The Gayle Halperin Kahn Professorship in Integrative Medicine Is Inaugurated
Steven F. Bolling appointed as the first Kahn Professor
Sara Warber, co-director of the Complementary and Alternative
Medicine Research Center; Mark Kahn; Steven Bolling and Dean Allen Lichter
Photo: Marcia Ledford |
In ceremonies held on September 26, the University of Michigan Medical School
inaugurated the Gayle Halperin Kahn Professorship in Integrative Medicine and
installed Steven F. Bolling (M.D. 1979) as the first Kahn Professor.
Bolling, a professor of surgery in the Section of Cardiac Surgery, is an accomplished
and renowned cardiac surgeon who has lectured and operated extensively around
the world and developed new cardiac surgical techniques, particularly in the
area of mitral valve reconstruction. It is Bolling's profound interest in Oriental
medicine and alternative and integrative therapies that led to his appointment
as the first Gayle Halperin Kahn Professor. Since 1979, he has maintained collaborative
relationships with Indian and Chinese cardiac surgeons and scholars with whom
he has published extensively. In particular, Bolling has studied the molecular
mode of action and pharmacology of Chinese herbs for many years. He is currently
the director of the U-M Program for Integrative Medicine as well as the Complementary
and Alternative Medicine Research Center.
Gayle Halperin Kahn |
When Detroit businessman and University of Michigan alumnus Mark Kahn (B.B.A.
1974) met Gayle Halperin Spector in 1996, she was a beautiful, vibrant young
woman. Divorced, with two young children, she had recovered completely from
a 1990 diagnosis of brain cancer. Love graced the pair, but six weeks before
their wedding date in 1997, the cancer returned. For the next five years, Gayle
Halperin Kahn focused on fighting the disease, all the while nurturing her
children, her community, and her marriage. She died on February 22, 2002,
at her home in Bloomfield Hills.
A Detroit native, Gayle Halperin Kahn was also a graduate of the University
of Michigan and built a career as a marketing executive at Marshall Fields
in Chicago, and at W.B. Doner in Southfield. Active in many Jewish and women's
organizations, helping others was a hallmark of her life.
As his wife's disease progressed, Mark Kahn immersed himself in the study
of the field of integrative medicine, which combines conventional and complementary
approaches to treat the whole person — body, mind and spirit. His goal was
to improve Gayle's quality of life by countering some of the toxic side-effects
of the powerful medications and treatments.
"It is my hope," says Kahn, "that future physicians, patients and others have
the opportunity to learn about effective integrative medicine therapies in
order to apply them in medical practice to reduce suffering and enhance the
quality of life of their patients."
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