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'A
Great inspiriation' Irene E. Karl possesses an indomitable spirit and intense curiosity By Kimberly Leydig A row of struggling violets lines the window ledge of Irene E. Karl's office. "They're cold and suffering, but I'm trying to cure them," she says.
For more than 50 years, Karl, Ph.D., research professor of medicine in the Division of Metabolism, has been dedicated to identifying and understanding diabetes and sepsis, which has been the focus of her recent research. Sepsis -- or blood poisoning -- is the leading cause of death in neonatal and surgical intensive care units. In the United States, 750,000 patients develop sepsis every year and more than 210,000 of them die from the infection. The cascade of events, leading from bacterial infection to organ failure to death, is poorly understood. In a typical case, a patient may be hospitalized for major surgery. A few days later, the patient develops a high fever, rapid heart and respiratory rates, shows high blood levels of lactic acid and exhibits an altered mental state. Even though antibiotics are given to treat the infection, the patient's condition continues to decline, with one vital organ after the next succumbing to sepsis. For the past 13 years, Karl, a renowned authority on muscle metabolism, has worked closely with Richard S. Hotchkiss, M.D., professor of anesthesiology, of medicine, of surgery and of molecular biology and pharmacology, studying the development, cause and treatment of bacterial sepsis. Their findings have the potential to alter traditional thinking about the cause and treatment of sepsis. Karl has published articles in more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, including the Journal of the American Medical Association. "The JAMA article was accompanied with an editorial by Roger Bone, the recognized leader in the field of sepsis," Hotchkiss says. "He reported that Dr Karl's work represented a new way to view the problem of sepsis." Karl, now at age 86, continues to come into the lab daily to research sepsis. She still works 10-hour days and feels more productive than she ever has in her life. And she doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon. "I don't want to retire; that's how you get old," Karl says. "As long as I'm productive I'll work, because that is what I love to do." Hotchkiss adds, "It is her love and fascination for science that is so unbelievable. She possesses an indomitable spirit and her intense curiosity is truly inspirational." An unstoppable spirit Even as a kindergartner, Karl knew she wanted to be a scientist. However, in the 1930s, science wasn't a field that welcomed women.
On graduation day, her chemistry professor gave her some advice: "You're going to graduate summa cum laude, but you'll never make it. First of all, you're a woman and you're Jewish; there are quotas on both. "Women don't make good scientists -- go get married!" That night, she went home and called her boyfriend, Mike Karl, who was attending medical school at the University of Louisville. "Don't pay any attention to what they say," Mike told his high-school sweetheart. "But we're not going to get married yet, because you'll never forgive me if you don't get your Ph.D." The couple first met in high school while Mike was working at a shoe store in Milwaukee. "He sold me a pair of navy blue pumps and then asked me out," she recalls. "Mike always treated me as his intellectual equal and always encouraged me to pursue my career." Irene earned a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in just three years -- an unprecedented pace for that era. She married Mike in 1941, and he helped her find a position as a biochemist at Jewish Hospital. "Back then, she supported me," says Michael Karl, M.D., professor of medicine and former director of the Department of Medicine. "When she was at Jewish Hospital in the early years, she made $100 a month. I was making only $10; she was my sugar mama." The Karls are the first married couple at the University to receive a named professorship, which was established in their honor by gifts from friends and patients. "Both Irene and Mike Karl have made substantive contributions to medicine and are the consummate physician-teachers," says Philip E. Cryer, M.D., the Irene E. and Michael M. Karl Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism in Medicine. The Michael and Irene Karl Lecture, part of the Masters in Medicine series, was created by Alene and Meyer Koplow in honor of the Karls. Michael also was a former member of a national advisory committee under President Carter and served as governor of the American College of Physicians for Missouri.
"Both Irene and Mike are incredibly humble people despite all their accomplishments." Last month, Irene received the award she is most proud of: the Jewish Federation Business & Professional 2002 Woman of Valor -- the first time it was awarded to a female scientist. Her younger daughter, Terry, a human rights activist and professor at Stanford University, spoke at the award dinner. "My sister, Bonnie, and I learned that having a mother who was a scientist was a strange and wonderful thing," Terry says. "I know we had the only mother who got up in the middle of the night to drive down to Barnes Hospital to feed her rats." Terry explains that her mother's strength enables her to pursue her work as a political activist. "I just returned from investigating the links between oil and environmental damage in West Africa," she says. "I know that, being my mother's daughter, I was the only person in the Congo, slogging through the downpour of the Exxon/Mobil pipeline wearing a black Chanel raincoat." Terry adds that her mother reminds her of Jessica Fletcher, the star of Murder, She Wrote. "Because behind the snazzy clothes, green thumb and petite frame, there is a huge brain that must figure out mysteries." A love for teaching After raising her two daughters, Karl returned to the School of Medicine as a research assistant in preventive medicine in 1959 and has worked her way up to her current position. Karl also is a very active member of the Medical School Admissions Committee and dedicates much of her time to interviewing applicants. "I'm always challenging them to their best," Karl says. "The students we interview at the University are always top-notch, but I explain it's not easy to get into medical school here. "I tell them not to give up, because if they want to be a doctor, there will be someplace they can go. I like to go to bat for my students." First-year medical student Anne Drewry worked in Karl's lab for three summers while earning a bachelor's degree in biology from Yale University. "Dr. Karl is a brilliant scientist and really enthusiastic about helping students," Drewry says. "As a young female medical student, it's been encouraging to see how much she has accomplished and what she's had to overcome to get there. She's a great inspiration." Irene Karl seamlessly moves between her roles of mother, grandmother, wife, scientist and teacher -- and does with a great sense of style. "She isn't just a scientist in a white coat; she's also a mother who happens to love to entertain and is incredibly talented with flowers," Terry says. "I'm known for wearing flowers with my outfits," Karl says as she unfolds a lab blanket, placing it beneath the violets to protect them from the winter chill. "Flowers just add that little something extra to everything." |
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