Page:The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology-ItsFirstCentury.djvu/395

INTO THE SECOND CENTURY of the Biophysics Branch, and Dr. Vaman S. Waravdekar headed the Biochemistry Branch. The Chief of the Immunobiology Branch was Dr. Arthur M. Silverstein. 8

Much of the work of these branches is devoted to investigations in life processes which may not relate immediately to some disease but which provides basic knowledge and understanding. Reminiscent of the pioneering of the Medical Museum in the combination of the camera and the microscope is the work of the Biophysics Branch with the electron microscope and a photometer in determining the mass of biological particles so small that it can be expressed only in terms of a negative fraction of a gram raised to the 12th or even the 18th power — if such words as "mass" and "raised" can be meaningfully applied to anything so infinitesimally small.

Experiments underway in the Immunobiology Branch in the nature of the immunologic response of the mammalian fetus give promise of enlarging the understanding of the response to immunization, improving the comprehension of the pathogenetic features of the processes of fetal infection, and changing the concept of the beginning of the immunologic capability of the infant, which would seem to be at an earlier age than that commonly accepted. The Radiation Pathology Branch, headed by Lt. Col. David C. White, MC, USA, reported in 1961 on more than 6,500 cases submitted for consultation, the main concern in most instances being a determination of the extent to which radiation contributed to, or was a significant factor in, the cases reviewed. The Radiation Pathology Branch also was a moving force in the creation of the 26th Registry, that of Radiation Pathology, which went into operation in the centennial year of the Institute. The Division of Military Environmental Pathology was headed by Lt. Col. Edward H. Johnston, MC, USA, who also doubled as chief of its Forensic Pathology Branch. Maj. William R. Rule, USAF, MSC, Legal Counsel to the Institute, was active in the work of this branch, which conducted courses, held seminars, and provided residency training dealing with the many and varied ways in which problems of the law arise in the practice of pathology, For example, as part of the Medical Education for National Defense program, familiarly known as MEND, the Institute sponsored a 3-day symposium on the "Pathology of Trauma," with an attendance of 160 professional registrants from medical schools throughout the United States, and 24 professional registrants from Government agencies other than the Institute. 9