Nominating our friend Dr. Richard Ablin

“We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.”
 
Several years ago, I read an amazing article in the NY Times about the doctor who, in 1970, discovered the protein known as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) that nine years later led to the development of what is known as the PSA test. 
I never liked the PSA test because for decades I believed it was responsible for grossly over diagnosing prostate cancer and injuring many men.  Besides, a giant in my life, named Dr. A. V. Costantini taught me that the PSA test was not a reliable test for prostate cancer.

And that is exactly what this NY Times article was saying about Dr. Richard Ablin!  It was Ablin who discovered the protein, but rather than promoting the subsequent test, he, too, was saddened about the way it had been misused once a biotech company took it over and turned it into a prostate cancer test.  After what seemed like a year of trying to locate him to thank him for the guts that it took to take the path of integrity rather than the path of profit, I found him and he returned my call.  He told me that he was writing a book called The Great Prostate Hoax: How Big Medicine Hijacked the PSA Test and Causes A Public Health Disaster and that upon completion he would come to Dallas and allow me to interview him on TV.  Those few days we spent together left me absolutely knowing that I had met another giant in my life.  Since those interviews and subsequent TV airings, I have learned so much from my emails and telephone chats with Dr. Ablin.  He has become a friend and someone I can (and often do) talk to about my fungus/cancer hypothesis.  He is considered by many to be a giant in field cancer research and as such, has raised me up.

Now, Dr. Ablin is a candidate for the prestigious Heineken Prize.  This award acknowledges a candidates outstanding achievements in the fields of: Biochemistry and Biophysics, Cognitive Science, and Environmental Sciences.   So many of you have science backgrounds yourselves and have supporting my work through the years.  Thank you for that support!   I’m wondering if you could take 20-30 minutes and nominate Dr. Ablin for this prestigious award?  From his initial discovery of the PSA protein as a young scientist in 1970, to his work in cryogenics to his many cancer publications today, his work has set the stage for others, whom he continues to lift up.  I am proud to be one of them.   If you would consider lending this gentle man your vote of confidence, you must hurry, as the cutoff date for nominations is midnight, this coming Thursday, October 15th.

Here is a brief biography from which you may chose to select data for your short write up on the recommendation application.
  

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF RICHARD J. ABLIN, Ph.D.
 
Dr. Richard J. Ablin is Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Arizona Cancer Center and BIO5 Institute and President, Robert Benjamin Ablin Foundation for Cancer Research, founded in memory of his father, since 1979.  Dr. Ablin received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from SUNY at Buffalo in 1967, and continued his training in immunology as a USPHS Postdoctoral Fellow at the Medical School under the late renowned Distinguished Professor Ernest Witebsky. 

Dr. Ablin is the recipient of a D.Sc., honoris causa, from Lake Forest College, his undergraduate alma mater, and a Doctoris Honoris Causa from the “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest. He was honored as recipient of the First Award for Scientific Excellence by The Haakon Ragde Foundation for Advanced Cancer Studies in recognition “for his invaluable contribution to humankind and exceptional scientific insight and valiant fight against cancer.”  Dr. Ablin discovered prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in 1970, which led to the development of the PSA test, and was a nominee for the Lasker Award in 1997. A pioneer of cryosurgery and the concept of “cryoimmunotherapy” for the treatment of cancer, he has extensive experience in cancer research, particularly the development and progression of cancer. 

Dr. Ablin is a member of Sigma Xi (of which he is President, the University of Arizona Chapter), Phi Beta Kappa and numerous professional societies. Cited in several biographical references, including American Men and Women of Science, Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America and Who’s Who in the World, Dr. Ablin has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings; has contributed numerous articles to professional journals and texts; is co-editor of the book series Cancer Metastasis -Biology and Treatment and serves on the editorial board of several journals, and the author of the recent book: The Great Prostate Hoax: How Big Medicine Hijacked the PSA Test and Caused a Public Health Disaster.
 
I wrote this:                                                                          
“Dr Ablin is a courageous and correct scientist, who although in 1970, discovered the protein – prostate-specific antigen (PSA), has virtually stood alone for some 40+ years in calling out the misdeeds of the urological community, biotech industry and the Food and Drug Administration for contributing to the inappropriate use of the PSA screening as a diagnostic test for prostate cancer.  The results of PSA screening has been overdiagnosis and overtreatment of millions of men afflicting them with incontinence, impotence and the quality of life for themselves and their family.”

Click here for the Heineke Prize nomination form

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