Dr. Straus Steps Down as NCCAM Director
Stephen E. Straus, M.D.
Stephen E. Straus, M.D., first Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), stepped down from his position on November 7, 2006, for health reasons. Dr. Straus plans to continue his scientific work at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as Senior Advisor to the NIH Director.
"Steve Straus has done a tremendous job in creating and leading NCCAM. His total dedication, superb intelligence, extraordinary vision, high energy, and singular wit are all qualities that make him an extraordinary leader," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "Steve has been one of my most trusted advisors, and I will continue to rely on his experience and perspective."
An Early Interest in Science
Dr. Straus was born in 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. His father had emigrated from Poland in 1930, escaping by only a few years the Holocaust that would later claim the lives of many family members. From his youth Dr. Straus was interested in science, because, he says, "I believed that science could reveal truths about ourselves and our place in the universe."
This passion for science led Dr. Straus to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his bachelor's degree in life sciences in 1968, and then to the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he received his M.D. in 1972. After his internship at Barnes Hospital, in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Straus came to NIH in 1973 as a research associate at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He then returned to Barnes for his residency, completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at Washington University, and returned to NIAID in 1979 as a senior investigator. He was, by then, board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases.
A Career in Infectious Diseases Research
At NIAID, Dr. Straus first served as a senior investigator, next as head of the medical virology section in the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, and then as the Laboratory's chief. In this time he became an internationally recognized expert in human viral infections and in health problems related to the immune system.
One of his early accomplishments was demonstrating that the drug acyclovir could suppress recurrent genital and oral herpes. "This was the first time we knew that people could take an antiviral drug every day and experience the benefits without any significant toxicity," Dr. Straus said. His findings also had importance for treating other viral conditions, such as hepatitis, AIDS, and Lyme disease.
He was one of a national team of clinical virologists to lead a groundbreaking study to test a vaccine to prevent the development of herpes zoster (shingles) in people over age 60. This vaccine, recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, promises to prevent as many as a half million cases of shingles in older Americans every year.
Dr. Straus also led a team that discovered ALPS (autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome), a rare genetic disease that causes difficult, painful symptoms and raises a person's risk for lymphoma. "We discovered ALPS, named it, characterized its molecular biology, found the genes that are responsible, and developed diagnostic tools," he said. "Today, medicine can help people with ALPS in ways (such as targeted drugs) that we never had before." Dr. Straus is also known for his work to define and describe the characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Stephen E. Straus, M.D.
During his career at NIH, Dr. Straus has cared for many patients with diverse, serious viral conditions at the NIH Clinical Center, the world's largest research hospital. "I have been privileged to practice medicine in a unique environment," he says. "I don't think you could have a better life as a physician, because I have gotten to take care of patients with disorders I am interested in; develop further expertise and discover new knowledge; and help my patients in ways that most others can't—for example, through cutting-edge technologies, drugs, and vaccines being studied. I have never had to charge a patient for anything or worry whether they can pay for a test. With fewer constraints on my time, I have been able to establish close, long-term relationships with my patients and their families."
A New Center and a New Challenge
"A number of times, when my patients were not satisfied with the results of conventional medicine, I encouraged and guided them to CAM therapies, if it seemed appropriate," Dr. Straus said. This interest in integrative medicine and the opportunity to address the important public health challenges of CAM led him to NCCAM. In 1999, Dr. Straus was appointed as the Center's first Director.
As he began his new job, Dr. Straus cited his intentions to develop NCCAM's first strategic plan, open and maintain dialogue with NCCAM's stakeholder communities of both CAM and conventional medicine practitioners, develop the Center's infrastructure, create an intramural research program, and work closely with NCCAM's national advisory council. He said, "The American people are spending billions of dollars per year on CAM, so this is a major public health concern. But do CAM treatments and therapies work? Are they safe? The American people have a right to know the facts, and it's our job to generate that new and vital information. And that's what we're going to do."
A Legacy of Results
Under Dr. Straus's 7 years of leadership, the Center achieved many milestones, including:
- Developing two 5-year strategic plans with participation from both the CAM and conventional medicine communities.
- Supporting more than 1,500 projects in research, training, and career development at over 260 U.S. institutions.
- Increasing the number of papers by NCCAM grantees nearly twentyfold in leading scientific journals.
- Training researchers in the rigorous study of CAM, whether students, new investigators, CAM practitioners, or those further along in their research careers.
- Collaborating with the National Center for Health Statistics to develop the largest and most representative national survey ever conducted of Americans' use of CAM.
- Leading the Federal support of the Institute of Medicine's study of the scientific and policy implications of Americans' use of CAM.
- Increasing the dissemination of science-based information about CAM through numerous channels, including an award-winning Web site, an array of award-winning publications, and an online continuing education program.
Professional Recognitions
Dr. Straus has been honored by election to many professional societies, including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He has received numerous commendations from the U.S. Public Health Service, including the Distinguished Service Medal for innovative clinical research, and two Secretary of Health and Human Services' Distinguished Service Awards. In 1999, he received the Dutch National ME Fund Award, the leading prize from the Netherlands for research in chronic fatigue syndrome.
A Leader at NIH
Dr. Straus has been a member of the NIH Steering Committee, which advises the NIH Director, and he served as chair of several committees that were part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and focused on advancing clinical research. He represented NIH as a member of the Clinical Research Roundtable of the National Academies' Institute of Medicine. He chaired the NIH Committee on the Recruitment and Career Development of Clinical Investigators, which released "The Straus Report" in 1997, outlining the current career pathways for clinical investigators in the intramural research program.
In addition, Dr. Straus has published more than 400 research articles, edited several books, and served on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals.
Reflections on a Career
Dr. Straus describes his career with animation. "I am passionate about medicine and passionate about science. It has been a revelatory experience to figure out something new for the first time and to discover that something 2,000 years old may work, and then to figure out how. It has also been great fun.
"I was a pretty good woodworker, and I love it. There's a relationship between building furniture and doing science. When you build something, you pick the materials, think about what you would do with them, spend a lot of time on the design, make your cuts, and all the joining has to be right. You must put it all together and finish it as well. You're not done until you are done. It's both a vision and a process.
"So it is in research. You ask the same questions: What tools do I need, and how will I use them? What raw materials will I use? How will it fit together? How am I going to analyze the data? This is a beautiful process, and it's one that moves me. Considering my family's background, their poverty, and what they could have faced had they remained in Eastern Europe instead of coming to the United States, it is a great blessing that I have been permitted to expend my decades in this creative and rewarding way.
"As NCCAM's first Director, I have been privileged to try to actualize my passion and vision for the future of medicine. Working with talented people, developing a new field of scientific pursuit, and learning new ways to practice healing have contributed to the growing transformation that we are seeing in medicine. I am grateful for the public's trust in this mission and I'm honored to have led this collective endeavor on their behalf."
