Laucirica / Levy / Lind


Rodolfo Laucirica, MD (2009, 2010)

Background

Dr. Rodolfo Laucirica was born on August 8, 1957 in Havana, Cuba. He immigrated to the United States with his parents, who were escaping communist Cuba, in 1960. They settled in Miami, Florida. Dr. Laucirica received his elementary and secondary education in Miami and attended The University of South Florida in Tampa.

He married Irma Bermudez in July, 1984. They have two children, Daniel and Andres.

Medical Education & Practice

After graduating with honors from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Dr. Laucirica went to the Universidad Centro de Estudios Technicos in the Dominican Republic. He received his MD degree in 1983. After medical school, he was awarded a two-year research fellowship from the Department of Urology at Tulane University School of Medicine. He studied the role and pathogenesis of p-fimbriated E. coli in urinary tract infections. This work ignited Dr. Laucirica’s interest in pathology.

In 1985, Dr. Laucirica began his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at East Tennessee State James H. Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City. He completed his fifth year of residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and became certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic and clinical pathology. He eventually became certified in the sub-specialty of cytopathology.

After his residency, Dr. Laucirica moved to Houston, Texas to complete a one-year fellowship in cytopathology at Baylor College of Medicine under the supervision of Dr. Ibrahim Ramzy. In July, 1991 Dr. Laucirica joined the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine as an assistant professor. He also did clinical work at the Methodist Hospital.

In January, 2001, Dr. Laucirica moved to Ben Taub General Hospital to assume the role of director of anatomic pathology and eventually became director of cytology. He also served as a consultant for the private practice division of the Baylor Department of Pathology. In 2005, Dr. Laucirica became director of cytology and director of the cytopathology fellowship at Baylor. Currently, Dr. Laucirica is professor of pathology and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Laucirica was awarded the best faculty educator in anatomic pathology by the pathology residents and fellows at Baylor College of Medicine. Additionally, in 2012, Dr. Laucirica received the Fulbright & Jaworsk LLP Faculty Excellence Award for his educational accomplishments and mentoring of medical students and pathology residents and fellows.

Among his work in organized medicine, Dr. Laucirica has served as president of the Houston Society of Clinical Pathologists, and in several roles for the College of American Pathologists, including as a member of the Immunohistochemistry Resource Committee, the Cytopathology Resource Committee, Strategy Management Committee, and House of Delegates Steering Committee. He is also an inspector for the Laboratory Accreditation Program.

Texas Society of Pathologists

Dr. Laucirica has served as chair of the Residents and Fellows Seminar and Membership Committees for the TSP.

He was president of the TSP in 2009 and 2010.

Notable Publication(s)

Dr. Laucirica is on the editorial board of three journals in surgical and cytopathology. He has authored or co-authored 80 journal articles, 22 book chapters, and 44 abstracts.

Mann, S., Laucirica, R., Carlson, N., Younes, P. S., Ali, N., Younes, A., ... & Younes, M. (2001). Estrogen receptor beta expression in invasive breast cancer. Human pathology, 32(1), 113-118.

Arpino, G., Laucirica, R., & Elledge, R. M. (2005). Premalignant and in situ breast disease: biology and clinical implications. Annals of Internal Medicine, 143(6), 446-457.

Moise D. Levy, Sr., MD (1921)

Background

Dr. Moise Dreyfus Levy was born in Galveston, Texas on September 4, 1889 to Leopold and Justine Dreyfus Levy. He grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he attended grade school. He also attended the Louisiana State Normal College. He married Sarah Weill of Galveston in 1917, and they had one son and three daughters.

Dr. Levy passed away on January 30, 1963.

Medical Education & Practice

Dr. Levy received his MD degree from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1913. He completed his internship at St. Louis City Hospital and served a residency at Philadelphia General Hospital in Pennsylvania. Dr. Levy served two years in the United States Medical Corps during World War I. After his service, in 1915 he returned to Galveston to teach at the medical school as assistant professor of medicine, a position he held until 1922.

Dr. Levy spent forty years practicing internal medicine in Houston. He was one of the founders of the American Board of Internal Medicine and was board certified in 1937. From 1943 to 1954, he served as clinical professor at Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston, and was awarded professor emeritus after 1954.

Among his work and leadership roles in organized medicine, Dr. Levy was president of the Houston County Medical Society and a fellow and past governor of the American College of Physicians. He also served as president of the Texas Medical Research Foundation. His other memberships included the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, the Houston Society of Internal Medicine, the American Association of Railway Surgeons, the Texas Club of Internists, the Academy of Internal Medicine, the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine, the World Medical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the Houston Academy of Medicine.

During his time as president of the Harris County Medical Society, Dr. Levy led a campaign to provide polio vaccines to children. He also played a significant role in the organization and construction of the Jesse H. Jones Library in the Texas Medical Center in Houston.

Texas Society of Pathologists

Dr. Levy was the first president of the TSP (the State Pathological Society of Texas) in 1921. He was one of the founding members at the first meeting of the TSP on May 9, 1921 during the State Medical Association of Texas Meeting. He helped draft the constitution and by-laws and was then nominated to be its first president.

During his time with the TSP, Dr. Levy was an advocate for establishing a standard curriculum and qualifications for laboratory technicians in clinical pathology.

Notable Publication(s)

Dr. Levy authored thirty-three published medical writings, including important articles on the spread of the bubonic plague in Beaumont and Galveston in the Texas State Journal of Medicine.

Levy, M.D. (1917) The normal differential leucocytic count as determined by a study of 114 adults, Texas State Journal of Medicine 13:178-181.

Carl J. Lind, Jr., MD (1963)

Background

Dr. Carl John Lind, Jr. was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 25, 1909. He had one sister. He married Cora Mae Goodell and they had one son, Michael. Dr. Lind and Cora Mae were married for fifty-six years.

Dr. Lind died at home on February 23, 1995 and was buried at Houston National Cemetery.

Medical Education & Practice

Dr. Lind received his MD degree from The University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis in 1933 and did an internship at the Detroit Receiving Hospital in Michigan. He completed two years of training in surgery and one year of training in radiology. He also trained in pathology at the University of Minnesota. He was board certified in clinical and anatomical pathology in 1942.

Dr. Lind had a distinguished military career starting in 1940 when he joined the Army Medical Corps, serving as a pathologist and, later, as chief of laboratory service at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. He later became commanding officer of the Medical Laboratory in Heidelberg, followed by director of laboratory services at Fort Sam Houston. He eventually returned to Walter Reed Army Hospital as the senior pathologist. In 1957 Dr. Lind graduated from George Washington School of Law and took a position as consultant in medical-legal affairs to the Surgeon General to the military forces.

In 1959, after retiring from the Army with the rank of colonel, Dr. Lind moved to Houston and became director of laboratory services and chief of pathology at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Because of his notable leadership skills, Dr. Lind would serve as chief of staff for six consecutive years.He stayed at St. Luke’s until his retirement in 1987.

Dr. Lind served as governor of the College of American Pathologists from 1971 to 1977 and was president of the Houston Society of Clinical Pathologists in 1971. He was a member of the American Medical Association, the American Society of Clinical Pathology, and AMSUS (The Society of Federal Health Professionals). Notably, he also held a law degree and was the recipient of several awards.

Texas Society of Pathologists

Dr. Lind was president of the TSP in 1963 during a time when pathology was growing as a field, and new laws and regulations in medicine were enacted. He received the George T. Caldwell, MD Award in 1970.

Notable Publication(s)

Milam, J. D., Shipkey, F. H., Lind, C. J., Nora, J. J., Leachman, R. D., Rochelle, D. G., ... & Cooley, D. A. (1970). Morphologic findings in human cardiac allografts. Circulation, 41(3), 519-535.