Article published August 26, 2009
University of Toledo teaching post honors pioneering surgeon, 90
$1M in Howard's name to fund pancreatic study
Dr. John M. Howard, 90, a former Army surgeon who has been at the former Medical College of Ohio since 1974, holds one of the books he co-wrote: 'History of the Pancreas.' The University of Toledo is establishing an endowed professorship in Dr. Howard's honor. Some of the awards he has received over the years are behind him.
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THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY
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By JULIE M. McKINNON
BLADE STAFF WRITER
An older medical student at the University of Pennsylvania suggested John M. Howard dissect pancreases to study the potential for reflux in their ducts.
The subject was not novel, even in 1942. Yet examining the pancreas was of utmost interest to the Alabama native, even after the results of his findings only managed to tie for fourth place among five papers presented in a school competition, Dr. Howard recalled with a laugh.
"This was not a new study, but I took it on," the 90-year-old former Army surgeon said. "That interest has proven lifelong."
After 68 years in medicine, Dr. Howard is to be honored Friday with the naming of an endowed professorship of pancreatic surgery for him at the University of Toledo Health Science Campus, the former Medical College of Ohio. The $1 million gift from Dr. Howard, his colleagues, and foundations will be used solely to fund research.
The professorship not only honors Dr. Howard's contributions to pancreatic surgery, it allows UT to continue advancements in the area, especially with pancreatic cancer on the rise nationwide, said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, UT's provost and vice president for health affairs and medical college dean.
Dr. Gold said he expects to fill the surgical post within a year.A ceremony announcing the professorship will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at the Health Science campus' Dana Conference Center.
Dr. Howard was employed at the former Medical College of Ohio from 1974 until 2000. He continues to go every day to his office on campus, devoting his time to writing after typically spending an hour in the gym.
Although Dr. Howard's medical career focused on pancreatic surgery and research, he also made his mark in emergency medicine. That was spurred by his service in the Korean War. He did not actively serve in World War II because of medical school and training.
Dr. Howard led the Army's Surgical Research Team during the Korean War, and he was awarded the Legion of Merit by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Although research was his main objective, Dr. Howard pitched in at an evacuation hospital and a mobile army surgical hospital, or MASH, on the front lines at times.
"We studied the response of the body to injury," said Dr. Howard, whose grandfather was a medical officer for the Confederate army in the Civil War. "I had thought of it as wound healing," he added. "But no matter what part of the body we studied, [trauma] took part in the lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, even pancreas."
One area the team studied was transfusing O negative blood, now known as the universal blood type, in all patients without having to take time to crossmatch types. The team built an artificial kidney machine at an evacuation hospital using an aircraft fuel tank and other parts. The machine helped lower the incidence of kidney failure among trauma patients.
Improving the repair of arterial wounds in legs, knees, and elsewhere, for which amputation rates were high, is another war-time achievement of which Dr. Howard is most proud.
After the Korean War, Dr. Howard returned to work on pancreatic issues, including studying pancreatitis to help determine it is not a single disease. He has written about his findings, sometimes with others, through the years.
Colleagues recruited him to join the former MCO, where Dr. Howard obtained grant money from the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish an emergency medical services system in northwest Ohio to serve as a national model. Dr. Howard, who had headed the National Research Council's committee on emergency medical services, was honored by the transportation department for his vision.
Still, pancreatic surgery and research remained Dr. Howard's main interest. His latest book, published in 2007, is a biography of Allen Oldfather Whipple, a noted surgeon who died in 1963.
In the early 1980s, Dr. Howard started researching how to better do Whipple resections on patients who typically have pancreatic cancer.
One in four patients at that time died from the procedure, but Dr. Howard was able to operate on - and carefully watch - more than 50 people without a death.
"I was sleeping in the intensive care with the patients," recalled Dr. Howard, who wrote about his advances.
Contact Julie M. McKinnon at:
jmckinnon@theblade.com
or 419-724-6087.
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