The National Museum of Health and Medicine has been given the complete collection of records and slides from two cancer control investigations conducted in the late 1960s by the U.S. Public Health Service's Committee on Reproducibility.The donation was made by Dr. Bernard Klionsky, a Pittsburgh pathologist who served as its chairman.
Sixteen institutions participated in the major studies, which examined more than 300 cervical cancer slides selected at random from their cancer control programs. The committee recommended that well-organized continuing educational and research programs be designed to help determine and evaluate variations in diagnosis.
"I've moved several times and now that I'm 75 years old and recently retired I thought this would be the right time to ensure that these records are properly stored and maintained," Dr. Klionsky said.
Dr. Klionsky has been a staff pathologist since 1987 at Presbyterian University Hospital and a professor of pathology since 1970 at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He received his medical degree in 1952 from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia and his bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1947 from Harvard College in Cambridge, Ma.
"These items will make a nice addition to our collection and we sincerely thank Dr. Klionsky for making the donation to us," said Michael Rhode, the museum's archivist.
