Wisdom, Generosity, and Humor Distinguish Renowned Hematologist, Edward J. Benz Jr., MD, FEL ’79

The career of Edward J. Benz Jr., MD, FEL ’79, now spanning nearly five decades, has been nothing short of remarkable. His list of leadership positions and accomplishments is far too long to enumerate here but includes serving as president and CEO of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for 16 years, a professor at Harvard Medical School, physician-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Benz credits Yale School of Medicine (YSM), his first employer post-training, with unlocking his leadership skills and providing multiple opportunities to grow as he launched his career in academic medicine.

Career-Shaping Argument With a Catholic Nun

When Benz entered high school, becoming a physician was the furthest thing from his mind. Baseball was his passion. “I grew up hoping that I would become a first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates,” he says.

His interests shifted, however, in 10th grade after he got into an argument with his biology teacher, a Catholic nun, about how many chromosomes humans have. The nun said 48. Upon hearing this figure, Benz’s father, a pathologist, told his son that the correct number was 46. Benz pointed this out to his teacher, which led to an argument with her.

He recounts, “She did not take my impertinence lightly and made me write in my copy book 500 times ‘Man has 48 chromosomes’ and go to confession. When she asked me what I told the priest, I said that according to the seal of the confessional, I was not supposed to tell her that. But she insisted, so I said that I told the priest that I lied 500 times.”

This little clash sparked Benz’s interest in genetics. “I went to the library and looked up chromosome stuff,” he recalls. Given the exciting discoveries emerging surrounding DNA and RNA in 1961, Benz was intrigued. “All of a sudden you could make sense of how diversity in biology was happening. I realized that it was because of the way genes are regulated.”

Benz fell in love with molecular genetics. In medical school at Harvard, he found that one of the few disciplines where one could pursue this line of study was hematology. Thus, he chose to focus on and specialize in this field. “I just love the field of hematology,” he says, adding that a lecturer of his made the compelling argument that blood was the window of science into clinical medicine.

Benz remains excited by hematology. He notes, “Any molecule controlling how blood can clot sits in hematology—along with all the different cells that circulate in the blood, including stem cells. It’s at the cutting edge of science. And given the new technologies that can be applied today, this field is getting more and more exciting.”

Leadership Foundation

Benz navigated to YSM via hematologist Bernard Forget, MD, with whom Benz had worked on breakthrough research in sickle cell disease and thalassemia at Boston Children’s Hospital during a research year he took during medical school. Forget subsequently joined Yale as hematology section chief, and Benz, who was pursuing his postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH, followed. At YSM, Benz completed his fellowship and then served on the faculty, enjoying life in New Haven for the 15 years spanning from 1978 to 1993.

Benz’s first significant leadership role was running the school’s curriculum committee, which was charged with undertaking curriculum reform. That experience helped prepare Benz to become a senior faculty member and step into additional leadership roles, including chief of the Division of Hematology and vice chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at YSM, the positions he held prior to being recruited by the University of Pittsburgh to be its chair of medicine.

Outstanding Mentor and Advocate

Benz places a high value on mentorship. He believes that your mentors are your academic parents and attributes much of his own career success to his wonderful mentors. He gives a nod to mentorship, while paying homage to his real-life parents, in choosing “… First Pick Good Parents” as the title of a chapter he wrote for the book Medicine Science and Dreams—The Making of Physician-Scientists.

Not surprisingly, Benz has been an enthusiastic mentor himself, giving generously of his time, support, and wisdom. He says, “I’ve felt a responsibility to all the students in my lab. They are the people whose futures are in your hands. If you succeed in helping them get started, they’re going to move up in their careers; if not, they’re going to be set back.” Among the many YSM students and trainees whom he guided are Susan Baserga, YC ’80, MD-PhD ’88; Nancy Berliner, YC ’75, MD ’79; Katherine High, MD, FEL ’84, and Jay Schneider, MD-PhD ’89. All have had successful careers, he notes, adding, “I’m very proud of them.” In addition, Benz was an early mentor of Eric Winer, YC ’78, MD ’83, director of Yale Cancer Center and president and physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital, both when Benz was an attending physician at Yale and Winer was a resident, and later when the two were affiliated with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. At Dana-Farber, Winer was leading a breast cancer program and Benz, who had recently joined as president and CEO, shared career advice with Winer as he was thinking about his career trajectory.

Throughout his career, Benz has been committed to ensuring that everyone he has been responsible for is given the best shot and treated fairly, especially women and those who are underrepresented in medicine. Sometimes that has meant taking a lead role in modifying institutional policies and addressing structural issues. He notes, “Half the talent in the world has two X chromosomes, one of many reasons that we should support women.” His commitment to advancing the careers of women and minorities in medicine has been recognized through multiple prestigious awards.

Since stepping down as president of Dana-Farber in 2016, Benz has continued sharing his wisdom—serving on the boards of nonprofit organizations and small biotech companies, where his experience in clinical, scientific, translational, and business matters is valued.

Fun Facts About Benz

One of Benz’s favorite places is Bar Harbor, Maine. He visited Maine for the first time when he was a junior YSM faculty member. It was right after his lab had cloned the gene for the sodium-potassium pump protein and he had given a talk about this achievement to members of the Interurban Clinical Club in New Haven. Those in attendance included some YSM faculty who worked at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor in the summers. Impressed with Benz’s work, they invited him to give a lecture at the lab and set up a summer molecular biology program.

Fast forward … Benz fell in love with the lab, secured a small grant to do molecular biology work there, returned each summer, and eventually built a house in Salsbury Cove with his wife, Peggy Vettese, PhD, RN, an accomplished academic nurse. Over time, many Yale students, including Cynthia Boyd, YC ’92, MD, MPH, now a professor of geriatrics at Johns Hopkins, conducted research alongside Benz at the lab during summer breaks.

Benz is still active in the Bar Harbor community, serving on the lab’s board and that of the local hospital.

Another thing you may not know about Benz is that the second paper in his CV is one he wrote during medical school about how to establish a family medicine program. An instructor of his had been hired to start a family practice in the Amish country and recruited Benz to join him in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to help with this project one summer. Afterward, they co-authored a paper about their experience.

Purpose

While “emeritus” follows many of Benz’s titles now, he nonetheless remains highly active in the working world. He admits he is not good at recreation: “I don’t think I do well if I have no work to do.” He no longer sees patients but does a lot of mentoring and a fair amount of teaching and faculty development work. Benz also serves on Dana-Farber’s board and on several external advisory boards. In addition, he steers the Cure Sickle Cell Initiative for the NIH, which aims to make gene therapy more accessible.

“If I really retired, I don’t think that I would feel like I had a purpose. When you get up in the morning, it’s good to feel like you’re doing something that’s more important than yourself,” he says.

Further Reflections on YSM and Career

About YSM, Benz notes, “I really enjoyed my time at YSM. Many faculty members are still good friends.” Also, he ascribes a “coziness” to Yale, recalling it was easy to navigate discipline to discipline and school to school, and to collaborate. He returns to campus periodically, to give talks. In 2018, Benz gave a talk on his approach to strategic planning at the behest of Charles Fuchs, MD, MPH, the then-director of Yale Cancer Center, and he has delivered several named lectures, including a Farr Lecture.

Asked what has been most rewarding about his career, Benz says, “Being in it. Everything. I feel like it’s been a blessing to be in this career.” He adds that he has been fortunate to have benefited from serendipity, lucky breaks, and the ability to recognize chances and make key plays. “I love the research, living at the cutting edge of science, taking care of patients, and bringing along students, staff, and faculty who are part of my legacy. So many great people.”