Out & About
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The New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases helps keep New Yorkers on their feet. Doctors at the hospital, which was founded in 1905, replace joints, straighten spines, and conduct research and treatment on debilitating musculoskeletal and neuromuscular disorders.
There wasn’t a sore joint at the hospital’s gala Monday. “How could I?” the chairwoman of the event, Dr. Robin Smith, said. But the air conditioning at the Waldorf-Astoria did leave many guests shivering, even in their fur stoles. Pavitra Gowdar and Raoul Duggal sought warmth at a fireplace, but the glowing embers were only for show.
An honoree, the vice chairman of Lehman Bros. Inc., Frederick Frank, sat next to the chief executive and founder of Intelligent Medical Devices, Alice Jacobs. Mr. Frank is an adviser to the company, which develops rapid diagnostics for infectious diseases.
“In the case of pandemic, with the tools today it would take a long time to figure it out,” Mr. Frank said. “With the diagnostics Alice is working on, it will be much quicker. There will be no need to send samples off to labs. We’ll have point-of-care diagnostics.”
Ms. Jacobs, who is graduating from Harvard Medical School in March, praised Mr. Frank’s guidance. “Fred is one of the greatest living examples of enabling innovation,” she said.
The story of the recipient of the Humanitarian Award, Jim MacClaren, reminded guests of the limits of medical science compared with the indomitable human spirit. Mr. MacClaren has devoted himself to rehabilitation after two serious injuries. In his 20s, he was hit by a New York City bus and lost his left leg below the knee. He became a record-winning Ironman athlete and an actor. In his 30s, during a triathlon, a collision with a van left him a quadriplegic, but he has stubbornly pursued physical therapy and developed a one-man show. Because Mr. MacClaren could not attend the event, Mr. MacClaren’s football coach at Yale, Carm Cozza, accepted the award on his behalf.
The hospital made two announcements: The inventor of a spinal disc replacement system, honoree Dr. Thierry Marnay, will be joining the faculty next year, and Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, has plans to decorate a room at the Center for Children. NYU-purple tablecloths honored the hospital’s merging with the New York University Medical Center in January.
