Chief Medical Officer Examines Dichotomy of Doctors as Patients
A Timely Medical Fiction Story Amid a Global Pandemic
Dallas, TX, January 21, 2021 — Dr. Robert Schwab, chief medical officer for a hospital in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, announces the release of his third book, Eddie’s Boy (Paperback, $18.95), February 2021. The book tells the story of a physician who faces life after an accident that leaves him with debilitating injuries. In an instant, the doctor becomes the patient, and while the journey throughout Eddie’s Boy reflects on illness and suffering, the healing and love that transpires is a lesson for all.
In the time it takes him to drive through a stoplight at the Four Corners of Law, Dr. Landon Ratliff––distracted by the finest birthday present he's ever received and won't remember––has his midlife crisis delivered to him in an instant. When his father, with whom he has never been close, is diagnosed with a terminal condition, Landon goes home to be with family.
The reader is carried through Dr. Ratliff’s resulting journey of illness, injury, suffering, healing, love and redemption. His experiences take him to places he's visited before, but never thought he'd be. In the midst of a global pandemic, the reader is reminded of themes and emotions that surfaced in 2020.
Written with ease and eloquence, Eddie's Boy explores the things we take for granted, and the things we never knew we had. In the end, healing and love overcome suffering and loss, providing readers a hopeful final message as we begin a new year.
“Doctors identify themselves as healers. When a doctor becomes objectively sick, with COVID-19 or otherwise, they’re thrust into the role of patient. It’s a profound experience for which they’re incredibly ill-prepared,” says Schwab. “Just as Landon ultimately realizes in Eddie’s Boy, I hope readers walk away with the sense that you’re never truly alone in life––you need other people, no matter who you are.”
ABOUT ROBERT SCHWAB
Robert Schwab is a physician executive with an interest in the roles that stories play in illness and healing, and how the humanities can improve medical education. In addition to writing and speaking on these topics, he teaches an undergraduate seminar at The University of Texas at Dallas. He has published poems, stories and essays, and writes and performs songs about healthcare. His first novel, Holy Water, explored the impact of the French Quarter on a young physician’s professional development. Back Side of a Hurricane, his second novel, is about fathers and their children, and the wisdom of sitting still when chaos swirls around you. He lives in Dallas. Learn more at RobertSchwab.com or on Facebook @RobertSchwabAuthor.
Lawmakers Enlist Power of Drones, AI, to Curb COVID Spread
New York, NY, January 22, 2021— In the wake of surging COVID-19 cases following Thanksgiving gatherings, the Alabama State Senate recently adopted the Draganfly Smart Vital System and its related health safety protocols to help detect potential COVID-19 in government buildings and ensure the ongoing operation of government.
“As the current pandemic continues, we are committed to provide a safe place for our staff and visitors to ensure there is no interruption in the work that needs to be done for the citizens of Alabama,” said Pat Harris, Secretary, Alabama State Senate. “We are confident that the implementation of Draganfly’s Vital Intelligence Technology will help to ensure an important layer to existing protocols that assist us in identifying and mitigating the risk of the spread of COVID-19.”
Draganfly’s American made and owned Smart Vital screening system and platform will provide comprehensive data to the Alabama State Senate that will enable those potentially at risk to receive an immediate COVID-19 test and will also include the number of people screened, number of elevated vital signs detected and the time it took for each screening.
Alabama State University in Montgomery has already been using Draganfly’s Vital Intelligence Smart Thermal + Vital screening and Social Distancing Awareness system across its campus, which measures real-time anonymous data, including contactless temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate readings. Since installation, the University has also seen significant increases in adherence to social distancing protocols.
Additionally, ASU uses Draganfly’s patented drone technology, coupled with a pathogen and virus sanitizer made by Varigard, to disinfect surfaces in its athletic stadiums and arenas. ASU President Dr. Quinton T. Ross has been a leader in ensuring his student, staff and faculty are safe during the pandemic. ASU was the first university to implement a COVID-19 safety protocol.
About Draganfly
Draganfly Inc. is the creator of quality, cutting-edge software and systems that revolutionize the way organizations can do business and service their stakeholders. Recognized as being at the forefront of technology for over 22 years, Draganfly is an award-winning, industry-leading manufacturer and technology developer serving the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections, security, and mapping and surveying markets. Draganfly is a company driven by passion, ingenuity, and the need to provide efficient solutions and first-class services to its customers around the world with the goal of saving time, money and lives. The company’s chairman and CEO is Cameron Chell.
New Deloitte report supports adoption of GS1 standards and barcode implementation to ensure safety and trust in Covid-19 vaccination
Deloitte white paper highlights why common standards across the global healthcare supply chain are essential as the world undergoes the largest deployment of vaccines in history
TORONTO, Jan. 21, 2021 /CNW/ - As governments and businesses around the world face one of the most significant healthcare events history – an unprecedented rapid mass development, distribution, and administration of COVID-19 vaccines – a new report issued by Deloitte points to the benefits of universal adoption of global standards across the healthcare supply chain worldwide to enable fast, efficient, and safe distribution. Global public health officials have reinforced those sentiments, with Tom Woods, Chairman of the Global Steering Committee for Quality Assurance of Health Products for the World Bank, calling for the adoption of common standards including barcode scanning, "the most important and under-discussed element in preventing vaccine distribution failures and ensuring traceability and patient safety in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign."
The Deloitte study, "Securing Trust in the Global COVID-19 Supply Chain," finds that, in addition to industry collaboration and transparent communication, "embracing GS1 standards adds an element of trust at all levels of the supply chain – a trust that ultimately extends to the patients themselves". GS1 global standards enable pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributing companies and healthcare providers to follow protocols and safety measures critical to ensuring public trust and confidence, both in the vaccine itself and the ability to roll out multi-dose vaccinations efficiently.
Barcodes carrying GS1 standards uniquely and securely identify medical products, including vaccines, from laboratories and clinical trials to point of administration. GS1 standards bring transparency and help to improve supply chain coordination, decreasing the risk of vaccine diversion, date expiration and fake vaccines, while enabling the timely administration of second doses.
While the adoption of GS1 standards continues to expand in the healthcare field, they are not yet universally applied. The Deloitte study calls vaccine identification information (such as product identifier, lot number, and expiration date) "essential for healthcare providers to administer vaccines with confidence," noting that, "the WHO recommends that all vaccines be identified with this data in a standardized barcode." GAVI and UNICEF have also required the use of GS1 standards on the secondary packages of vaccines.
In Canada, the essential players of the vaccine supply chain rely on GS1 standards, including barcodes, as the backbone for their supply chains, and are already providing visibility to their pharmaceutical product data through Canada's national product registry (ECCnet Registry). This commitment provides the foundation for safe vaccine distribution and administration to the point of patient record, and together, they are urging the Canadian government to take leadership to ensure safe and secure implementation within Canada's healthcare system.
Miguel Lopera, President and CEO at GS1 noted, "an unprecedented level of research, collaboration and investment has brought hope in the form of COVID-19 vaccines. The world now faces, however, an enormous distribution and administration challenge where global identification standards have a critical role to play. Countries around the world are implementing massive vaccination campaigns under enormous time pressure, all while the virus continues to kill thousands of people every day. Global Standards can help enable the proper identification and tracking of vaccines in the global healthcare industry and reduce the chances for error. GS1 stands ready to help all stakeholders succeed in this critical operation."
Greg Reh, Global Life Sciences & Health Care Industry Leader, Deloitte added, "For vaccine developers, health care stakeholders, and society at large, the level of transparency and public trust will determine COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and confidence. The continued adoption of global standards from organisations like GS1 are helping to instill that confidence in the Covid-19 vaccines."
Today more than 70 countries have healthcare regulations or trading partner requirements for which industry uses GS1 standards. These countries rely on GS1 DataMatrix two-dimensional (2D) barcodes that can encode vaccine identification information to help reduce errors and enable traceability.
As some countries are experiencing tracking difficulties linking vaccines to patients at point of administration, the Deloitte report notes that "it is important to identify and label the vaccines capturing precisely which patient received which vaccine, and when." Globally unique identification and GS1 barcoding can support that critical task.
On January 28, a global healthcare dialogue is bringing together senior leaders from the healthcare industry and life sciences value chain, including the WHO, World Bank and Deloitte, to discuss key challenges, opportunities and early learnings presented by the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
For further information on the report and to register for the event, please click here.
About GS1 Healthcare
GS1 Healthcare is a neutral and open community bringing together healthcare stakeholders to lead the successful development and implementation of global GS1 standards, enhancing patient safety, and operational and supply chain efficiencies.
The development and implementation of GS1 standards is led by the experts who use them: pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, group purchasing organizations, hospitals, pharmacies, logistics providers, solution providers, governmental and regulatory bodies, and trade associations. Evidence available from industry implementations shows that GS1 identification, data capture and data sharing standards in healthcare deliver tangible benefit to all stakeholders. GS1 Healthcare members include more than 100 leading healthcare organizations worldwide.
About GS1 Canada
GS1 Canada is a neutral, not-for-profit association that develops and maintains global standards for efficient business communication, improving the efficiency, safety, security, sustainability and visibility of value chains across physical and digital channels. Our scale and reach help ensure that GS1 standards provide a common language that supports systems and processes across the globe.
In Canada, through our unique community management role, we collaborate with business leaders, industry and sector boards, advisory councils and work groups to develop standards, guidelines and non-proprietary industry managed solutions to support subscribers of all sizes across multiple sectors.
GS1 Canada is a global leader in data quality, and the primary source of truth for data excellence for Canadian industry.
Ravi Deshpande joins ELNA Medical as Chief Business Development Officer, Canada
Accomplished business leader to contribute to ELNA's significant North American growth
MONTREAL, Jan. 21, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - The management team at ELNA Medical is delighted to welcome Ravi Deshpande (PharmD) as Chief Business Development Officer, Canada.
An Outstanding Career Path "I am very pleased to welcome Ravi to our management team, stated Laurent Amram, President and founder of ELNA Medical. Ravi is an accomplished executive who brings a wealth of impressive experience from a global Fortune 500 organization that is a leader in the pharmaceutical distribution industry and in healthcare solutions. He will facilitate our ambitious projects for Canada and the United States."
Ravi Deshpande has held a range of management positions at McKesson for over 15 years. Among others, he was Chief Strategy Officer for McKesson Canada and Senior Vice-President at Medicentres; he played a key role in the expansion of the multinational's Canadian footprint, tripling the pharmacy network through numerous acquisitions.
A registered pharmacist, Ravi Deshpande has held appointments in the hospital sector in Toronto and in the US and served as Assistant Professor of Medicine in North Carolina. He co-founded Phase 4 Health, a pharmaceutical services firm providing patient, prescription, and consultant services to the pharmaceutical industry, acquired by McKesson Canada in 2005.
An Experienced Leadership Team Based in Toronto, Ravi will focus on strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and partnerships for ELNA Medical across Canada. He will play an instrumental role in helping the organization achieve its aggressive growth objectives. He joins a leadership team of renowned experts:
Laurent Amram, Founding President of ELNA Medical and Founding President of CDL Laboratories This dynamic, visionary entrepreneur founded in 1993 CDL Laboratories, a leading Canadian diagnostic laboratory and technological showcase of Roche Diagnostics. Subsequently, in 2016 he pioneered a network of medical services facilities under the ELNA Medical banner, which quickly rose to the rank of industry leader in Canada.
Levi Perez, Chief Operating Officer An engineer with over 40 years of experience in management and consulting to his credit, Levi has held numerous senior positions, including Vice-President at Bell Canada and Bell Sygma. He also served as member of the Board of Directors of Cognicase and of Polytechnique Montreal.
Terry Lefebvre, Chief Financial Officer Terry has extensive experience and expertise in strategic financial planning and operational excellence, mergers and acquisitions, cash management, risk and governance. He worked 18 years at SNC-Lavalin holding many senior positions, namely as Chief Financial Officer of the Canadian engineering division, in addition to 10 years at the Royal Bank of Canada.
Dr. Benjamin Burko, Chief Innovation Officer For almost 25 years, this pediatrician was Chief of Staff and Medical Director of the Tiny Tots Medical Centre, the largest ambulatory (non-hospital) pediatric centre in Canada. He pioneered the use of technology to improve office administration and clinical appointments. He also co-chaired the McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Services Faculty Council.
About ELNA Medical ELNA Medical is a privately owned, Montreal-based company comprising the largest network of medical clinics across Canada, with over 800 medical professionals working in 54 primary and specialty care and occupational health clinics. In operation since 2016, ELNA has been delivering public health-covered primary and specialized healthcare. True to its mission and spirit of innovation, ELNA is committed to making a distinctive contribution to the health and well-being of every patient by providing easily accessible medical services of exceptional quality, thanks to cutting-edge technology. ELNA Medical is associated with CDL Laboratories, a leader in the industry of privately owned laboratories in Quebec.
Nexelis acquires the GSK vaccines clinical bioanalytical laboratory located in Marburg – Germany and enters into a 5-year strategic agreement with GSK
LAVAL, QC and MARBURG, Germany, Jan. 20, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Nexelis, a portfolio company of Ampersand Capital Partners, and a leading provider of advanced assay development and laboratory testing services in the infectious, oncologic, and metabolic diseases fields, has signed an asset purchase agreement with GSK to acquire its GCLP-certified clinical bioanalytical laboratory located in Marburg, Germany.
The Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) team in Marburg, consisting of approximately 80 scientists and analysts, will be transferred to Nexelis. The CLS team in Marburg will continue to keep a strong relationship with GSK and support the development of future GSK vaccine candidates through a 5-year strategic collaborative agreement.
This is the fifth acquisition by Nexelis in the last three years after Pacific Biomarkers, Seattle, WA; PAIRimmune, Laval, QC; ImmunXperts, Gosselies, BE; and AIT Bioscience, Indianapolis, IN. The transaction with GSK enables Nexelis to expand its global footprint as well as its immunology-centric assay development and high-throughput clinical testing capacities.
Benoit Bouche, Nexelis CEO commented "We are thrilled to welcome on board new colleagues with a legacy of over 20 years under Novartis and GSK leadership in clinical laboratory activities supporting the development of vaccines against viral and bacterial diseases. We believe that this transaction is a determining step in the establishment of Nexelis as an unrivaled global vaccine player."
Emmanuel Hanon, Head of GSK Vaccines R&D added "Strategic outsourcing will optimize GSK's footprint and increase our agility so that we can continue to accelerate the development of the candidate vaccines in our pipeline. Based on the previous successful transfer of other laboratory activities to Nexelis, we are confident that this will be a great fit due to the quality and agility of the Nexelis organization."
The transaction with GSK will be effective at the end of January 2021. Nexelis intends to quickly expand the Marburg site, initiating collaborations with other vaccine development companies as well as with the company's other North American and European sites.
Nexelis expects to add new clinical testing platforms in Marburg that will be fully bridged with Laval platforms, develop synergies with its early development stage ImmunXperts branch in Belgium and leverage existing talents in fields such as biostatistics to form a broad-based, end-to-end service offering in bacteriology, virology, and oncology.
About Nexelis
With an unrivaled expertise in immunology, 5 operating sites in North America and Europe, and a translational offer of services covering the needs of the pharmaceutical industry from the lead selection stage to late clinical stage, Nexelis is a leading provider of assay development and advanced laboratory testing services in the infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, and oncology fields. Our versatile team of scientists, working with our state of the art technology platforms, were instrumental in the development, qualification, validation, and large-scale sample testing of assays that supported the FDA filing of almost 100 new molecular entities, including blockbuster vaccines and biologics, anti-viral drugs, immunotherapy, gene and cell therapy products. Additional information about Nexelis is available at www.nexelis.com.
About Ampersand Capital Partners
Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm with more than $2 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm's core healthcare sectors. Additional information about Ampersand is available at www.ampersandcapital.com.
SOURCE Nexelis
Ontario's doctors provide facts, promote confidence in COVID vaccine to counter misinformation on social media
TORONTO, Jan. 20, 2021 /CNW/ - Ontario's doctors voiced concern today about the urgent need to combat misinformation spreading on social media that may discourage people from getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Doubts and misinformation about how thoroughly the vaccines were tested or the extent of side effects are being shared widely on social media, especially among people under 25 and those between 25 and 34, according to new data released by the OMA.
The OMA plans a media briefing at 12:30 today to counter those myths and fears and turn vaccine hesitancy into vaccine confidence.
"We, as doctors, want to do everything we can to address every patient's concerns," said OMA President Dr. Samantha Hill, speaking on behalf of the province's 43,000 physicians, including those working on the front lines of the pandemic.
"If you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, or any other health issue, ask trusted sources such as doctors who have the facts to turn vaccine hesitancy into vaccine confidence. This report helps us better understand where some of the fear and hesitancy is coming from so we are better able to respond."
According to data collected by Advanced Symbolic Inc., misinformation about the COVID vaccine is spreading among all age groups in Ontario on social media. ASI uses artificial intelligence methodology to build a representative sample of Ontarians from publicly available social media information and obtain insights into public discussions about vaccine hesitancy.
Vaccine misinformation by age groups:
Under 25: Misinformation within this group includes strong doubts about the vaccine on social media, emphasizing they believe it is dangerous, "untested" and "largely experimental." They speak, almost aggressively, about "it's not your business whether I get the vaccine." Those in this age group who are more open and accepting of the vaccine still have negative views about following government measures and advice aimed at curbing the pandemic, saying if the do so, they will be considered low risk and have to wait longer to get a vaccine than people at high risk.
Ages 25-34: More conspiracy theories are seen in this age group, in particular the belief that COVID is a genetically engineered virus so no vaccine can be trusted. This group is outspoken about refusing to have any "mandatory health tag" to prove they have been vaccinated. They want to make sure human rights are supported during the pandemic and question employers' abilities to force employees to get the vaccine.
Ages 35-44: This group is more supportive of a vaccine and is circulating less misinformation. But they are unhappy with the way the government rolled out the vaccines, especially the shutdown over the holidays and want the government to speed things up. This age group is talking a lot about vaccine safety and the need for public health campaigns that address vaccine hesitancy. Specifically, they are seeking more information about the effect of the vaccine during pregnancy.
Ages 45-65: This age group is using social media to voice their opinions about government actions. Many are frustrated at the slow roll out of the vaccine and want clarification about where the vaccines have gone and more transparency about the next steps.
"Ontario's doctors are committed to helping everyone make an informed decision by providing accurate, evidence-based facts," said OMA CEO Allan O'Dette. "The facts will help us all make the right decision for ourselves, our families and our communities."
The OMA has been active in combatting misinformation online about topics such as vaccination since 2019. For more factual answers to COVID vaccine questions, click here.
About the OMA
The Ontario Medical Association represents Ontario's 43,000-plus physicians, medical students and retired physicians, advocating for and supporting doctors while strengthening the leadership role of doctors in caring for patients. Our vision is to be the trusted voice in transforming Ontario's health-care system.
SOURCE Ontario Medical Association
Merck Canada and MaRS Team Up to Launch Lung Cancer Innovation Challenge
Challenge aimed at improving patient outcomes by identifying solutions to reduce time between diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer patients
KIRKLAND, QC, Jan. 20, 2021 /CNW/ - Merck Canada and MaRS Discovery District (MaRS) are proud to launch the Lung Cancer Innovation Challenge. The competition challenges Ontario-based innovators to identify, implement and scale solutions that can enhance an Ontario lung cancer patient's journey by seeking to reduce the length of time between diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer patients, and enable improved treatment outcomes, especially for priority patient groups such as rural and lower socioeconomic populations in Ontario. Financial prizes will be awarded to the winners of the challenge. In addition, the winners may have the opportunity to collaborate on future projects with Merck Canada. Of the four most common cancers, lung cancer, has the lowest survival rate, regardless of stage at diagnosis.1 It is estimated that 29,800 new lung cancer cases would be diagnosed in 2020 across Canada, with almost 40 per cent of those cases residing in Ontario alone.2,3 The ability for lung cancer patients to receive initial access to primary care and the proper treatment at the right time is dependent upon a number of different factors that touch on the patient, their circle of care, and the broader health system.
"We play an important role within Canada's healthcare environment, and we are very committed to helping solve key issues which patients are facing today. Our Life Sciences sector is one of the most innovative sectors imaginable and is key to tackling some of society's biggest health challenges. Innovative partnerships and joint initiatives, like this one with MaRS, are allowing us to collaborate and to tap into some of Ontario's brightest minds in order to bring new, invaluable solutions to people facing cancer," says AnnA Van Acker, President and Managing Director of Merck Canada. "The majority of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at Stage 4 and the disease often rapidly progresses to a point where appropriate treatment is no longer an option. The Lung Cancer Innovation Challenge provides an exciting opportunity to go above and beyond and to find much needed ways to help shorten the time gap between diagnosis and treatment, thereby potentially improving patient outcomes, individually and collectively."
The challenge kicks off today, January 20, with a virtual launch event at 11 a.m. EST featuring a panel discussion on the barriers and opportunities associated with the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. Panelists representing a diverse range of perspectives across the healthcare system — including patients, healthcare providers and other innovators — will share their experiences and speak to the additional challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Fighting lung cancer during a pandemic means reduced access to primary care, diagnosis and screening. It's also a very lonely process with tightened restrictions on visitor policies," says Alex Ryan, SVP, Partner Solutions at MaRS. "By partnering with Merck Canada, we will help foster innovative solutions that diffuse some of the COVID-19 complexities lung cancer patients encounter while strengthening and building long-term resiliency in Ontario's health care system."
"I'd like to congratulate Merck Canada and MaRS on the launch of this joint initiative," said Nina Tangri, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade. "Now more than ever, we need innovation and new ideas to better our healthcare system. I look forward to seeing the novel and life-changing solutions that Ontario's innovators submit to the challenge to help patients and families."
The challenge will run until March 25, 2021, and the grand-prize winner will receive a $100,000 prize with $50,000 going to the runner-up prize winner. Winners will be announced by April 28, 2021. Please go here for more information or to register for the launch event.
About Merck For more than 125 years, Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals – including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases – as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world.
About MaRS MaRS is North America's largest urban innovation hub. A registered non-profit, MaRS supports high-growth startups and scale-ups tackling key issues in health, cleantech, fintech and other sectors. In addition, MaRS convenes all members of the tech ecosystem to drive breakthrough discoveries, grow the economy and make an impact by solving real problems for real people — in Canada and around the world.
References
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1 Ontario Cancer Statistics 2018 — Cancer Care Ontario
2 Ontario Cancer Statistics 2018 — Cancer Care Ontario
3 Target Wait Times for Cancer Surgery in Ontario, 2016 — Cancer Care Ontario
SOURCE Merck
Accomplished Musicians Honor Family’s Legacy with Three Tributes
Austin, TX, January 20, 2021 — For brothers Robert and James Freeman, who are both accomplished musicians, music and family mean everything. To honor their family’s musical legacy, which spans three generations, the brothers commissioned three breathtaking, original scores included on Three Tributes, a music CD (with an accompanying booklet), which would make a welcome addition to anyone’s collection of beautiful new music.
Three Tributes features award-winning composers Kevin Puts, Andrea Clearfield and Gunther Schuller, along with a host of world-class performers. The CD will immerse listeners in the magnificent sounds of an emotional violin solo, stunningly prestissimostrings, and the layered splendor of four hands on two pianos.
For Robert and James, a music CD seemed an appropriate way to honor their family’s multigenerational love and appreciation of music. Their parents, Henry and Florence Knope Freeman, were both children of musicians and graduated from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester in 1930.
Both Robert and James studied piano and theory at Cambridge’s Longy School while graduating from Milton Academy, and studied performance during the summers at Tanglewood, Blue Hill and Marlboro. They went on to Harvard, where each graduated with honors, followed by travelling fellowships for study in Europe.
Robert took his Ph.D. in music history at Princeton and taught there for five years before moving to MIT, where he made tenure just before moving for 24 years to the directorship of the Eastman School — his parents’ alma mater — followed by two years as president of the New England Conservatory and six as dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin.
James went straight from Harvard to Swarthmore College, where he taught and conducted for 37 years, served as departmental chair for 16 years and as Daniel Underhill Professor of Music. In 1988 he founded Philadelphia’s new music group Orchestra 2001, directing it until 2015 when he resigned to take on a new ensemble, Chamber Orchestra FIRST EDITIONS. In 1991 he was a Fulbright lecturer and conductor at the Moscow Conservatory, and has returned to Moscow many times since then to give concerts of new American music.
Both brothers have made lots of recordings, and have published their share of well-reviewed books and articles. When the idea arose to commission some original scores to honor their family legacy, Robert and James sought out music’s finest to bring their vision for Three Tributes to fruition.
Two of the composers featured on the CD have won the Pulitzer Prize. Kevin Puts is currently at work on an opera for the Metropolitan Opera. Andrea Clearfield, who took her DMA at Temple, is the founder of the Philadelphia Salon Concert Series, featuring contemporary, classical, jazz, world and electronic music, together with multimedia and spoken word arts. The late Gunther Schuller was one of the 20th Century’s music stars as composer, conductor, author and administrator. He was a great admirer of their father’s bass playing, and a good friend.
Robert and James hope that Three Tributes will inspire others to undertake similar projects. Neither of them is aware of any similar event in the history of music where two brothers from a family of professional musicians — spanning at least two generations before them — have commissioned significant works as a tribute to their parents and for future generations to enjoy.
So-Called Normal Shares Gripping True Story of Suicide Attempt Survival and Resilience
New York NY, January 20, 2021 — By age 15, depression and anxiety had taken their toll on Mark Henick. Clinging to an outside girder on an overpass, a deeply troubled Henick made the only decision he thought he could. And he let go.
Henick’s newly released book, So-Called Normal: A Memoir of Family, Depression and Resilience, aims to break the relentless stigma of mental illness through his candid, intensely personal account of his youth, the events that led to that fateful night on the bridge, and the experiences and transformation that followed. Henick takes readers inside the mind of a boy who had to deal with the breakdown of his parents’ marriage, an abusive stepfather, bullying and trauma — all while trying to navigate his progressively worsening mental health. In the backdrop is a community that didn’t talk about mental illness, one where silence and maintaining the comforts of “normal” was paramount.
So-Called Normal is a vital, triumphant story of perseverance and recovery that has already touched the hearts of many, including television personality Rosie O’Donnell.
“Mark Henick is a powerful storyteller. His vivid account of his early years as a depressed, suicidal teenager is a page-turner. So-Called Normal is beautifully written, heart-wrenching, and hopeful. Necessary reading for anyone who wants a peek inside the mind of someone who journeyed through mental illness and found hope on the other side,” O’Donnell said.
Author Mark Henick’s TEDx talk, Why We Choose Suicide, is one of the most watched in the world and has been viewed millions of times. His search for “the man in the brown jacket” whose bravery and strong arms kept him from falling to his death went viral around the world (and was successful!). Henick has been on television and radio and has written many articles on mental health. He has hosted more than 60 intimate conversations about mental health with notable public figures and celebrities on his podcast, So-Called Normal, and has executive produced and hosted the Living Well podcast for Morneau Shepell. Henick has served on the board of directors for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and was the president of a provincial division of the Canadian Mental Health Association — the youngest person in either role. He has worked as a frontline clinician, a program manager and the national director of strategic initiatives for CMHA. Currently the CEO and principal strategist for Strategic Mental Health Consulting, Mark Henick is in high demand as an international keynote speaker on mental health recovery.
So-Called Normal Shares Gripping True Story of Suicide Attempt Survival and Resilience
New York NY, January 20, 2021 — By age 15, depression and anxiety had taken their toll on Mark Henick. Clinging to an outside girder on an overpass, a deeply troubled Henick made the only decision he thought he could. And he let go.
Henick’s newly released book, So-Called Normal: A Memoir of Family, Depression and Resilience, aims to break the relentless stigma of mental illness through his candid, intensely personal account of his youth, the events that led to that fateful night on the bridge, and the experiences and transformation that followed. Henick takes readers inside the mind of a boy who had to deal with the breakdown of his parents’ marriage, an abusive stepfather, bullying and trauma — all while trying to navigate his progressively worsening mental health. In the backdrop is a community that didn’t talk about mental illness, one where silence and maintaining the comforts of “normal” was paramount.
So-Called Normal is a vital, triumphant story of perseverance and recovery that has already touched the hearts of many, including television personality Rosie O’Donnell.
“Mark Henick is a powerful storyteller. His vivid account of his early years as a depressed, suicidal teenager is a page-turner. So-Called Normal is beautifully written, heart-wrenching, and hopeful. Necessary reading for anyone who wants a peek inside the mind of someone who journeyed through mental illness and found hope on the other side,” O’Donnell said.
Author Mark Henick’s TEDx talk, Why We Choose Suicide, is one of the most watched in the world and has been viewed millions of times. His search for “the man in the brown jacket” whose bravery and strong arms kept him from falling to his death went viral around the world (and was successful!). Henick has been on television and radio and has written many articles on mental health. He has hosted more than 60 intimate conversations about mental health with notable public figures and celebrities on his podcast, So-Called Normal, and has executive produced and hosted the Living Well podcast for Morneau Shepell. Henick has served on the board of directors for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and was the president of a provincial division of the Canadian Mental Health Association — the youngest person in either role. He has worked as a frontline clinician, a program manager and the national director of strategic initiatives for CMHA. Currently the CEO and principal strategist for Strategic Mental Health Consulting, Mark Henick is in high demand as an international keynote speaker on mental health recovery.
