Illinois Medicine

CLINICIAN, MENTOR conducted pioneering thyroid studies 50-year career Jerome Hershman, MD '57, the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus encountered at Caltech," he says. He considered staying there to earn a PhD, but his desire to be a physician brought him back to Chicago and the College of Medicine, where he was president of Alpha Omega Alpha, the honor medical society, his final year. "The quality of the education was excellent. The basic sciences had excellent faculty, the lectures were generally quite interesting, the clinical experience in the clerkships was generally very fulfilling," Hershman recalls. Hershman also met his wife of 54 years, Fleurette (Kram) Hershman, while playing tennis just before the start of his fourth year, which he spent in part wooing her. "I took my surgery clerkships a little less seriously than otherwise I might have," he acknowledges. After receiving his medical degree, Hershman completed an internship at Cook County Hospital; a residency in medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, both in Boston; and a fellowship in endocrinol- ogy from New England Medical Center, also in Boston. During his endocrinology fellowship, he worked in a laboratory that was performing research on a drug used to treat hyperthyroidism, piquing his interest in thyroid research. Hershman has pursued that interest over the course of positions at Northwestern University, the University of Alabama and UCLA, which he joined in 1972 as chief of the endocrinology division of the West Los Angeles VA Hospital. Among the major impacts of Hershman's studies has been his determination that the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin produced by the placenta had thyroid-stimulating properties, sometimes leading to abnormal thyroid function during the first trimester of a pregnancy. "The high levels of vomiting during pregnancy are associated with high hCG levels that can cause hy- perthyroidism early in pregnancy," says Hershman, past president of the American Thyroid Association, found- ing editor of that association's journal, Thyroid, and current editor of its online journal, Clinical Thyroidology. "It was path-finding research. The concept that hCG was a thyroid stimulator was very controversial in the 1970s and '80s, and now it's widely accepted." Hershman also was the first person to use thyrotropin releasing hormone to test pituitary and thyroid function, and for many years the TRH test was considered the gold standard for diagnosing hyperthy- roidism or confirming a suppressed thyroid stimulating hormone in treatment of thyroid cancer. "Now, there are tens of thousands of papers about suppressed TSH," he says. Another series of studies determined that during severe illness, inflammatory molecules called cytokines depress thyroid function as an adaptation to the ill- ness. More recently, he's devoted himself to researching thyroid cancer. "There's clearly been an increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer, and I'm studying whether environmental chemicals play a role in causing that increase," he says. At age 79, Hershman shows no sign of slowing down. He and Fleurette, a retired biology teacher, still play tennis together regularly. On the professional side, "I enjoy my work a great deal. I'm still active in patient care, and I enjoy working with endocrinology fellows," says Hershman, who has trained more than 50 of them, many of whom lead divisions of endocrinology and departments of medicine across the country. Hershman's return to his alma mater to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award left him impressed. "The College of Medicine has a wonderful future ahead of it," he says. "It offers great opportunities for the students and faculty, and I look forward to it having an important place in academic medicine." While he modestly doesn't see himself as a heroic figure on the order of the characters he read about in his youth, Hershman acknowledges he's played his part in bettering medical care. "I've done a few things that were very novel, and I think my discoveries have contributed to medical progress." And the nomination, please... Don't miss your chance to nominate a deserving alumnus for our 2012 Distinguished Alumnus Award. University of Illinois College of Medicine alumni make amaz- ing things happen in the world. Our alumni help build healthier communities, provide world-class health care and save countless lives. Their achievements demon- strate the dynamic excellence of a University of Illinois College of Med- icine education and the importance of service in the medical world. Established in the early 1960s, this award honors our medical alumni for outstanding contri- butions and exceptional ser- vice to the medical profession, the community, the College of Medicine and/or the university. All College of Medicine alumni, faculty, staff and students are welcome to nominate. Our 2012 award recipient will be recognized at the University of Illinois College of Medicine 2012 Reunion Dinner on Friday, August 17. For more information about past recipients and award criteria or to submit your nomination online, please visit us at www.medicine.uic.edu/reunion. For further information, please call us at (312) 355-1171. Deadline for nominations: May 31, 2012 ILLINOIS MEDICINE | 37 PHOTO: DIANE SMUTNY

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