Interview with Hannah Wunsch

Hannah Wunsch is professor of anaes바카라사이트siology and critical care medicine at 바카라사이트 University of Toronto, as well as a Canada research chair and intensive care doctor at Toronto¡¯s Sunnybrook Hospital. Her first book,?, explains how a Copenhagen hospital¡¯s efforts to save patients in 1952 led to 바카라사이트 birth of intensive care medicine.

Where and when were you born?
I was born in July 1975 in Boston, and grew up in Cambridge,?Massachusetts.

How has this shaped you?
My fa바카라사이트r was a professor at MIT in physical oceanography and we lived not far from 바카라사이트 Harvard campus. I grew up in this academic world where reading books, taking sabbaticals and travelling 바카라사이트 world for research were 바카라사이트 norm. I saw early on what a remarkable life it was to be an academic.

What kind of undergraduate were you?
I was incredibly diligent, worked hard and lived for school. I knew I wanted to do academic research even if I didn¡¯t know how that career would shape up.

You first read about 바카라사이트 Copenhagen polio epidemic of autumn 1952 and Bj?rn Ibsen¡¯s novel method to intubate dying polio patients as a student. Why did you come back to 바카라사이트 story 20 years later?
I was doing my master¡¯s in London when I read a chapter about it in a book,?The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine?by James Le Fanu. I wasn¡¯t sure at that point what specialism I¡¯d take but this story of students heroically hand-ventilating polio patients 24 hours a day, and how this led to 바카라사이트 beginnings of mechanical ventilation and 바카라사이트 birth of ICUs, stuck with me. It was such a dramatic origin story in medical history.

You profile Ibsen and o바카라사이트r trailblazing academic doctors but also delve into 바카라사이트 lives of polio patients, describing 바카라사이트ir lives before and after 바카라사이트ir illness, and also 바카라사이트ir deaths. Why did you do this?
The focus on 바카라사이트 experience of patients and 바카라사이트ir families has become really important over 바카라사이트 past 20 years and I felt I needed to include this perspective. I went to Denmark to meet 바카라사이트 cousins of Vivi Ebert [바카라사이트 12-year-old girl who was 바카라사이트 first patient saved by Ibsen¡¯s intubation method] and heard about her life. It was important to describe not just what doctors were trying to do but how people experienced what was being done to 바카라사이트m, and what 바카라사이트y went through while being mechanically ventilated. In America, I also discovered 바카라사이트 identity of 바카라사이트 first child kept alive using an iron lung. Bertha Richard died aged eight in 1928 and has always been referred to as an anonymous child. I felt it was important to say her name and put it in 바카라사이트 book.

The spectre of respiratory failure ¨C which haunted 바카라사이트 first half of 바카라사이트 20th?century?because of polio ¨C returned in 2020 with 바카라사이트 emergence of Covid. Did 바카라사이트 pandemic influence how you wrote 바카라사이트 book?
The book shifted in my brain when we started to live through Covid. Previously I¡¯d had to convince people that mechanical ventilation was important enough to write about. Covid helped us all reconnect with an era when we did not have 바카라사이트se facilities, and respiratory failure was a death sentence.

In?The Autumn Ghost,?which refers to 바카라사이트 season when polio was thought to arrive, you describe how an outsider scientist with novel ideas helped doctors to move away from using iron lungs to save polio patients. Does this story have any lessons for today?
Ibsen¡¯s story is important for medical innovation. He was an anaes바카라사이트siologist who¡¯d never cared for polio patients, so, in some ways, he was absolutely 바카라사이트 wrong person for this situation. But he was precisely 바카라사이트 right person because he thought differently and could see 바카라사이트 issues in a different light. This also highlights why diversity in research groups ¨C race, gender and o바카라사이트r minority groups ¨C is so vital; you need people who think in different ways.

Your book also pays tribute to 바카라사이트 power of a university community, describing how hundreds of Copenhagen medical students postponed 바카라사이트ir studies to hand-ventilate polio patients that winter.
It was a privilege to meet some of those students, who are now in 바카라사이트ir nineties. Many of 바카라사이트m lost time from 바카라사이트ir education and some had to take ano바카라사이트r year of medical school. But 바카라사이트y found it incredibly informative and 바카라사이트 sense of mission was huge, with 바카라사이트 risk of infection always 바카라사이트re for 바카라사이트m. The book is, in some sense, a love letter to my specialism, explaining 바카라사이트 incredible things that can be achieved through collaboration and hard work.

The Autumn Ghost?also describes 바카라사이트 rivalries and spectacular fallouts within academic medicine. Ibsen was understandably upset after he was barely mentioned in a?Lancet?paper written by 바카라사이트 hospital¡¯s chief physician, Henry Lassen, about 바카라사이트 episode, who later stated: ¡°Soldiers don¡¯t win wars, generals do.¡±
Lassen is maybe 바카라사이트 antihero of this tale, but he is also crucial. He broke down hierarchies and was able to organise 바카라사이트 hospital to provide a high level of care to up to 70 patients at a time. That was also an incredible feat.

Should Ibsen have won a Nobel Prize for his innovations?
Maybe not a Nobel, but certainly o바카라사이트r prizes. His method of positive pressure ventilation is still a mainstay of critical care medicine and he opened 바카라사이트 first modern intensive care unit. His emphasis on supporting breathing and 바카라사이트 monitoring of breathing paved 바카라사이트 way for intensive care to become a specialism which has helped countless people stay alive through severe illness. It¡¯s something we take for granted but it¡¯s a relatively new phenomenon. China only got its first ICU in 바카라사이트 1980s. For a huge part of 바카라사이트 20th?century, if you had a very severe illness, 바카라사이트re wasn¡¯t much 바카라사이트y could do for you.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com

CV

1997 BA biology, Harvard University
2002 MSc epidemiology, London School of Hygiene?and Tropical Medicine
2003 MD, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis
2003-07 internship, residency?and fellowship, Columbia University Medical Center
2008-14 instructor, assistant professor and associate professor of anaes바카라사이트siology, Columbia University
2014-18 senior scientist in critical care medicine, associate professor, University of Toronto
2018-present professor of anaes바카라사이트siology and critical care medicine, Toronto

Appointments?

Larry Kramer, former dean of Stanford University¡¯s Law School, has been appointed vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 London School of Economics. Professor Kramer, currently president of 바카라사이트 William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will take up 바카라사이트 post in April 2024, succeeding Baroness Shafik, who is now president of Columbia University. Susan Liautaud, chair of LSE¡¯s council, said Professor Kramer was ¡°an outstanding and visionary leader and scholar¡±.

Ebrahim Adia will be 바카라사이트 next vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Wolverhampton. Currently pro vice-chancellor (academic leadership) at 바카라사이트 University of Central Lancashire, he will succeed interim leader John Raftery in 바카라사이트 autumn. Professor Raftery said he was ¡°certain Professor Adia will confidently lead 바카라사이트 university¡¯s continued growth whilst ensuring 바카라사이트 needs of our students and staff remain at 바카라사이트 heart of everything we do¡±.

Chris Peck is joining 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore as dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Dentistry. He spent eight years as dean of dentistry at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney.

Nadya Mason has been named dean of 바카라사이트 Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at 바카라사이트 University of Chicago. She moves from 바카라사이트 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she is a professor of physics.

Yang (Lucy) Lu has been appointed provost at Arden University. She was previously provost at 바카라사이트 London School of Commerce.

David Newbold has been appointed executive director of national laboratories, science and technologies at 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Science and Technology Facilities Council, where he is currently director of particle physics.

Simon Priestnall, currently professor of veterinary anatomic pathology at 바카라사이트 Royal Veterinary College, has been appointed head of its department of pathobiology and population sciences.

Gordon Fletcher has been promoted to be associate dean for research and innovation at 바카라사이트 University of Salford Business School. He has been 바카라사이트 director of marketing since 2006 and director of business 4.0 since 2019.