on the fractionation of the dose of cisplatinum and instead of giving the whole dose over a period of 1-2 hours; the dose was given over several days. Fractionation of the dose made the drug significantly less toxic and more efficacious. Due to his work, cisplatinum is now used safely all over the world.

Besides his contributions to medicine, Dr. Salem made major contributions to America. In May, 1994, he received the Senatorial Medal of Freedom which is the highest honor that members of the U.S. Senate can bestow on any one. In May, 1998, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition Organization (NECO) for his exceptional humanitarian efforts and outstanding contributions to American science. In March, 2006, he was honored in Rome as “the Scientist of the Year” by La Fondazione Foedus Cultura Impresa Solidarietà (National Italian Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Culture). A book on his life and ideas has been published and two other similar books are in production. Dr. Salem continues to serve as Director of Cancer Research at St. Luke’s and principal investigator for many of the research projects at this hospital, including those on the prevention of breast cancer. Lastly, St. Luke’s would like to salute his pioneering spirit which is critical to the way cancer will be diagnosed and treated in the future. This Chair is “an investment in landmark advancements for generations to come” says Dr. Van Bree.

9-Mar-10 2:00 PM

Mondanite Magazine

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:15:00 GMT

Dr. Salem’s Interview

Mondanité Magazine

Beirut, Lebanon

November, 2009

It would be impossible to know the true Philip Salem without appreciating the strength of his attachment to the land and the people of his birth. Indeed, throughout his life, the little village of Bterram where his life story began has remained his spiritual and emotional anchor.

I can still remember when I traveled from Australia to meet with him one summer while he was visiting his family home in Bterram, he told me quite candidly that it was here, among the limestone houses and the olive and fig trees, that he was happiest. At that point, he had been living outside of Lebanon for almost 20 years and yet the allure of his birth place had not faded. “

Frances Mourani
Editor of a new book entitled “Philip Salem, the son of Lebanon”.

Q. Dr. Salem what does it mean to you to be of Lebanese Origin?

A. I have always said that if I were not Lebanese, I would not recognize who I am. I am in love with Lebanon and its people, and I am very proud of being Lebanese. Although I live in America, and I travel all over the world, the only land I feel is my land is Lebanon.

As a doctor, of course, I feel I am a citizen of the world. The whole world is my home, and all mankind is my family. However, my political and cultural identity is Lebanon.

Q. Tell us about your childhood and youth memories in Lebanon?

A. Until I was 14 years of age, my village, Bterram, was the whole world to me. By now I have been in America some 23 years, but whenever I visit Bterram, I feel that every tree and every stone recognizes me, and welcomes me. I feel very fortunate to be born in a village. You cannot possibly know the truth of Lebanon if you have not lived in a Lebanese village.

I was also very fortunate to have the parents I had. My father believed in the importance of reason, education and hard work. My mother on the other hand believed in the importance of love and giving. My father emphasized the power of the mind, my mother emphasized the power of the heart. I was fortunate to inherit their genes. The family house in which I lived in Bterram remains the most sacred place to me in the whole world and it is the center of existence for me. Only in that house, I am 100% myself. I have had only love, joy and happiness in that house. Until today, there is no place on earth that could give me the warmth and the peace that I need more than that house.

Q. How did you choose to be an oncologist?

A. I graduated from the Medical School at the American University of Beirut in June of 1965. From 1965 to 1968 I trained in internal medicine, and I was preparing myself to be a kidney specialist. However, one incident changed my whole life. A woman, who was very close to me, developed ovarian cancer and I accompanied her through her journey with the disease. I was very traumatized by that experience. That experience made me decide to be a cancer doctor rather than a kidney doctor. I loved the challenge and I had all the passion for it. When I discussed this decision with my family, friends and teachers, very few encouraged me to do so, but I was convinced down to the bone that this is the best thing that I could do. I never regretted that decision.

Q. Can you tell us something about your journey with cancer?

A. In June 1968 I joined Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and my boss was David Karnovsky, the founder of cancer medicine. Six to seven months into my training at Sloan-Kettering, Dr. Karnovsky and I bonded like father and son. He, himself, developed cancer and I took care of him. Before he died he visited Iran and on his way he stopped in Beirut and visited Bterram for three days. He stayed in our house in Bterram all that time and when he returned to New York he told me that this was the most fascinating trip he ever made. I had told him so much about Bterram that he felt the urge to visit and meet its people. He was very moved by the reception he had in the village.

After I finished my training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering I went to the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and I did an extra year of training. I returned to Beirut in 1971 and I joined the staff of the American University of Beirut (AUB). From 1971-1986 I was in charge of the cancer program and I trained 23 physicians; 20 of whom I eventually succeeded to bring with me to the United States and to train in the best cancer centers. Some 5 to 6 of these are now national leaders in cancer research. This is probably one of my biggest achievements having trained all these doctors and eventually seeing them flourish to become world leaders in cancer research. In addition to being in charge of the cancer program at AUB, I was also the president of the Lebanese Cancer Society and I did many campaigns to educate the public about cancer.

In January 1987, I returned to the United States and I served on the faculty of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center as a professor of cancer medicine and research. In 1991 I established Salem Oncology Centre and until now I am the president of this center, and the director of cancer research at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital where I have privileges, established a chair in my name, the “Philip Salem Cancer Research Chair“, in recognition to my contributions to cancer medicine. I am very humbled by this honor.

Q. What are the latest research results and treatment to cure cancer?

A. First, let me tell you in simple terms that if we exercise all knowledge we know about cancer, we can eradicate at least 75% of all cancers. The major problem today is that we are not able to exercise the knowledge that we have accumulated about prevention and treatment of cancer. Only very few patients (probably less than 5%) receive appropriate treatment and this is the major problem.

At the same time we cannot say that the problem of cancer has been conquered. Although we can cure a minimum of 40-50% of patients, we still lose too many. However, research is making a lot of progress and it now revolves around two major concepts.

· The first concept is developing drugs which target only the cancer cells and do not harm the normal cells. We already have several drugs like this. One of these drugs is Gleevec which is only a pill that a patient takes. Patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia may even achieve cure by treatment with Gleevec.

· The second concept is that a chronic infection may eventually lead to cancer. When I was a professor at AUB, I published extensively on a disease that afflicts people in the Mediterranean countries and the Middle East. This disease was a model of how an infection in the small intestine may eventually lead to the development of cancer. I did not realize the significance of that concept then. But a few years later, this concept became the cornerstone in the development of a new field in cancer research called chemoprevention. Take for example cervical cancer in women; we now know that an infection by the Human Papilloma Virus may lead to cancer of the cervix. If we prevent this infection with the vaccine Gardasil, the cancer will never develop. This is a model of how we can develop strategies to prevent infection and consequently prevent cancer. I am proud to say I was one of the very early researchers in the seventies who came up with this concept. You can imagine if we identify all kinds of infections that could cause cancer and we develop strategies to prevent them, we can probably cure or prevent a lot of cancers. I strongly suspect that many cancer diseases could be the result of chronic infections.

Q. How can we prevent cancer?

A. One of the biggest challenges to mankind is tobacco smoking. The cigarette kills a minimum of 5 to 6 million people a year worldwide. There is no war that would kill that number of people annually. Although this is a huge problem, its prevention is not that difficult. The major obstacle here is the interfacing between politicians and the tobacco industry. In America most politicians are supported by the tobacco industry. Approximately 1/3 of all cancers that afflict man are tobacco related.

It is difficult to say in few words all the strategies for the prevention of cancer. The best advice I can give to people is to identify one day a year for a check up. This is the most important advice that I can give to the public. This is so important because most cancers are curable when diagnosed early.

Q. Do you believe that cancer can be cured by a supernatural miracle?

A. I have 42 years of experience in cancer medicine and research and I have not yet seen a single patient who has been cured of cancer from outside the miracle of the mind. Only God can make miracles, and God has created the human mind which is capable of acquiring knowledge and with knowledge we can conquer disease. I was on several committees that relate to the authentication of miracles, and every “miracle” I had examined was not a miracle. I only believe in the miracle of the mind. At the same time I would like to say that I cannot believe that there is anyone who has more faith than I do. I thank the Lord everyday. I am a great believer in his power. I believe it is only He who can make miracles; no one else can.

Q. You say I believe “when you treat cancer we need to remember that we are not treating the disease in vacuum, we are treating the human being who has the disease there is a big difference between giving a good treatment and giving a good care” can you explain this?

A. When we treat cancer, we are not only treating the disease. There is a human being behind the disease who has concerns, fears, and anxiety. He is threatened by death and is in a state of shock. He should be recognized as a total person, and the need to alleviate his fears and to address all of his concerns is of extreme importance. Doctors who only treat diseases are failures. It is only when you love your patient and you treat the patient as a whole, you can cure him. Also, I want to emphasize that when we treat patients, it is not only the medical treatment which is important, but supportive treatment as well. Supportive treatment is what we give along with chemotherapy to prevent the toxicity of chemotherapy and to make the patient live as close to normal as possible. In addition to supportive care, good care means easy accessibility to the doctor and to the nurses, it means continuity of care on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and it means that the doctor is always ready to sit down and talk to the patient. In the climate of medical care we live in today, doctors are only interested in treating diseases. They have no time for the human being behind the disease. Taking care of the whole patient is time consuming and some doctors are not willing to give a lot of their time. This is a major challenge for medical care, not only in America but all over the world. In the treatment of cancer, compassion, love, caring, understanding, and human warmth are as important as the basic medical treatment. This is why I am in the process of finishing a book on cancer treatment, entitled “Knowledge alone is not enough”

Q. What are the most important factors that determine the cure of a patient?

A. This is an extremely important question because unfortunately more than 90% of patients do not receive adequate treatment that could provide them with cure. The factors that determine cure are the following:

1. The exact nature of the cancer and how malignant it is.

2. How far advanced the cancer is.

3. The adequacy of the treatment the patient receives.

4. Courage and perseverance, not only on the side of the patient but more importantly on the side of the doctor. Many cancer patients die because their doctors give up on them very early. Those doctors do not have the courage and perseverance necessary to go forward. Also, if the patient does not have enough courage and perseverance, he may choose to stop treatment early. The only people who win the war are the ones who go to war fully charged and prepared to win.

Q. You deal with life and death, hope and disillusionment, courage and fear, where do you get your strength from?

A. I believe in the power of hope and I believe in what I am doing. I believe treating the cancer patient is the most noble thing in the world. I cannot think of a job more noble than mine. My strength originates from my belief in the power of science and knowledge. Also, I believe in the power of love and compassion. My motto has always been “the doctor who does not love his patient cannot cure him”. There is no joy greater than the joy of curing a cancer patient and I must tell you that I have cured hundreds of patient whom I did not think I could cure when I started their treatment. It is the power of courage and perseverance that eventually led to their cure. We should never forget that a patient, who is not curable today, may become curable tomorrow. As time passes by, new drugs emerge and a drug which is not available to us today may become available in a few months; therefore, you can rarely say that this patient is not curable. One should never lose hope and faith. My philosophy is to do my utmost and only after I do my utmost, I would pray to God and I would ask him for help. I never ask for help before I make sure that I have done my very best.

Q. You say “here in my clinic I am closest to God. Here I feel the awe of responsibility, the responsibility of life and death. Also here I feel the awe of nobility and sacredness?”

A. A cancer doctor’s work and his relationship with his patients are sacred. To achieve sacredness, the doctor should rise above himself.

Q. Can you tell us more about the sacred responsibility?

A. This is an extremely important concept. I do not believe that my relationship with my patient is a relationship between a doctor and his client. This is not a business relationship, nor a legal contract, as it is thought here in America. Medicine is above business, above law, and is above everything else. The relationship between me and my patient is sacred because it is partially divine. Only God can give life, and I am here with God’s hand touching mine to help me cure my patients. This is a kind of recreation of life; conquering death, salvaging life; a divine act which is something from God. It is something sacred, and this is not a normal relationship between one human being and another. It is a relationship between a human being who is threatened by death and another human being who is working hard to salvage his life.

When I say that the doctor should rise above himself, I mean, as I always say, the difference between a great doctor and an ordinary one is that an ordinary doctor thinks of his interests when he sees the patient, while a great doctor thinks of the patient’s interests and not his own. When you are a doctor, and you are treating patients, the focus should be the patient, not you, not your prestige, not your business, not your income, not your name, and not your reputation as a doctor. The only one who is of importance is the patient and his life. This is why I always emphasize that the doctor should keep his ego at home before he goes to work.

Q. Seeing so much pain and suffering of so many human beings, does this affect your faith, what have you learned?

A. I always wondered whether there has been a human who has seen more cruelty than I. I have seen the cruelty of disease against man in my 42 years of experience with cancer and I have seen the cruelty of man against man in the war in Lebanon. I believe the cruelty of man against man is more cruel than the cruelty of disease against man. My experience with death and suffering has taught me the importance and the beauty of life and health. It is a pity that people start thinking about their quality of life when they get close to death, and it is a pity that people at large take life for granted. Life is the greatest gift we have and I cannot think of a greater gift than the gift of health. If you have health, you have all the wealth. This is why my sympathy does not go to the poor. The poor who are healthy do not have my sympathy. My sympathy, compassion and love are all focused on the sick. My motto has always been, “if you are healthy you have no reason to complain”.

Furthermore, I must tell you that my knowledge of the human body and how the body functions makes me a great believer. You cannot see the beauty of the human body and how this body functions and not be in awe of the creator. The more you know about life and the biology of life, the more you realize that life cannot be the product of an accident. It is by a power far beyond us. I am one of those who believe that scientific knowledge is the way to God. The more you know about man and about the cosmos, the more you should realize that this could not have possibly been a result of a physical accident.

Q. What about your political engagement?

A. As much as I am committed to the struggle of man against disease, I am committed to the struggle for the resurrection of Lebanon. I lived the Lebanese war, and during the war I treated many of the big political players in that massive tragedy. I knew what the problem was. The problem in Lebanon has always been the lack of a political leadership. Since the creation of Lebanon, Lebanon has never witnessed or had an intelligent political leadership. The Lebanese leadership has always been incompetent, and in most cases very corrupt. I am a great believe in leadership. If the best people in the world do not have a leader, then nothing can be achieved. Leadership is what takes people to the peak of glory.

Also, I would like to say that Lebanon has been the victim of its geography and its politicians. In regard to geography, Lebanon is chained between Syria and Israel. Israel does not want Lebanon because it is the anti-thesis of Israel. Lebanon is a pluralistic culture and society where Islam and Christianity coexist, where the East and the West can have dialogue. Israel is a country carved only for an ethnic and religious group. It is the only country in the whole world which is based on ethnicity. On the other side Syria has always believed that Lebanon has been severed from greater Syria and it would like to recapture it back. This is the reason why Syria never recognized the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon. Also, when I say that Lebanon is the victim of its politicians, this in, my opinion, is probably the root of the Lebanese crisis. The bulk of our politicians have no loyalty whatsoever to Lebanon. They are always ready to trade it for anything that would bring back wealth and prestige. There are very few Lebanese politicians who could rise above their own personal interest. When Iraq invaded Kuwait over a period of many months, the Iraqis could not identify more than 6 or 7 Kuwaitis that would cooperate with them. In Lebanon, if Syria goes into Lebanon and occupy it the next day, three quarters of Lebanon would be with Syria. If Israel invades Lebanon, thousands of Lebanese would ally with Israel. This question of loyalty is an extremely important factor in the continuing drama of the Lebanese crisis. There is no country in the Middle East that has the resources of Lebanon, not even Israel. In spite of that, look where we are. When you have a leader and loyalty, like Dubai, you can see what a leader had made out of the sands. Out of nothing he made a paradise, while we here in Lebanon we had a paradise, but we did everything humanly possible to make it hell.

Q. A personal message to the Mondanité readers?

A. my message is the following:

· Life is not something you have earned, it is something that is given. Please treat it as the best gift you will ever have.

· Most people work hard for a mirage. People believe that success and money are the basic objectives in life, and many times when they achieve them, they realize that their hands are empty. In Lebanon, and the Arab world, people believe in appearances. It is a culture of appearances, but what is important is this internal journey you make inside of yourself. You know that you have succeeded only when you are proud of the person you see in the mirror; and only when you achieve that internal peace and comfort between you and yourself. The real journey in life is inside you and it is not in the public eye.

· The third message is that people should be trained to give, and the easiest form of giving is to give money. I encourage you to give of yourself. Only by giving you reach fulfillment and joy. Please support life, support a sick child who is poor and cannot afford medical care. Support charitable organizations that support life. Be part of the war against disease and against suffering and pain. Be part of the real world. Giving gives your life a meaning. We need to change the motto in the world from “I love you because I need you” to “I need you because I love you”.

27-Nov-09 12:15 PM

KNOWLEDGE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH by Philip A. Salem, M.D.

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Every morning, I close my eyes and embrace the Lord and thank him. I thank him everyday, and I will continue to thank him everyday until my last day. I thank him for everything because if it were not for him, I would not be here. In particular, I thank him for the opportunity he has given me to treat cancer patients.

And, every morning, when I drive to my office in the city of Houston, I ask myself three questions: Is there any work greater than that of treating people threatened by death from cancer? The answer is no. Is there any work which is more noble than saving the life of a human? The answer is no. Is there any work I love more than mine? The answer is no. At this moment I am filled with joy and I am soothed with warm inner peace,

When I arrive in my clinic, and I see my patients, I feel I am as close to God as possible. My clinic is my church. Here I pray, during the day, all day. My prayer is in sharing with my patients their pain and their suffering, and also in sharing with them the joy of hope and the glory of resurrection of life. Here in my clinic I feel the awe of responsibility; the responsibility of life and death. Also, here I feel the awe of nobility and sacredness. A cancer doctor’s work and his relationship with his patient are sacred. To achieve sacredness, the doctor should rise above himself. He should forget who he is and what his interests are and should only work for others not for himself. To achieve sacredness, the “I” should melt away and become “you”. Giving life is God’s work, and although God alone is capable of giving life, He has bestowed upon man the human mind. This mind is the ultimate miracle of his creation. Without it, there is no being. God has created the mind for man to acquire knowledge. Knowledge is a must to control disease and alleviate suffering and pain. Knowledge is what defines medicine and its greatness. Without it there is no medicine. In medicine there is nothing outside knowledge, and in my 41 years of experience as a cancer physician, researcher and educator, I have never seen one patient who was cured without scientific knowledge, and I have never seen a single miracle beyond the miracle of the human mind.

This is all about knowledge, but the secret that many people, patients and doctors may not know is that knowledge alone is not enough. To cure the cancer patient a lot more than knowledge is needed. The four most important things you need are: love, hope, courage and perseverance.

My motto has always been, and will forever remain, the doctor who does not love his patient, cannot cure him. The patient, in particular the cancer patient, needs a doctor who loves him. Love is the power that bonds the patient and the doctor in an eternal embrace. Without love and compassion, the doctor will never know the human behind the disease, and will not be able to shepherd the patient through his journey with his disease and its treatment. “Love never fails”

Also, hope, I believe is essential for the conquest of disease. I do not think that a doctor has the right to strip the patient completely of hope, even though he may believe that he knows the truth, the whole truth. Khalil Gibran said “who saw the truth coming down from heaven?” Also I say, what might be true today may not be true tomorrow. Science and knowledge grow and expand everyday. Recently, I had lunch with a woman whom I treated 35 years ago. When I started her treatment, I did not believe she had any chance for cure, but during her treatment new drugs emerged and she eventually achieved a cure.

Also, the road to cure needs a lot of courage and perseverance. It is not only the patient who should have courage and perseverance but also the doctor. Many patients lose the courage and perseverance needed to continue treatment because the doctor gives up too early. The road to cure is long and brutal. There are many roadblocks and many big holes. There are countless failures and multiple frustrations. Should the doctor or the patient retreat, every time there is a failure or the patient slides into a hole, they will never reach the end of the road. To reach the end of the road you have to accept failure. You have to accept sliding into the hole and persevering to get out of it and to continue forward with determination. This scenario may happen many times before you reach the end, and achieve cure. Only those who have courage and perseverance reach the end of the road. Only those who go to war and fight it with all their power win the war.

Giving in all its forms is great, but the highest of all of them is giving a human back his life. The life of the doctor is the lives of others, the lives of his patients. There is a great verse in the Quran, "The one who cures one human, cures all mankind".

1-Sep-09 8:00 PM

Michael Debakey - The Real Man Behind the Genius by Dr. Philip A. Salem

Elaine Melnyk - noemail@pasalem.com — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:00:00 GMT

When Michael DeBakey passed away on July 11, 2008, it was a sad day for the world and for mankind, and it was a shock to those of us who had always loved him and admired him, for we considered him immortal. It was difficult to believe that the power of his mind and body could be conquered by disease and death, as for he had always been their conqueror. Since his passing much has been said and written about Michael DeBakey, the foremost heart surgeon, the pioneering researcher, the innovator, the gifted medical educator, the international medical statesman, and, above all, the genius, but little has been said about the man behind the genius. Indeed very few people have had the privilege to know the real man. I feel profoundly privileged to have been one of his close friends and one of who had come to know the essence of man behind the genius. For many years I had the honor of having lunch with him at least biweekly, and I have travelled with him to Lebanon and throughout the world many times. It was not medicine that bonded us, it was Lebanon; our beautiful ancestral country that we both loved so deeply. We were also both reared in the Orthodox Christian faith, and we both adored and revered our parents. Michael DeBakey loved Lebanon, and the Lebanese people reciprocated with affection, pride and admiration. To the Lebanese his name was redolent of a young Lebanese poet Gibran Khalil Gebran who some 100 years ago stood before the towers of New York and said “I’m the descendant of the people who built Damascus, Byblos, Tyre, Sydon, and Antioch, and I am now here in America to build with you and with a will”. In an address he made to young Americans of Syrian origin, Gebran said “I believe that even as your fathers came to this land to produce material riches, you are born here to produce riches by intelligence and labor”. Michael DeBakey, who himself was the American born son of Lebanese immigrants did, indeed, “build and with a will”; did indeed produce “riches by intelligence and labor”; riches that shaped the future of American medicine and defined the greatness of America. No American contributed more to modern medicine, and no surgeon is more deserving of the label “Greatest Surgeon of all time”. How fortunate to be a contemporary of this man, and what even greater honor to be his friend.

Both Gebran and DeBakey were universal in their messages. The message of Khalil Gebran was the power of love; the message of Michael DeBakey was the power of knowledge. Bertrand Russell, the renowned British philosopher and Nobel Laureate, described the combination of love and knowledge as “the greatest force in the world”. It is this combined force, and not physical force, that is needed to save the world and mankind.

Having been raised in a warm and loving Lebanese family, Michael DeBakey had a penchant for Lebanese food, and my office staff, over the years, learned the routine. The Lebanese lunches were served by my staff mainly in his office in the Alkek Tower of the Fondren/Brown Building, and occasionally in my office at St. Luke’s Medical Tower. Sometimes we had a few guests, but usually we were alone. The last time we had lunch together was a week before he died. During that time, he said “Philip, I do not have a lot of time, and I have very few close friends like you. Can we make this lunch regularly every week, when you return from Italy?” “With great pleasure, we certainly will” I answered. Seven days later, I heard the shattering news when I was in my hotel in Rome, Italy. I was stunned and I kept switching channels just to confirm that it was indeed, my friend, Michael DeBakey, who had passed away. I was frozen in disbelief for a few hours, immersed in deep thought about the man I loved deeply who was a father figure as well as a treasured friend to me. He is no longer here. There are no more lunches. That great privilege is gone. Somehow, Houston appeared so distant and so empty.

What do I know about this international icon that the world didn’t? What was real and what was mythical? There is indeed a myth that surrounds every great man, and almost always the myth is larger than the real man, but with Michael DeBakey, the reverse was true. The man towered over the myth.

Unlike most doctors who devote their lives entirely to their work and know little of the outside world, Dr. DeBakey had a panoramic mind with an endless landscape of knowledge. His knowledge was far from limited to medicine, but reached into history, politics, philosophy, religion, music, and literature. He was a Renaissance intellectual in the true sense of the word. There was no field or area of knowledge he was not versed in. With the little time he had for nonmedical adventures, he read extensively, and this mind memorized almost everything he read. What an enhancing memory he had, and what an enormous intellect that not only absorbed knowledge, but assimilated, expanded, and refined it. In politics and history, the Middle East was his favorite. We talked endlessly about the plight of Lebanon and the conflict in the Middle East. Although I lived more than half of my life in Lebanon and have always been a political activist in Lebanese and Arabic affairs, I never left his office without learning something new from him. One thing we never discussed at these sessions was medicine.

Although he was a great scientist, he had a strong and profound faith. I have never known of any man who revered more Christianity and its message. He was a strong symbol of love and forgiveness. He never questioned the reality of Jesus Christ, he always admired His example. He was ever thankful to the Lord for granting him that great mind, that great body, that long life, and his unparalleled achievements. He studied and mastered the human body in all its complexity and wonder, and was puzzled by those who were not in awe of the Creator when faced with the ingenious mechanisms of the human body and mind. He reminded me of the great Arabic Persian, physician and philosopher, Avicenna (Ibn Sina), who said “I studied medicine to understand and appreciate God. Didn’t God create man in His image?”

Few people understood the innocence deep in Michael DeBakey’s heart. To me that innocence was clearly visible and palpable. When he was comfortable and contented, he always gravitated to talking about the young Michael DeBakey who lived in Lake Charles and, at the age of 10, visited with his parents their hometown of Marjayoun, Lebanon, known at that time as the Paradise of the Middle East. His favorite subject of conversation was his father and mother, and he spoke endlessly and lovingly of them and of their enviable qualities. The father was a highly intelligent and prosperous entrepreneur who indoctrinated in his children the highest human and Christian values and who emphasized the importance of education and diligence. His mother whom everyone called a queen, read the Bible daily and radiated love in the home, and he learned from her the art he applied to sewing Dacron grafts. Both of his parents were extremely charitable, but almost always silently. His favorite food was Lebanese, the food his mother prepared when he was a child, and his favorite dish was kibbee, his parents and siblings favorite as well. More than any other human being, his mother was the center of his love and life. He repeatedly told me how fortunate he was to have such model Lebanese parents, who cherished family love, high principles and education. He knew that I was listening and heard his words and that I understood. That bond with his parents and with his siblings was what bonded the two of us.

He was not only fortunate to have model parents, but siblings as well. Anyone who knew Dr. Michael DeBakey as well as I do is aware of how devoted to, and proud he was of, his late brother Ernest, a superb thoracic surgeon of Mobile, Alabama. They were extremely close throughout their lives, and called each other often, whether they were at home or traveling. He was also exceptionally close, personally and professionally to his sisters Selma and Lois, both internationally recognized Professors at Baylor College of Medicine, with whom he shared his office suite and who acted as his colleagues/aides, involved in and supporting every aspect of his spectacular career. They were ever present to help him, support him, and advance his efforts. Colleagues around the country told of his unfailing tributes to them for their support of his efforts and for their pioneering contributions in their own discipline. They dedicated their lives to him; he was their world. He respected their intellect and their integrity, which his parents had instilled in all of them, and he considered it a blessing to have not one, but two such treasures, whom he called his “angels,” in whom he confided his innermost thoughts and ideas, and whom he entrusted his most valuable honors and archives objects. It was a mutually fulfilling and productive triumvitrate. Working with their brother cannot be better described than in the apt words of Khalil Gebran: “Work is love made visible.” And: “You give little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” Michael DeBakey could not have reached the peaks he did without them; they are inarguably a part of his legacy.

The real man was neither harsh nor arrogant, as many people thought. He was very humble and loving. Indeed, this was the only side I ever saw of him. All I saw was love and tenderness, but I can understand the façade of severity and harshness, the product of his total commitment to excellence and his unyielding devotion to his patients. He was certainly a great researcher, innovator, and educator, but beyond any shred of doubt, he was a greater physician. Nothing came before the patient, not his ego, his name, his prestige, or his interests. He was invariably intolerant of mediocrity and could never accept anything less than the best. When it came to the patient’s life, niceties did not count, and he always cut through to the heart of the matter. He was the strongest patient’s advocate, and he never compromised on their lives. That was what made him the great doctor he was.

He exuded confidence, but he was indeed humble. He was a man of integrity - solid integrity. In an era when we witness the assault of bureaucracy, government, and insurance companies on the quality of medical care and on the very essence of the humanitarianism of medicine, none had the courage to challenge those forces more than Michael DeBakey. Of all the “products” of America, the very best in my opinion has been American medicine. Dr. DeBakey was instrumental not only in making this excellent product, but also in preserving its sanctity. In this era of materialism, mechanization, and decline in human values, Michael DeBakey stood as a monument of character, integrity, courage, and above all, humaneness. Despite his giant stature; however, this man was in constant awe of new and expanded knowledge, of the wonder and complexity of the human body, and above all the Creator.

With his death, a part of me has also died. I will miss the lunches, I will miss the dialogues, I will miss the endless hours talking about Lebanon and our parents, I will miss our pure and mutual friendship, I will miss his love and tenderness. I will always miss him deeply. My only solace is that part of him is still alive and still with us. That part is in Selma and Lois. Every time I hug them, I feel he has not died.

May the Lord bless him in heaven, as He blessed him on earth.

20-Jul-08 8:00 PM

GENTE

Elaine Dittoe - noemail@pasalem.com — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:15:00 GMT

/attachments/wysiwyg/1/GENTE.pdf

24-Jun-08 2:15 PM

Dr. Salem speaks of breast cancer

noemail@pasalem.com — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:15:00 GMT

This afternoon on Fox news in Houston, Dr. Philip Salem will be speaking of breast cancer and hormone therapy.

LBC Jan 2 2012

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:12:09 GMT

Business Office

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:11:20 GMT

Paul J. Montes - Business Office
pmontes@pasalem.com

Paul received his BA and his MBA in Finance from the University of Houston. Paul has over 25 years of experience in the medical field and has been part of Salem Oncology Centre since 2009. Paul was born in Cuba but was raised in the United States therefore, he is fluent in Spanish.

Sheila Langston - Business Office
sjlangston@pasalem.com

Sheila has 38 years of professional business experience in the medical field. She has been a member of the Salem Oncology Centre staff since 1998.

Curriculum Vitae

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:32:41 GMT

Revised December, 2010 NAME: Philip A. Salem, MD PRESENT TITLE AND AFFILIATION: Director, Cancer Research Program St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Holder of the Philip A. Salem, M.D. Chair at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Clinical Professor of Medicine University of Texas Medical School President, Salem Oncology Centre Houston, Texas PLACE: Bterram El-Koura, Lebanon CITIZENSHIP: USA OFFICE ADDRESS: Salem Oncology Centre 6624 Fannin Street, Suite 1630 Houston, TX 77030 Tel: (713) 796-1221 Fax: (713) 796-1281 E-Mail: salem@pasalem.com Website: www.pasalem.com MARITAL STATUS: Married Wife: Widad Jabboury ...

TV Show Interviews

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:53:08 GMT

TV Shows featuring Dr. Salem LBC Kalam Al Nass Al Hurra Lebanon Al Hurra Houston Naharkum Saiid MBC OTV Dr Philip Salem on KIAH 39 Houston 10.20.10 العالم فيليب سالم: الحرية أساس العِلم قصة نجاح عالم أميركي من أصل عربي في علاج داء السرطان Fox TV - exercise a wonder drug against cancer ABC - HPV

Contributions to Cancer Research

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:17:47 GMT

This is a summary of the research work that I had done in the last 42 years as a cancer researcher. This work is divided into three majors sections: Research on Immunoproliferative Small Intestinal Disease (IPSID). Research on lymphomas other than IPSID. Research on new agents and new treatments. I believe the most important research I had done is my research on IPSID. In addition to the fact that research on IPSID had a major impact on how we treat cancer and how we conduct research on cancer now. IPSID is a disease of the Middle East and the Mediterranean shores, and when I initially started my research on this disease, I was a professor at the American University of Beirut and my initial work in the Middle East set the stage for the explosive knowledge that followed from that research. Although several researchers in the Middle East and Europe had published on IPSID but I certainly believe...

LBC Kalam Al Nass July 2010

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:50:06 GMT

CONTACT INFORMATION

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:17:07 GMT

SALEM ONCOLOGY CENTRE

6624 Fannin St.
Suite 1630
Houston, Texas 77030

(Ph) 713.796.1221
(Fax) 713.796.1281

(Email) info@pasalem.com

LBC Kalam Al Nass July 2010

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:25:49 GMT

Contributions to Teaching and Education

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:11:00 GMT

After he finished his training in the United States, Dr. Salem returned to the American University of Beirut in 1971 and established the first fellowship training program for cancer research and treatment in the Middle East. Between 1972 and 1986, he trained approximately 23 physicians, most of whom eventually came to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for further training, some of whom are currently on staff at this institution.

In the early 1970's, when the treatment of cancer was still a heresy, Dr. Salem worked hard to introduce a new concept that cancer is not only a treatable disease, but also, a potentially curable one. Now, 35 years later, this concept has become common knowledge.

Dr. Salem was one of the first researchers to recognize that cancer may start as a benign process, and is totally reversible, if diagnosed and treated at this stage. This daring concept led to the growth and proliferation of a new discipline in cancer research called Chemoprevention. Also, Dr. Salem was one of the first scientists to see the link between infection and cancer. He was first to show that infections can cause cancer. This concept won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in November 2005.

Dr. Salem has conducted more than 300 conferences on cancer therapy in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. He has chaired more than fifty sessions on cancer research and lymphomas in international and national cancer conferences. In 1993, he was invited by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) to chair the international faculty of the UICC post-graduate chemotherapy course.

During his professional career, Dr. Salem has been actively engaged in the teaching of students, residents and fellows. Currently, he moderates cancer conferences at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and for many years, he chaired the monthly, multidisciplinary cancer conference, which was open to physicians in Houston city-wide.

Financial Information

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:50:30 GMT

Prior to the commencement of testing or treatment at Salem Oncology Centre, an estimate of the cost of services will be provided by our Business Office. We are not contracted with any insurance companies, including Medicare, therefore all insurance patients will be going out of network when they come to Salem Oncology Centre. Because we are not contracted with any insurance, a financial deposit for all estimated services is to be made prior to the start of testing and/or treatment. Your claims will be filed with your insurance carrier, instructing your insurance company to reimburse you directly. The agreement by your insurance company to pay for your medical care is a contract between you and your insurance company, the ultimate responsibility of paying your medical expenses rests with you. At the time of your initial visit, you will be requested to sign a statement in which you accept and acknowledge ultimate financial responsibility for your medical expenses. ...

Lorem ipsum survey

noemail@pasalem.com — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:25:18 GMT

Objectives:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummynibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi.

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Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci taion ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi per suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat.

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Release Date: 15-Feb-08 4:25 PM
Expiration Date: 15-May-08 4:25 PM

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Staff 2008 077

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:16:09 GMT

File uploaded by Elaine Melnyk.

Office and patients 067

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:16:09 GMT

File uploaded by Elaine Melnyk.

Dr. Salem and nurses

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:16:09 GMT

File uploaded by Elaine Melnyk.

Salem Oncology Centre Patient Room

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:16:09 GMT