Curiosity was on abundant display at our Annual Research Seminar, held on December 4th. The event highlighted the high priority assigned by Rambam to research in the education of
young physicians.

The audience gathered to hear Guest Speaker Gordon Brent Mills deliver the Rafael Research Alumni Honorary Lecture for 2008, and to honor recipients of the Etai Sharon Memorial Rambam-Atidim Fellowship.

Prof. Mills, who is Chair of the Department of Systems Biology and Ransom Horne Professor in Cancer Research at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, entitled his lecture Fulfilling the Promise of Personalized Medicine.

“One dose does not fit all,” he exhorted, using the example of caffeine’s unequal effects on individual coffee-drinkers in the audience to make his point: “All of us do pharmacogenomics every day! Why don’t we do that with our patients?”

Then it was the turn of the Atidim (lit., Futures) Program’s five graduating fellows to present the results of two years’ worth of basic research, which they had carried out in laboratories of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology while simultaneously serving residencies at Rambam Medical Center.

The 50-50 split between their activities as residents and researchers was made possible under the generous terms of the Etai Sharon Fellowship Fund for Academic Excellence.

Of course, it isn’t easy for a hospital-section head to part with a resident halftime, but one after another, the relevant department directors took the stage to introduce the fellows with warmest admiration.  Said one, “They ask questions! They’re inquisitive! They don’t let us sleep!”

Each fellow was allotted twelve minutes to present his or her research results. The effect could have been comical, but instead, it was head-spinningly impressive: five young investigators speaking at transonic speed while whipping through PowerPoint slides and graphs; five gifted scientific minds on display; five individuals inspired to convey their knowledge; five examples of the future of medicine as nurtured at Rambam.

The Fellowship Fund for Academic Excellence in Etai Sharon’s memory has been established with the magnanimous participation of Mr. Eitan Wertheimer.

Managing the Estate*
Ever since you left,
Time has passed slowly.
Days trickle as if through an hourglass,
And I must continue seeking.
I’ve never stopped missing you,
Thinking about you;
I’m trying to follow your path,
Which you designated when you went away.
I’m afraid that I won’t live up to the expectations
Of everyone, of myself. . .
I’ve been afraid to disappoint you
Ever since you left.

Etai Sharon was warm and clever, loved and admired by his siblings Guy and Dana, an excellent
student and athlete, and a natural leader.

He was born in August 1988 at Rambam to Ruti and Motti Sharon, daughter and late son-in-law of virologist Dr. Zvi Ben-Ishai (“Bukki”), Deputy Director of Rambam (ret.), and Rachel.
When Etai was four months old, his father, an Air Force Captain, was killed while laying border stone No. 51 on the Israeli-Egyptian border; the tail of his helicopter detached, but he saved the lives of his crew members and those on the ground by successfully crash-landing the aircraft although he himself did not survive.
Etai grew up in the shadow of his father’s death and, throughout his life, expressed his desire to become a pilot in emulation of his father.

In August 2006, a week before his 18th birthday, Etai joined a preparatory program, inspired by an uncompromising motivation to succeed and to be among those who would be selected to join the prestigious pilot’s course.
On the morning of an extremely hot day, Etai collapsed after a long hike and died of heat stroke.
It was later learned that the medical staff that should have taken care of the boys was not ready professionally and was technically unable to cope with the dangers of the extreme weather.