RSS
Home
Local Geneticist featured on Parade magazine cover
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Leonardo DiCaprio. Robert DeNiro. Nicole Kidman. Eric Hoffman. One of these is not like the others.
Dr. Hoffman, director of the Center for Genetic Medicine Research at Children’s National Medical Center, joined the ranks of countless actors, musicians and other celebrities on Aug. 30 when he graced the cover of Parade magazine.
The article? “Discoveries That Can Save Your Life,” which is a good way to describe Hoffman’s work. The geneticist, along with teams of researchers all over the world, is trying to find a treatment for muscular dystrophy.
“It’s a devastating disease,” Hoffman said. “Kids are normal until about four years of age and then gradually they lose all the muscles in their body so they can’t walk anymore by 11 and can’t breathe anymore by 16 and they just die.”
The article started because Parade has a long-standing relationship with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which usually hosts a telethon around Labor Day. Hoffman, however, was not thrilled when he was chosen to be the face of the cause.
“One thing which I think speaks to what you are trying to get at is part of the nature of people that mainly have their pictures on the cover of magazines, like actors, like you pointed out, is that that’s a good thing, right?” Hoffman said. “In other words, if you get your picture on the cover of something that’s considered a good thing. But from the scientist’s perspective, that’s not necessarily true. In fact, I was very hesitant.”
One reason he said he was cautious was because being photographed was not part of his job. Another reason was because he was afraid of “overselling” the research he was doing.
“Back when we first identified the gene there, a ton of press and scientists were the worst offenders,” Hoffman said. “They almost thought you could just sprinkle this gene on a person’s head and they’d jump out of their wheelchair. Twenty years later that didn’t happen. So the false expectation created false hope in so many families as a consequence of those news reports and scientists.”
Finally, he works with a team of 120 researchers at the medical center and others in different countries as well, as he didn’t want to seem like he was taking full credit for all their work.
“It’s the analogy of a soloist versus a chorus,” Hoffman said. “Me, I work as part of a chorus, which when we’re all unified and we’re all doing the same thing is a tremendous thing. That’s one of the things I like about it is it’s incredibly orchestrated.”
In the end, bringing awareness to the research at the center and the potential it has to save children’s lives satisfied his doubts.
“But the end result of the article was to generate interest and public awareness in muscular dystrophy and its research progress, which is tremendous,” Hoffman said. “In the last few years, we’ve been actively involved in a treatment for the kids that are just dying. So that was the focus of the article, even though it only had a few sentences on that.”
Actually seeing his face on the cover, however, was a whole different story.
“My initial reaction, now that I think about it, was wondering how many people’s cup of coffee I ruined that morning,” Hoffman said. “But that’s me, that’s not a reflection of Parade or the story or anything else.”
Relatives who had never met Hoffman told him at a family get-together that they had placed the magazine on their mantles in hopes of meeting him.
Hoffman’s interest in genetics began in high school, when he took a course on biology and human values, which looked at the intersection of science and societal values. The ethics of that subject attracted him to the field, he said.
Hoffman studied biology and music at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, then earned his doctorate in genetics from Johns Hopkins University. His post-doctoral work at Harvard University consisted of experimenting on fruit flies, changing their eye color or wings. But Hoffman wanted to work with human diseases. His goal now is to “fix these kids, to dramatically change their way of life.” He still carries his passion for science and society, though.
“To some respect I feel that my goal now is a people scientist, someone who tries to get people from very diverse backgrounds working together for a common goal,” Hoffman said. “I think that’s great. It’s the fundamental strength of humanity to take on these large, collaborative projects.”
Currently, Hoffman is working on a possible treatment project in London. Although the Parade article was short, he believes it accomplished what it was meant to.
“It’s so much of a balance of hope and hurt,” Hoffman said. “I think Parade achieved that so I was quite happy.”
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
