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Distinguished Doctor, Respected Administrator, Poet Dr. Frank Meyskens Jr.
The director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine Medical Center “I don’t consider this work,” said Meyskens, an oncologist and expert in cancer prevention. “I am a very lucky man.” For nearly two decades, UC Irvine has been lucky to have him. Meyskens has helped transform UC Irvine into one of the nation’s premier institutions for cancer, especially in prevention and early diagnosis. In the 1990s, he employed his consensus-building style to found the Chao Center, which, in 1997 became Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center. Six years later, the NCI chose UC Irvine as one of only six institutions nationwide to conduct tests on promising cancer prevention drugs. Under Meyskens, the number of biologists, engineers, oncologists and other faculty working in cancer has doubled to about 200; grant dollars have more than quadrupled; and the total number of patients seeking treatment, ranging from genetic testing to major surgery, has jumped to nearly 2,000 annually with over 70,000 total visits. All the while, Meyskens has encouraged faculty from different disciplines to “leave their silos,” in his words, to work together to ensure the best care and research. In 2006, UC Irvine named Meyskens the Daniel G. Aldrich Jr. Endowed Chair, which honors and supports the research of a faculty member of the highest distinction. That same year, Meyskens also received the American Society of Preventive Oncology’s Distinguished Achievement Award for his cancer work over the past 30 years. “Dr. Meyskens is an extraordinary researcher, teacher and physician,” said David N. Bailey, M.D., vice chancellor for health affairs. Born with a brain disorder that caused seizures, Meyskens spent a good part of his early life in the hospital, where he developed a fascination with science and medicine. After earning a B.S. from the University of San Francisco, Meyskens - the first person in his family to graduate from college - enrolled at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School. He later specialized in cancer after landing a prestigious fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. “Cancer’s a puzzle, and I like challenges,” Meyskens said. “I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes.” In 1977, Meyskens joined the faculty at the University of Arizona, where he established cancer prevention studies and helped the school create its NCI-designated cancer center in the 1980s. He came to UC Irvine in 1989. For Meyskens, working in a field so fraught with death has sometimes felt emotionally bruising. As an outlet, he took up the pen a few years back and began writing poems, many of which chronicle the relationship between cancer patients and their physicians. His first collection, “Aching for Tomorrow,” was published in November by Fithian Press “Writing is my creative outlet,” said Meyskens, “and a cheap psychiatrist.” His poems – like the man himself -- are surprisingly optimistic. “The days were long/the nights longer/the tears many/It [chemotherapy] seemed like it would never end. “But one day, quite unexpectedly/the lipstick returned/and she bought a new dress.” — Marc Ballon, Health Sciences Advancement
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University of California, Irvine • Irvine, CA 92697 |
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Between seeing cancer patients, doing research and fulfilling his administrative responsibilities, Dr. Frank Meyskens Jr. typically logs 75-hour weeks.