NBB Summer Program in Paris

by Samantha Feingold

During our class visit to the Museé des Moulages, I learned about both the science and the history behind dermatology. The Museé des Moulages translates to the museum of castings and is a collection of wax models that depict the dermatological presentations of neurological diseases, including those that we have discussed in class such as syphilis (Lynn et al., 2004; Rasoldier et al., 2020). The museum had an in-depth collection demonstrating the range of skin presentations and the changing appearances throughout the four progressing stages of syphilis.

 

The story of Museé des Moulages begins with artist Jean Baretta creating models of apples in 1863. Discovered by Charles Lailler, it was suggested that Baretta use his talent to reproduce skin diseases. As a result, the first wax dermatological model was made by Baretta in 1867.

Prior to the creations of castings when photographs were not available, students depended on engravings and drawings to learn about these pathologies. Thus, it was very difficult to understand these diseases and be prepared to diagnose patients. At the Museé des Moulages, castings were made of patient skin conditions and affected body parts to aid the improvement of education and diagnosis accuracy. We were not permitted to take photographs of the castings out of respect for privacy and patient confidentiality. The castings are painted, appear incredibly realistic, and include facial and genital castings which contribute to the seriousness of privacy and respect for those patients. These unique three-dimensional models were very valuable and have curated a historical collection of de-identified patient cases. Many of the castings were quite graphic and demonstrate how far medicine has come. When these castings were made, the treatments for these disorders were nothing compared to today and those individuals’ contribution to the creation of these wax models was essential for the identification of the same diseases that can now be treated. While some of these castings were hard to look at knowing that people suffered tremendously, it is informative to see the severity of syphilis progression and many other dermatological diseases due to the inability to provide medical intervention at that time. I am grateful we had the experience to observe incredibly accurate models of these diseases that we previously were googling to understand. I am glad I now know about the history of advancing dermatology. Knowing wax molds of apples inspired this museum, I wonder if that is where the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” originated from.

Works Cited

Lynn, W. A., & Lightman, S. (2004). Syphilis and HIV: a dangerous combination. The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 4(7), 456–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(04)01061-8

Rasoldier, V., Gueudry, J., Chapuzet, C., Bodaghi, B., Muraine, M., Tubiana, R., Paris, L., Pestel-Caron, M., Caron, F., & Caumes, E. (2021). Early symptomatic neurosyphilis and ocular syphilis: A comparative study between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients. Infectious Diseases Now, 51(4), 351–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medmal.2020.10.016

 

On June 15^th, 2022, Cynthia, Sam, Alyssa, and I visited the Marie Curie Museum, located down the street from the Pantheon, where Marie and Pierre Curie are both buried. I was very excited to go to this museum and have been talking about it for the past few weeks because of the importance of Curie’s work in the field of oncology. The museum is located at the former Radium Institute, now called the Institut Curie, and featured Curie’s (decontaminated) lab, office, and garden. Curie spent the last 20 years of her life as the first director of Curie Laboratory at the Radium Institute, where she ensured her lab comprised of 25% of the women, before passing away from leukemia in 1934. I noticed Curie’s lab was smaller than most labs I have seen at Emory or during my research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which begs the question of whether things in the United States are just larger or if labs in the past were built smaller. The museum displayed a replication of the 1902 lab book entry by Marie and Pierre Curie estimating the atomic mass of Radium and outlining the various steps of their calculations. It’s insane to think that the original page is still dangerously radioactive over 100 years later.

Marie Curie was a Polish and nationalized-French physicist and chemist who won two Nobel Prizes for her work with radioactivity. She developed contact curiethérapie, known as brachytherapy in English, a technique still used today for the treatment of cancer. Brachytherapy can be used for the treatment of a variety of cancers, including prostate, cervix, breast, vagina, endometrium, and head and neck cancers and has been shown to be an effective and safe non-pharmaceutical treatment with fewer serious complications and better outcome than other treatments for breast cancer (Deng et al., 2017). Brachytherapy has also been found to treat brain tumors with high doses of radiation while sparing the healthy surrounding tissue and can be used as a primary treatment, an adjuvant treatment, or as therapy for recurrence of some malignant gliomas, low-grade astrocytomas, meningiomas, metastases, and pediatric brain tumors (Suh et al., 1999).

I find it amazing that, even after almost a century, the science Marie Curie lived (and died) for continues to help patients around the world. She truly is an inspiration to all young girls interested in science and medicine. It was a wonderful experience to step back into the past and learn about radiation, cancer research, and the life of Marie Curie.

Citations:

Deng, X., Wu, H., Gao, F., Su, Y., Li, Q., Liu, S., & Cai, J. (2017). Brachytherapy in the treatment of breast cancer. International journal of clinical oncology, 22(4), 641–650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-017-1155-5

Suh, J. H., & Barnett, G. H. (1999). Brachytherapy for brain tumor. Hematology/oncology clinics of North America, 13(3), 635–ix. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0889-8588(05)70080-0

It is crazy to think that four weeks have already passed, only leaving us one more week in Paris. With still so many places to explore, I am not ready to say goodbye yet. However, yesterday, Wednesday, June 15th, I had the opportunity to check an item off of my bucket list when our class visited the Pantheon. As I was living very close to this monument during the first three weeks of the trip, I was very excited to finally be able to go inside. The Pantheon, originally built to be used as a church and modeled after the Roman Pantheon, features very tall ceilings with paintings that date back to the nineteenth century. In the center of the main floor is Foucault’s Pendulum, which was, unfortunately, being cleaned during our visit, so we weren’t able to see its full swing. 

After exploring the ground floor, we delved into the basement to visit the Pantheon crypt. Prior to the visit, I had a few stops that I wanted to make, such as the tomb of Marie Curie as she was the first woman to be buried in the Pantheon. However, while looking around, I was surprised to find that Louis Braille had been buried there as well. He was publicly recognized by the French government due to his creation of the Braille alphabetic writing system, which greatly contributed to the blind and visually impaired communities around the world, and his remains were taken to the Pantheon in 1952. 

There are around six million blind people around the world using Braille, stressing the importance of doing more research on it. Reich, Szwed, Cohen, & Amedi 2011 explored the areas of the brain that could potentially play the role of the visual word form area (VWFA) in people with visual impairment. They recruited eight congenitally blind individuals to partake in multiple different experimental conditions: braille words, braille nonsense words, verb generation, and verb generation control. Their participant results and associated functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) were compared to data from Cohen et al., 2004 to highlight that visual word form area activation occurred almost identically in visually impaired individuals and sighted, suggesting a “specialization for reading regardless of visual experience”. It is fascinating to learn that the contributions of one man, Louis Braille, have allowed visually impaired individuals to read, even though reading is typically thought of as a unique visual experience. 

References:

 

 

Following a busy week of assignments– two papers and a small presentation later– my roommate and I were ready for the weekend! Before arriving in Paris, Solanch, Jewel, and I booked a tour of the Eiffel tower and it turned out to be the perfect adventure after a long week. During the first three weeks in Paris, Solanch and I enjoyed seeing the Eiffel tower twinkle from our apartment kitchen each night before bed. We knew we wanted to enjoy the beauty of the tower as much as possible, so we decided that we would take full advantage of our visit and spend the entire day in the area. While we have gotten the chance to study at the accent center, the nearby cafes, and even the Sainte-Geneviève library, we wanted to experience studying with the tower in the background. We decided that the view would inspire us as we worked on our assignments so we brought our computers to get ahead on some readings. 

 

As we walked toward the tower, we learned that Gustave Eiffel’s apartment could be found at the top of the tower. Apparently, the space was used to accommodate his guests and work on scientific experiments– how cool is this? As I heard this, I thought to myself: I wouldn’t mind the commute every morning! Before reaching the lines to start our ascension, we could already see the Eiffel tower in all of its glory. It towered 1083 feet above us and was even more breathtaking up close. As we got closer and closer, our tour guide pointed out the names that bordered the four sides of the tower. Apparently, the names of 72 scientists, including mathematicians and engineers, were inscribed along the four sides of the tower. I wondered if there were any neuroscientists that had made the cut. A quick google search told me that Marie-François Xavier Bichat, although not a neuroscientist by training, was an anatomist who made substantial contributions that were later used for the development of neuroscientific understanding. He is most recognized for establishing the Medical Society of Emulation and for his publications titled: Physiological Researches on Life and Death and General Anatomy Applied to Physiology and Medicine (Clara et al., 2012). Through many***  dissections of corpses, he was able to identify 21 different types of elementary tissues. All of this was done without the use of a microscope! Pretty remarkable! I love how history is so integrated and evident all throughout Paris. I can’t believe that we have a little over 1 week left of this incredible experience!

 

Clarac, F., Barbara, J.-G. ., Broussolle, E., & Poirier, J. (2012). Figures and institutions of the neurological sciences in Paris from 1800 to 1950. Introduction and Part I: Neuroanatomy. Revue Neurologique, 168(1), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurol.2011.08.013

Today (Wednesday), the class visited the Pantheon in Paris. I had no idea that such a building existed, and I was very surprised to know that a select few were buried in the crypts beneath it.

Personally, the big name for me was François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume (pen name) Voltaire. In my preparation to come to Paris, I read his book, “Candide,: which turned out to be a very readible story that I might even compare to a text such as “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. 

I wonder, however, whether any of the folks buried in the crypt would even consent to being there–it seems that these “important” people were moved posthumously. Perhaps this was a disservice.

The list of 70 figures buried in the crypt include Rosseau, Curie, and even Braille. 

I did not know very much about Marie Curie prior to the visit, and I found that there was actually a pubmed article dedicated to her:

“Marie Curie was a remarkable woman whose discoveries broke new ground in physics and chemistry and also opened the door for advances in engineering, biology, and medicine. She broke new ground for women in science: she was, for example, the first woman to receive a doctor of science degree in France, the first woman to win Nobel Prize, the first woman to lecture at the Sorbonne, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, and the first Nobel Laureate whose child also won a Nobel Prize. Her life offers insights into the changing role of women in science and academia over the past century. It also offers examples of many ways in which scientists can, and should, work to improve the educational programs and career opportunities available to those who follow in their footsteps.”

However, in response to the prompt offered by the NBB 402W rubric on the question:

“Marie Curie is one of the only women at the Pantheon. Why?”

I felt it would be more appropriate to talk about a female scientist who was not celebrated and honored due to the systemic imbalance of power she faced. In our NBB 471 class, our guest speaker, Dr. Herve Chneiweiss, made several references to Dr. James Watson. Even in the context of this discussion, there was no credit given to Rosalind Franklin who actually discovered the “informative X-ray diffraction patterns of DNA that provided vital clues for James Watson and Francis Crick’s double-stranded helical model.” 

Rather, she was overshadowed by the sexism in science, back when DNA was discovered, and today, in class when she was not a part of the conversation of genetic research. She continued her research and maintained correspondence with Watson and Crick through her study of diffraction patterns of Tobacco mosaic virus–details all swept under the rug by very apparent sexism everywhere we look. 

To answer the question of “why” the one-word answer is: sexism.

p.s. my last Parker pen, a gift from a dear high school friend, was stolen on a trip to Barcelona, and so i purchased a Caran d’Ache pen from Palais du Stylo. i would highly recommend a visit here if you are interested in a new writing utensil. also, a very fun fact is that is that

“Caran d’Ache was the pen name for Emmanuel Poiré (6 November 1858 – 25 February 1909). The pseudonym comes from Russian: карандаш, romanized: karandash meaning “pencil” in Turkic languages. While his first work glorified the Napoleonic era, he went on to create “stories without words” and as a contributor to newspapers such as the Le Figaro, he is sometimes hailed as one of the precursors of comic strips. The Swiss art products company Caran d’Ache is named after him”

this fun post-script fact brings us to a full circle ending as Voltaire was a pen name as well.

voila.

References:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15482656/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18702397/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caran_d%27Ache

I have always loved taking photos. When preparing for any trip, the first things in my suitcase are always my cameras! My goal for Paris was to be able to document all the beautiful buildings, delicious food, and fun experiences through my camera lens. A few days ago when I first heard about our trip to the Musée des Arts et Métiers, or Museum of Arts and Crafts, on Wednesday, June 8th, I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find rows and rows of scientific instruments and inventions in front of me. The contraptions ranged from communication devices to modes of transportation and even architectural models. My favorite room as a whole was the one that housed the French replica of the Statue of Liberty, airplane models, and antique cars at the end of the museum (Figure 1). But if I had to choose one singular exhibit that called my attention the most, it was the showcase of all the different cameras throughout the years (Figure 2).

 

It is fascinating to think about the major technological improvements that have been made over the past 100 years and how the invention of one item can pave an avenue of inspiration for so many other products. The development of the camera not only served as a tool for leisure and documentation but also allowed improvements in the medical field. Today, cameras are used in many procedures including neuroendoscopies. A neuroendoscopy was not a technique I was very familiar with, but it is a minimally invasive surgery tool that allows for tissue sampling in the brain usually because of brain tumors. In a retrospective descriptive study conducted by Deopujari, Shroff, Karmarkar, & Mohanty in 2022, 27 previous procedures were analyzed that utilized either endoscopic tumor biopsy (ETB) or endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) techniques to treat pediatric patients. Children were laid in an upright position with their heads turned to a 20-degree angle to the left such that the right side was exposed for these procedures. Researchers were able to insert the endoscope and perform the method with just a 4-6 cm coronal suture. The study showed that the accuracy of these procedures in children with pineal region tumors “has been above 75%”, which is a statistically significant value. Neuroendoscopic biopsy as a technique is becoming much more common in the medical field as it has proven itself as a safe and effective procedure with minimal invasiveness. I can expect this technology to expand even further in the next few years as it becomes more and more effective.

 

References: 

Deopujari, C., Shroff, K., Karmarkar, V., & Mohanty, C. (2022). Neuroendoscopy in the management of pineal region tumours in children. Child’s Nervous System. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-022-05561-0