Stephen Straus
Stephen E. Straus | |
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National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine |
Stephen E. Straus (November 23, 1946
Biography
Straus was born in New York City in 1946,[1][2] and grew up in Brooklyn, attending the Yeshivah of Flatbush for Elementary and High School.[3] He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, switching from physics to biology,[3] and gained his BS in life sciences in 1968. He gained his MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1972.[1][2] He subsequently trained at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and also held a fellowship in infectious diseases at Washington University in St. Louis.[1]
In 1973–75, Straus researched
Straus served on the
Research
Herpesviral and other viral diseases
Straus is particularly known for his wide-ranging research on
He researched the mechanisms by which HSV establishes
With William Ruyechan and John Hay, Straus cloned VZV and mapped its genome. They showed that chickenpox (varicella) and shingles (herpes zoster) are both caused by this virus.[4] Straus also studied the persistent pain that can occur after shingles has cleared up.[2][6] He worked with Mike Oxman and Myron Levin on the Shingles Prevention Study, a large clinical trial which demonstrated that a live-attenuated VZV vaccine is effective against shingles.[4][6][7]
Straus discovered that infection with EBV very occasionally results in a life-threatening chronic progressive disease, now called chronic active EBV infection.[6][8][9] Other viral diseases Straus worked on include HIV/AIDS, influenza and chronic hepatitis B. He also researched Lyme disease, which is caused by Borrelia bacteria.[4][6]
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
Straus started to research what is now known as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in 1979.[10][11] Working on the then-current hypothesis that the syndrome might be caused by EBV, he started a clinical trial of acyclovir therapy in 1984. Although the study showed no benefit from the drug, it provided evidence that EBV did not cause the syndrome.[4][10] In 1988, Straus was one of a group of physicians to propose the name "chronic fatigue syndrome" for the condition,[12] and was subsequently one of the lead authors of the International Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Study Group's guidelines.[13] He also pursued various virological, immunological, neuroendocrine and neuropsychological studies of the syndrome.[11]
Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome
In the early 1990s, Straus and colleagues discovered autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS), a rare genetic disorder in which the normal Fas-mediated apoptosis of lymphocytes is disrupted, leading to uncontrolled proliferation.[2][4][6][14] He found mutations in the genes encoding Fas and Fas ligand, as well as caspase-10 and N-Ras, are associated with the disorder. He followed a cohort of over 200 people with ALPS, and showed that they have a substantially elevated risk of developing lymphoma.[4][6]
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
NCCAM was founded as an independent NIH center in October 1998, replacing the Office of Alternative Medicine, and Straus was appointed the founding director,[1][4][5] responsible for an annual budget of a little under $90 million.[3] He stated in a 2001 interview that he did not use alternative therapies,[3] and he accepted the position because:
I think the only way to change the dialogue on complementary and alternative medicine – what we call CAM – is to have a serious person here at the N.I.H., doing serious work, with serious funding. The fact is that Americans are using complementary and alternative therapies. If the public is spending billions of dollars on these things, they are either deluded en masse, or there is some communal wisdom they are expressing. I believe that the tools of science can provide very powerful answers on what they are doing.[3]
Under his leadership, NIH-funded research into complementary and alternative medicine tripled,[2][6] with NCCAM funding large (phase III) clinical trials of St John's wort for depression, Ginkgo biloba extracts for dementia, and acupuncture and glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate supplements for osteoarthritis of the knee joint, among other treatment modalities.[1][5][15] Early in his tenure as director, Straus prioritised the clinical assessment of treatments widely used in America which had previously shown promising results in small clinical trials.[3] He later wrote: "In the early years of NCCAM, there was a sense of urgency to scientifically assess a range of CAM therapies that had been in long use by the public in the absence of proof of safety or efficacy."[15] By 2006, the center's research focus had shifted away from large clinical trials and towards investigating how treatments might work, as well as the optimal dosing strategy for botanical extracts and their interactions with prescription drugs.[15]
NCCAM was criticised for funding trials of EDTA chelation therapy in coronary artery disease and the Gonzalez regimen in pancreatic cancer.[3][16][17] Donald M. Marcus and Arthur P. Grollman, in a 2006 Science opinion article, claimed that the center funded "proposals of dubious merit", and that its research strategy was "shaped more by politics than by science".[16] Straus responded that the center had "made important contributions in a field that is fraught with controversy and challenges" and that it was "applying the same scientific standards to the conduct of research and its review as used by other NIH institutes".[15]
Awards and honors
Straus was an elected fellow of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).[1][2][4] He was honored with the National ME Fund Award of the Netherlands in 1999,[1] IDSA's John F. Enders Lectureship in medical virology in 2005,[18] and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons's gold medal for Distinguished Achievements in Medicine in 2007.[19] He also received five US Public Health Service medals.[1][2] In 2009, NCCAM founded a lecture series, the Stephen E. Straus Distinguished Lecture in the Science of Complementary Therapies, as a memorial to him.[20]
Personal life
Straus's wife, Barbara, worked in education; the couple had a son and two daughters. In November 2004, Straus was diagnosed with a brain tumor, from which he died at Potomac, Maryland in 2007, aged 60.[2][4]
References
- ^ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, pp. 13, 29, retrieved 31 August 2016
- ^ Washington Post, retrieved 31 August 2016
- ^ a b c d e f g Claudia Dreifus (3 April 2001), "A Conversation with: Stephen Straus; Separating Remedies From Snake Oil", The New York Times, retrieved 3 September 2016
- ^ doi:10.1086/522382
- ^ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, retrieved 2 September 2016
- ^ a b c d e f g h Stephen E. Straus – Biography, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, retrieved 1 September 2016
- PMID 15930418
- PMID 2578268
- PMID 21454450
- ^ PMID 2830340
- ^ a b Stephen E. Straus, MD, appointed Director, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 5 October 1999, retrieved 1 September 2016
- PMID 2829679
- S2CID 510735
- PMID 1386609
- ^ S2CID 56501224
- ^ S2CID 30481889
- PMID 18596934
- ^ John F. Enders Lectureship, Infectious Diseases Society of America, archived from the original on 10 October 2017, retrieved 1 September 2016
- ^ In Memoriam, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, retrieved 31 August 2016
- ^ Stephen E. Straus Distinguished Lecture in the Science of Complementary Therapies, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 12 April 2016, retrieved 2 September 2016