In the late 1950s, she applied for and received a traveling fellowship from the Empire Rheumatism Council to continue her training in the United States with Morris Ziff, PhD, MD, of New York University in New York City. On the eve of her departure, Dr. Hess recalls, she received a telegram from her soon-to-be mentor: “If you want to work with me, you’d better come to Texas.” Dr. Ziff had just accepted a position with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Dr. Hess jokingly adds, “I wasn’t even sure where Texas was! But it turned out to be a terrific unit in the medical school, and I was very pleased.” She published a number of papers in concert with Dr. Ziff and other colleagues on autoimmune nephrosis in the rat and heart muscle antibodies in rheumatic fever, and was on the fast track to a successful academic career.1-3
In 1965, she was recruited to Cincinnati and shortly thereafter established the division of immunology [as it was first called] in the department of medicine. An intense period of growth and activity followed. Not only was she directing the division, overseeing the lab and training fellows, she continued investigations focusing on the effects of drugs on cartilage metabolism, and later moved into drug-related models in systemic lupus erythematosus and the role of endothelial cells in rheumatic diseases.
It seemed that Dr. Hess was committed to all aspects of rheumatic disease. She worked tirelessly for the advancement of the field, serving on American Rheumatism Association (ARA; now the ACR) and later ACR committees. She was one of the founding members, along with its originator James Fries, MD, of the American Rheumatism Medical Information System (ARAMIS) and remained on its steering committee for more than three decades. She was also instrumental in passing the Ohio Arthritis Act, which specifically funded patient education and supported fellowship training statewide.
A Thriving Division
According to many of her former fellows, Dr. Hess possesses an uncanny knack for steering the careers of those she trained. “She had high expectations for each and every one of us,” says Dr. Luggen, “and attempted to motivate us to be the best that we could be. She asked difficult questions and expected us to know the answer—or to find it quickly.”
George Spencer-Green, MD, senior director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Mass. and former director of the rheumatology section of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, describes Dr. Hess as a “take-charge” leader who built a division of “very colorful and bright people” who have gone on to make their own mark in basic and clinical research, as well as drug development.
