COM Outlook Spring 2020

12 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE “We stuck together, and more importantly, the very few female faculty members stuck up for us,” Klimas said. “There were lectures with nude women tucked among the slides and lots of tasteless pranks by a small handful of men. But the female faculty members, led by Janet Canterbury, Ph.D., and Mary Ann Fletcher, Ph.D., dealt with the discrimination. Very quickly, things changed for the better.” Immunology Immersion After Klimas earned her M.D. degree in 1980, her focus turned to expanding her medical knowledge. Having completed her pediatrics internship in 1981 at Baylor Uni- versity in Waco, Texas, Klimas returned to UM to complete her residency in 1983 and her clinical immunology fellowship in 1984. The struggle Klimas’s mother faced with fibromyalgia led her down this path, while Fletcher’s mentorship furthered her journey. During her fellowship, Klimas began working with what would soon be named HIV/AIDS, counting CD4 cells (white blood cells that fight infection as a major immune defense), and served as an instructor at UM. A big breakthrough came when the Bruce W. Carter Veterans Affairs Medical Center offered her a position, complete with a lab, mentors, and the opportunity to establish an HIV clinical and research program at the VA hospital. Her dream to work in immunology turned into reality. Klimas’s early efforts resulted in the clinic being distinguished as one of only three centers for excellence in HIV/AIDS—a gratifying accomplishment that saw her AIDS patients surviving to live healthier and longer lives by 1995. The University of Miami Clinical Immunology Lab also brought Klimas into the field of myalgic encephalomylitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)—the foundation for her future research. “Most of these patients were women, and many had fibro- myalgia and tremendous pain,” Klimas said. “But they also had autonomic dysfunction, cognitive problems, neuroendocrine issues, and immunologic dysfunction. This all pointed to the brain, and that was what brought me to neuroimmunology.” Gaining an Edge While UM set a solid founda- tion for Klimas as a clinician and researcher—including a tenured professorship, founding the International Association of ME/ CFS, and being the director of the UM Diagnostic Immunology and Chronic Fatigue clinics—Klimas knew a change was needed for her future goals to flourish. “I decided that the University of Miami could not grow our research program in the direction we needed,” Klimas said. “I was looking for an institution that would let us break out of our silos—clinical care, research, and education—and adapt the program into something that allowed our team to be a part of an integrated format.” Though various offers came close, it was at NSU in 2011 where Klimas was able to find a home that catered to her medical vision. Working at the KPCOM, Klimas found the college’s holistic principles of medicine and big- picture goals of cross-disciplinary medicine appealing. The next step involved creating a team that would carry out Klimas’s goals— a task she acknowledged would have been impossible without the support of philanthropist Robert Schemel in 2013. “He grinned at me, said he would like to help support us, and offered us $2 million,” Klimas recalled. “When I picked myself up off the floor, I found that we now had the funds to bring Fletcher’s group from UM to (continued from page 10) “ While my generation made sure the next would see even more opportunities, we still have more to do to find equality in our job opportunities, our salaries, and the balance of our household responsi- bilities and relationships.” —NANCY KLIMAS SHIFTING GEARS