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Author Talks Bioethics in the Case of Henrietta Lacks

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Author Talks Bioethics in the Case of Henrietta Lacks APRIL 12 • 2013 TheWeekly theweekly.usc.edu PUBLISHED FOR THE USC HEALTH SCIENCES CAMPUS COMMUNITY VOLUME 19 • NUMBER 12 Author talks bioethics in the case of Henrietta Lacks By Ryan Ball Auditorium about the ethi- In 1951, a poor, black cal dimensions of medical tobacco farmer named discovery as they relate to Henrietta Lacks was this story. ‘She kept saying, diagnosed with cervical Taken without her cancer and died shortly after consent or knowledge, ‘How do I know at the age of 30. At a time Lack’s remarkable cells have when scientists were trying been reproduced at the rate you’re really a unsuccessfully to grow of about six trillion cells a human cells outside of the week, Skloot noted. Among writer? How do I body, researcher George Gey other applications, they were obtained a sample of her used in developing the polio know you’re not tumor and discovered that and HPV vaccines, as well as her cells could be kept alive. leading cancer medications. coming to steal Dubbed HeLa cells, they Biotech companies made were replicated and mass- millions of dollars from my cells?’” produced, contributing to HeLa cells before Lacks’ numerous breakthroughs husband and children were that transformed medicine. even aware that part of her But were ethics ignored in was still alive. —Rebecca Skloot, pursuit of this progress? In the 1950s, Skloot The story of Lacks and remarked, there was no such author of The her extraordinary legacy thing as informed consent. Jon Nalick is chronicled in Rebecca She said the real ethical Author Rebecca Skloot discusses the ethical dimensions of medical Immortal Life of Skloot’s best-selling book, dilemma arose in the 1970s, discovery to an overfl ow audience in Mayer Auditorium on April 4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta when scientists began taking Henrietta Lacks Lacks. At an April 4 event cells from Lacks’ children them that people were buy- tacted Deborah Lacks, sponsored by Visions and without clearly explaining ing and selling HeLa cells Henrietta’s daughter, and Voices, Skloot spoke to an why. for as much as $10,000 a vial. said she wanted to write a overfl ow audience in Mayer They certainly didn’t tell When Skloot fi rst con- See LACKS, page 3 Team helps USC Norris scientists help uncover medical genetic risks for three cancers By Leslie Ridgeway Department of Preventive center staff USC Norris Compre- Medicine at the Keck work smarter, hensive Cancer Center School of Medicine of researchers are joining USC, who contributed to not harder hundreds of scientists the fi nding of new risk worldwide in reporting the regions for breast and By Sara Reeve discovery of more than 80 prostate cancer. “This A multidisciplinary team new regions of the human study demonstrates the strategically composed of genome that indicate risk power of international clinical and non-clinical for breast, ovarian and team science that will health care professionals is prostate cancer. ultimately provide major empowering medical center This milestone achieve- health benefi ts on a global departments to pave their ment was announced scale.” own paths to operational Chatila Tania March 27, through the Large-scale genome- excellence. Sophia Lee, front, design and development project manager for the USC coordinated release of 13 wide association studies The Performance Man- hospitals, takes notes during a recent USC Lean Academy class hosted by the papers in fi ve different (GWAS) served as the agement offi ce, consisting Performance Management offi ce, which aims to help medical center departments journals—Nature Genetics, basis for the research. The of two health administration improve quality and effi ciency through homegrown solutions. Nature Communications, the scientists were looking for professionals, a pharmacist, a American Journal of Human genetic variations known nurse and a graduate student need to enhance their jobs.” tect. “Together, we come up Genetics, PLoS Genetics and as single nucleotide poly- intern, opened in November In coordination with the with collaborative solutions Human Molecular Genetics. morphisms, or SNPs, that 2012 and functions much medical center’s executive that enhance how a task or Among them, these pa- indicate an increased risk like an in-house, boutique team and the newly unveiled process is completed. For ex- pers describe the fi ndings for cancer. They found consulting fi rm. Its main strategic plan, the Perfor- ample, cutting out needless of a large international 49 new SNPs associated goal is to help departments mance Management offi ce steps so that an employee effort, the Collaborative with risk of breast cancer, improve quality and become works with departmental can spend more time focused Oncological Gene-envi- 23 for prostate cancer and more effi cient through leadership and frontline staff on the most important part ronment Study (COGS) 11 for ovarian cancer. One homegrown solutions. at Keck Hospital of USC and of the job.” involving investigators of the most intriguing “No one knows our USC Norris Cancer Hospital One of the offi ce’s earliest from North America, Eu- fi ndings is that different business better than the to examine work processes, clients was the hospitals’ rope, Australia and Asia, SNPs predict the risk of people working the front build upon successes and laboratory. According to and more than 150,000 different types of breast or lines every day,” said streamline operations. The Sharon Lee, associate men and women world- ovarian cancer. Kevin Kaldjian, director of department is overseen by administrator of hospital wide who participated in “Our study found performance management. Sanjit Mahanti, executive operations, the lab was the study. several SNPs that increase “They know what needs administrator of hospital challenged with meeting “This is far and away the chance of women improvement and what performance for the USC the needs of nurses and the largest genetic study developing more aggres- solutions work best. We hospitals. physicians for timely lab of cancer ever to be sive estrogen negative don’t need to give them “The people who are most results. It also faced the reported,” said Brian breast cancer rather than answers—they are the affected by our projects are challenge of appropriately Henderson, distinguished estrogen positive breast experts. We are here to the frontline staff,” said deploying phlebotomists professor in the See COGS, page 2 simply provide the tools they Tyler Woolsey, process archi- See TEAM, page 2 APRIL 12 • 2013 Whitehall Foundation grant aids research on retinal connections By Amy E. Hamaker mapping the connectivity of This stimulates individual The Whitehall Foun- The retina of the eye is the mammalian retina. photoreceptors, allowing dation is a not-for-profit a highly complex structure. “The retina has layers like Field to measure the output corporation that celebrated This thin membrane of those in a cake,” explained of the retina from the retinal its 75th year in 2012. nerve cells detects light en- Field. “Photoreceptors at ganglion cells. The foundation focuses tering the eye and converts the front respond to light, “We can basically map exclusively on assisting it to electrical impulses, interneurons in the middle how each photoreceptor basic research in vertebrate which are sent through the process the information, and we stimulate is connected (excluding clinical) and optic nerve to the brain to ganglion cells at the back to each ganglion cell,” invertebrate neurobiology in interpret what we see. send the information to the Field said. “This allows the United States. Finding how this circuitry brain. My research is really us to understand how the “This grant is helping is interconnected is the goal about trying to understand architecture of some circuits to fund a graduate student Field D. Greg Courtesy of research being conducted exactly how all, or nearly all, relates to their function. In full time for three years, as Greg D. Field, assistant professor at by Greg D. Field, assistant of the types of neurons in retinal degenerative diseases well as a large portion of the the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, professor at the Keck School the retina are wired to each like macular degeneration, data storage infrastructure is using a new grant from the of Medicine of USC’s Zilkha other.” photoreceptors begin to die, required for the study,” said Whitehall Foundation to further his Neurogenetic Institute, To do this, Field and his and so the retina begins to Field. “We collect a tremen- research on the neural connectivity Department of Cell and team place a retina on a rewire. We’d like to un- dous amount of data—from among parts of the retina. Neurobiology. Field recently bed of electrodes to record derstand that process and a half to 1 terabyte in one received a grant from the ganglion cell impulses, and identify ways of slowing experiment, which equals research just wouldn’t be Whitehall Foundation to then project an image from a or reversing it and identify around 30 terabytes of possible without the founda- help further his work into video display onto the cells. promising therapies.” data in a year. This type of tion’s help.” TEAM: Collaboration helps improve workflow, communication in hospitals Continued from Page 1 draw processes and resulted in quicker response due to what was best for any one department, but during the overnight shift. times. And it’s that fostering of collaboration that what was best for all departments collectively.” Members of the Performance Management team Lee found most remarkable. Some of the other projects the team is working on spent time in the lab and in nursing units, watch- “The lab started viewing things from the nurses’ include improving inpatient throughput and imple- ing staff perform their duties. “They interviewed a eyes, and vice versa,” she said.
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