Raphael E. Pollock, MD, PhD, Oral History Interview, October 10, 2012
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Description
Major Topics Covered:
- Servant leadership: philosophy and examples
- MD Anderson Tissue Bank
- The Department of Surgical Oncology: history, evolution, accomplishments
- The Division of Surgery
Identifier
PollockRE_02_20121010
Publication Date
10-10-2012
Publisher
The Historical Resources Center, Research Medical Library, The University of Texas Cancer Center
City
Houston, Texas
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Topics Covered
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas System. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Recommended Citation
Pollock, Raphael E. and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Raphael E. Pollock, MD, PhD, Oral History Interview, October 10, 2012" (2012). Interview Sessions. 258.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewsessions/258
Conditions Governing Access
Redacted
About the Interview
Original Interview Profile: Raphael E. Pollock, M.D., Ph.D.
Submitted by: Tacey A. Rosolowski, Ph.D.
Date revised: 15 July 2014 This interview with surgical oncologist Dr. Raphael E. Pollock, M.D., Ph.D., (b. 25 Dec. 1950, Chicago, Illinois) takes place in three sessions during October/November 2012 for a total duration of approximately 5 hours and thirty minutes. Dr. Pollock came to MD Anderson in 1982 as a Fellow in Surgery and became an assistant professor in ’85. He is a Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology, with other appointments in Molecular and Cellular Oncology and the Department of Surgery. He is also a Distinguished Member of the University of Texas Health Science Center and holds the Senator A. M. Aiken, Jr. Distinguished Chair. He served as Head of the Division of Surgery from 1997 until October of 2012. The interview takes place in Dr. Pollock’s office in the Department of Surgical Oncology in the Pickens Academic Tower on the Main Campus of MD Anderson. Tacey A. Rosolowski, Ph.D. is the interviewer.
Dr. Pollock received his B.A in History from Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, in 1972 and went on the St. Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, receiving his MD in 1977. He pursued a clinical residency in surgery at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics in Chicago, IL (1977-1979) then moved to continue with his residency training at RushPresbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Chicago, Illinios (1980-1982). He then came to MD Anderson and from 1982 to 1984 pursued a clinical fellowship in Surgical Oncology and refined his growing interest in soft-tissue sarcoma. He became a Faculty Associate in the Department of General Surgery in 1984, advancing to Assistant Professor in 1985. In 1993 he became a full professor. In 1990 he received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Dissertation Title: "Mechanisms of Surgical Stress Impairment of Murine Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxicity"), expanding his research interests into the molecular biology of soft tissue sarcoma. From 1994 to 2010 Dr. Pollock served as Chair of the Department of Surgical Oncology and from 1997 – 2012 he was Head of Division of Surgery. He was instrumental in establishing the Sarcoma Research Center at MD Anderson in 2005. He has been active in defining the field of Surgical Oncology, and it was recently established as a board certified specialty. In October he (and collaborators) was awarded a SPORE grant of $16 million to pursue an integrated study of sarcoma. Dr. Pollock has served on numerous editorial boards and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Cancer from 2000 to 2010.
In this interview, Dr. Pollock explains the evolution of surgical oncology into a discipline and speaks about MD Anderson’s early commitment to the role of the surgeon as a coordinator of multi-disciplinary treatment teams. He describes his own research into soft-tissue sarcoma and traces the shift in his interests from the nature of the host to the molecular characteristics of the tumor itself. Dr. Pollock states that his career can serve as a template for young surgeons who wish to become physician-scientists. He explains how, in his administrative roles, he has supported faculty on the physician-scientist path, and gives unique insight into the many ways that faculty can link bench to bedside. He speaks at length about his leadership style and how he successfully engendered a spirit of collaboration in the Department of Surgical Oncology and the Division of Surgery. Dr. Pollock was removed from his position as the Head of the Division of Surgery shortly before the first session of this interview. Here he discusses how the leadership styles of senior administrators set the tone for an institution. Throughout the interview Dr. Pollock enhances his responses to questions with anecdotes that bring alive the roles of the surgical oncologist, the clinician dedicated to patients, and the administrator who is committed to servant leadership.