Bookpleasures.com welcomes as our guest, Steven L. Berk,M.D. author of In Search of the Animacule.

Dr. Berk is the Executive VP of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Dean of the School of Medicine.

He is a board-certified expert in infectious diseases and has written a multitude of peer-reviewed papers and five medical textbooks. He is a member of the American Osler Society and author of Anatomy of Kidnapping, a recipient of the Forward Review of Silver Book of the Year award.

Good day Dr. Berk and thanks for taking part in our interview.

Norm: What has been your greatest challenge (professionally) that you’ve overcome in getting to where you’re at today?

Dr. Berk: As a Dean it is a challenge to teach medical students the great traditions of history and physical exam, professionalism, empathy for patients and prepare them for an entrepreneurial and fast moving healthcare system.

Post COVID, it is a challenge to promote the great breakthroughs in science such as vaccine development to a sometimes-cynical public.

Norm: What led you to specialize in infectious diseases? 

Dr. Berk: Infectious disease is a field that emphasizes the importance of history and physical exam, of attaining a broad base of knowledge not only about bugs and drugs but also epidemiology, public health and anthropology. 

I was attracted to the concept of rapid diagnosis and successful treatment and cure.

The specialty changed in the late 1980's with the HIV pandemic and I adapted like others to a more difficult chronic disease and primary care role.

As I express in In Search of the Animalcule, it is a field of amazing breakthroughs in science.

We had no treatment for HIV in 1988 but now there are more than 30 drugs that attack the virus in 7 different ways. 

Norm: How can we prevent the spread of infectious diseases and what can individuals do to protect themselves? 

Dr. Berk:With each infectious disease the guidelines will be different but handwashing, whose origins I describe in the book, will always be an important factor.

For some disease such as polio, smallpox, measles and mumps, full protection can be obtained by vaccination.

For respiratory disease, masks will be an effective protector. Sometimes giving antibiotics prior to an infection is effective.

Norm: Did you write In Search of the Animacule more by logic or intuition, or some combination of the two? Please summarize your writing process. 

Dr. Berk:For many years I have wanted to tell the story of a period in history, in several different countries in Europe, that changed the world forever- a period when it was discovered by several scientists, that animalcules, bacteria, too small to see were responsible for mankind's plaques and diseases.

I wanted to describe how science is incorporated into a doctor's practice- having Jacob meet Sir William Osler in America. I wanted to honor scientists and doctors who died studying and fighting infectious disease. These themes would become even more important in the COVID era. 

Norm: What purpose do you believe your story serves and what matters to you about the story? 

Dr. Berk: My story is the story of man's early recognition and battle against infectious disease and it is more relevant now than ever before as the public assess the meaning of the COVID pandemic. 

I hope it is a tribute to all scientists and physicians. It is the story of how great breakthroughs in science are actually made, and how science and medicine have and will be irrevocably connected.

Norm: What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your novel? 

Dr. Berk: The serious nature of infectious disease, the role of science in saving us from death and suffering. I hope I might influence high school and college students to consider a career in science or medicine. 

Norm: Where did the title come from?

Dr. Berk: In Search of the Animalcule is about finding germs or bacteria that were first described by Leeuwenhoek as animalcules, little animals.

While he didn't attribute them to causing disease, he set the stage for others to discover  their role in causing epidemics, plagues and sickness.

Jacob, the leading character in the book, works with Pasteur, Lister, Koch, Osler and others search for animalcules that cause disease.

Norm: How did you go about creating the character of Jacob Pfleger? Is there much of you in the character?

Dr. Berk: All the events in the book are accurate to the best of my knowledge. I needed to know what exactly happened in Vienna when Semmelweis described childbed fever and what occurred in the laboratories of Pasteur and Koch and in the operating rooms of Lister.

Jacob needed to have a rational reason and story for how he wound up helping out in all the laboratories, operating rooms and hospitals in several different countries and four continents.

Jacobs travels and experiences all fell into place between 1847 and 1902- a single person's life span. 

Norm: Is there much of me in the character-

Dr. Berk: The themes of total commitment to science and medicine versus life to be enjoyed is a theme that is common to both of us. Also the field of medicine's treatment of women, importance of science beyond national boundaries and the challenge of how scientific discoveries become the practice of medicine are concerns of both of us. 

Jacob is a genius in many ways, almost a savant, a child very much affected by growing up in an orphanage. He may in fact be able to predict future in certain cases- all of these are qualities and circumstances very different from mine.

Norm: What proved to be the most challenging aspect of writing this book?

Dr. Berk: It was a challenge creating fictional characters working with historical figures, heroes in science, in a setting that was historically accurate as best as I could make it.

Getting Jacob to the right places at exactly the right times.  Not having written fiction before, was of course as challenge as was keeping the entire narrative in the first person. 

Norm: Are there vocabulary words or concepts in your book that may be new to readers? 

Dr. Berk: I tried not to use complicated scientific language. I wanted the book to be understood by the public who were not doctors or scientists. 

Norm: What did you enjoy most about writing this book? 

Dr. Berk:Telling the story that I had long wanted the public to appreciate. 

Norm: What are your upcoming projects and how can our readers find out more about you and In Search of the Animacule?

Dr, Berk: I expect after 16 years as Dean of a medical school, I may write my next book about true experiences I have had in medicine. Readers can find out more about me by reading my memoir- Anatomy of a Kidnapping.

Norm: As this interview ends, if you could invite three scientists to your dinner table, who would they be and what would you ask them? 

Dr. Berk: Pasteur, Lister, and Koch. I would ask them if they had ever worked with someone like Jacob Pfleger.

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

Follow Here To Read Norm's Review of  In Search of the Animacule.