by Immediate Past President, R. Michael Belknap, President, Mark Lefkowitz and President Elect, Betsy Palay

Through the efforts of the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC), AMI leaders and elected officers become active participants in shaping the way our association evolves and meets the ever-changing challenges we all face collectively as Medical Illustrators.


Mark Lefkowitz

The LRPC convened on the second day of the Interim Board of Governor’s meeting that took place February 27th – March 1st in Richmond, Virginia. The LRPC consists of the Immediate Past President who also serves as the Chair of the Committee - Mike Belknap, the President - Mark Lefkowitz, and the President Elect - Betsy Palay. The LRPC also receives input as needed from the Chair of the BOG, Vice Chair of the BOG, a Finance Committee representative, and the Executive Director.


R. Michael Belknap

Working with a template that was developed by Past-President Bill Andrews in 2003, as well as utilizing a 2008 AMI Member’s survey and Assessment of Five Year Long-Range Planning Survey Recommendations that was implemented by Past-President Pat Thomas in 2008, the LRPC focuses each year on a different group of committees within the AMI that share certain common functions and purposes, culminating in a fifth year which reviews the previous years in the cycle and casts a broad net for future planning. The five-year cycle is as follows:

• Overall Strategic Planning
• Internal Communications
• Public Relations and External Communications
• Member Services
• Competency and Professionalism

Led by the members of the LRPC, the entire BOG and Executive Committee engaged in a stimulating brainstorming session that focused on reviewing previous years’ planning objectives, identified objectives which have or have not been achieved, and reprioritized previously identified objectives. The session this year focused on Internal Communications, which include the following AMI Committees/Groups:

• AMI News Editors
• JBC Editor
• Communications Editorial Council
• Online Member Community
• AMI Listserv
• AMI Committees (communication between members of a committee, and with the AMI leadership and general membership)
• Board of Governors
• Executive Committee

Mike, Betsy and I want to share how the LRPC serves as an important mechanism for hearing member’s voices through the elected BOG, and ultimately affecting the direction that the AMI grows.


Betsy Palay


Mike: How does the AMI go about developing a strategic plan?

The challenge of LRP is to focus the discussion on setting long-term goals that will serve to advance and enhance our organization’s stated mission. Think of it as a blue print that forms a foundation with which to guide the AMI through the years. It allows us to assess when our association has met our stated goals and objectives. It will be the role of this Board to establish a strategic plan in this year’s subject area, Internal Communications, with the goal of charging the appropriate committee(s) to create an action plan to implement the strategies suggested by the BOG.

The LRPC’s primary focus is on strategic planning in support of its Mission statement. The two approaches that we use in strategic planning are Goals-based and Issues-based. The Goals-based approach focuses on the AMI’s Mission, Vision, and Values; creates strategies to achieve established objectives, and then develops an action plan and sees it through to fruition. The Issues-based approach examines critical issues facing the AMI today; creates strategies to address these issues; and finally creates the action plan to accomplish these goals.

Betsy: How does the AMI mission statement translate into short and long term goals?

For me personally, the LRPC is a very exciting way to participate in the AMI. What’s most exciting is the dynamism of the process. And at its core is the mission statement. The mission statement is what binds us all together – it says who we are, what our purpose is as an organization, and what our priorities are. So, our long range planning decisions – both short and long term goals – originate from that core. It’s the framework for ongoing decision-making and planning. And it’s the benchmark against which we can judge our progress.

The planning process is a feedback loop. After we set goals, propose initiatives, make charges, and implement strategies, we go back the next year to measure progress and reevaluate our strategy. Then, we can either strengthen our commitment to continue in that direction, or, if necessary, make a course correction. This year, when we took a look at some of the long term goals we’d set for ourselves five years ago in the realm of internal communications, it was astounding how far we’d come since then. The new website and OMC, of course, are the shining stars in that arena. It’s exciting that we can now build upon that success in other areas of development.

Over the next two and a half years of my involvement on the LRPC, I hope to assist with strengthening our mission statement to be more forward-thinking, ambitious, and inspirational, thereby providing an even stronger platform from which to launch AMI’s future goals and initiatives.

Mark: How does the LRP session translate into actionable charges and real change?

During the brainstorming session, the efforts of specific committees are examined and assessed, generating ideas that are discussed and debated. Ultimately, ideas and directions are generated by the LRP participants that are deemed worthy of implementation by a specific committee. These ideas are formulated into charges that the Chair of the BOG communicates to the specific committee that sees the action through to fruition. The charge may be a short or long term plan of action, but it’s ultimately up to the specific committee to follow through in determining how to make the idea a reality.

Mike: Could you touch upon some of the issues discussed at the recent LRP session?

The BOG examined ways to improve internal communications within the AMI. The LRPC will ultimately publish the objectives/goals and achievements noted by various committees on the AMI website. The following is an abbreviated list of topics and initiatives that were discussed during our recent LRP session:

• Expand New Member Packets highlighting benefits through different forms of media and integrated into the annual meeting via first-timer workshop.
• Promote reverse mentorship program – assign recent graduate to a more senior AMI member.
• Develop a three-year list of meeting venues. Keep membership informed as to how selections are made via the weekly E-News and newsletter articles.
• Encourage selected committee chairs to speak at the BOG meetings on relevant topics.
• Identify AMI listserv topics that the entire membership may find important, and follow-up with the drafting of newsletter articles.
• Facilitate member-to-member interaction and resource sharing through continued support of the Listserv, renewed attention to Regional events, as well as opportunities for both social and educational networking.

Betsy: How can members have an impact on the direction the AMI is going, when the LRPC sessions take place only once a year?

There are many opportunities for members to have an impact on the yearly LRPC sessions. We welcome innovative thinking! So, if you have a good idea, please share it with any board member, office holder, or committee chair. In particular, the role of the president is to represent the membership to the board. Please feel free to approach any one of us (current, Immediate-Past, and President-elect) with your suggestions. A more ongoing way of having an impact is to volunteer to serve on a committee that you find interesting. There are over twenty to choose from. As you become more familiar with the committee’s work, you may want to serve as vice-chair or chair. Twice a year, each committee submits a report to the board with comments, recommendations, and specific motions that the committee would like the Board to consider. The LRPC uses this input from the committee reports in creating the agenda for the board meetings and for the LRPC sessions.

Another way to have an impact is to propose a session or workshop at the annual meeting or to host a regional meeting on a topic of interest to you. Topics that are popular and well attended catch our attention. Last, but not least, if you run for and are elected to the Board or an office (Secretary, Treasurer, President), you can be a participant in the yearly LRPC session.

Rapid change in our field and the diversity of our membership are two realities that make it essential for the AMI’s leadership to have input from members. We are a small organization compared to most professional associations. But the amount of volunteer work going on behind the scenes is truly impressive. If you get involved in some of these efforts, you may be surprised at what an impact you’ll be able to make.

Mark: Is the current LRPC protocol fixed, or can it be subject to change?

The LRPC protocol is not fixed, and can be modified by the members of the committee at any time. The current LRPC protocol has tremendous merit, and assures that the LRPC and participants can adequately address the functioning of all AMI committees.

More information about AMI long range planning will be available to the membership on the AMI website in the upcoming months.

An exhibit at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Nov. 21, 2008 - Jan. 4, 2010

by Devon Stuart



Cactus peruvianus from Plantarum Historia Succulentarum (History of the Succulent Plants) by A.P. Candolle and P.J. Redouté, Paris: Chez A. J. Degour et Durand, [i.e. 1798]-1837

Upon my first visit to the newly-remodeled National Museum of American History, I was delighted to find an entire exhibit devoted to illustration. What's more, the show has a decidedly scientific slant. There is an entire section called “Illustrating the Body” which includes a sixteenth century printing of Andreas Vesalius' De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Basel: 1543). In the section on letterform illustration, the medieval illuminated manuscript is medical in nature, Canon Medicinae, Liber I-V (Venice: 1486). There are also exquisite botanical illustrations from the Victorian era. To my AMI colleagues I recommend this exhibit because our predecessors are amply represented. It is worth a visit just to see a summary reminder of our heritage. The broader lesson is: power. It is right in the exhibition title. The curators highlight the illustrator’s power to inspire, inform and influence. As illustrators of the heath sciences, we tend to focus on our power to inform. That is, after all, our calling. But, this exhibit almost comically elevates the illustration medium from informative to manipulative.

In the section called Illustration as Information, a panel points out that, “While illustrations add to our understanding, scenes may not appear the same in pictures as in reality. Illustrators can alter the perspective and details shown to give more (or less) information than the human eye normally observes.” Here, the curators feel the need to explain what we do as “alter[ing]...reality.” They point out that illustrators may include less information than the human eye normally observes. This point is obvious to any medical illustrator who has had to explain why his or her work is still necessary after the advent of photography (i.e. every medical illustrator.) It is subtle, but the general public might see something sinister in this description of our work. That being said, the exhibit does acknowledge the value of our field. They write, “Many modern concepts of the human body developed from the study of illustrated anatomical texts.”

Next to the anatomical illustrations, there is a colorful display of illustration for advertising. The panels in that section state, “Illustrations influence us – affecting how we think.” Maybe it is this connection between medical illustration and advertising that gave me such a creepy feeling. Perhaps I have watched too much of the “Mad Men” series on AMC. But this idea of influencing through illustration was something I hadn't considered.

I giggle to think of ours as a manipulative 'dark art.' Here exposed is our hidden network of insidious visual information. Perhaps that is going too far. Instead, there maybe a lesson here about the responsibility illustrators hold. We are all familiar with the truism “a picture is worth a thousand words” and we all believe it. It reminds us of the value of our work. But what makes it valuable? Perhaps the value does lie in our ability to influence. Think of the surgical intern who wants to brush up a few hours before assisting at her first parotidectomy. Does she dig out her anatomy notes from the first year of medical school? Or is she more likely to grab her smelly old Clemente Atlas? I would argue that our fictitiously didactic anatomical images are burned in the brains of many surgeons. Perhaps illustrations overpower direct observation in some surgeon's minds because they first understood the body through our work. Given this, what value do we attach to an accurate illustration of the facial nerve? Perhaps it's worth a lifetime of smiles. Illustrators, as the great Stan Lee once wrote “With great power there must also come - - great responsibility!” The exhibit was curated by Helena E. Wright and Joan Boudreau. The exhibition website, designed by Elizabeth Periale, was helpful in writing this article: http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/picturingwords/. http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=1190

The "Malkasten" Artists' Union in Rüesselsheim, Germany

 by Nikos Samartzidis

Most of our Newsletter, we spend with the spotlight pointed in – examining the works of our winning members, sharing techniques, discussing our meetings and our government. However one of the boons of our trade is that we interface with so many entities on the outside – medical and science professionals, science writers, photographers, publishers. Many of the fields we intersect with have their own associations. We can benefit from direct interaction with some of these associations, or can learn from their strengths. It is a veritable alphabet soup out there – GNSI, HeSCA, AAA, AAAS, NASW and others – if you’d like to write a piece highlighting one of them, please contact Zina (see masthead for e-mail).



From left to right: Karl Michel, Wilhelm Seipp, Friedrich Lienert, Brigida Scherber, Justus Schmalhausen, Martin Mueller. Photo taken in 1993; from Malkasten archives.

In the small town, Rüesselsheim, Germany, not far from Frankfurt and internationally known as home of the Opel car manufacturer, a small group of painters and fans of art established an organization called “Malkasten” (or “Paint Box”) right after the war in 1946.

The visual artists’ section consists of an exclusive group of painters, graphic artists, photographers, sculptors, and calligraphers. Membership is awarded only after a rigorous portfolio review. The group used to meet weekly to share wine and discuss art and philosophy. These meetings were very very good for me, and I learned so much about painting from the older members – they were my best teachers.



Nikos Samartzidis at Malkasten in front of a Linear-B work of his called „Mirto“. He is holding a book in his hand called „Daidalika“ about ancient scripts on the island of Crete. Photo by Bernd Weber

The club regularly organizes solo and group exhibitions. A well known Rüesselsheim institution, the “Opel Villas” frequently host art exhibits at international level. “Malkasten” organizes companion exhibitions that provide commentary to the main show and take place in the same facilities.

Sometimes even excursions and small trips are planned -- for example: to the south of France, Greece, Italy etc.

In the history of the union there have been artists that became well known in Germany. At least two members won the culture award of the town. There are old members today that are 85 years old and always have some story to tell about “the good old times” when they organized the carnival balls every year in the hotel “Adler” and painted the most successful posters for this. But young people who look towards the future with hope and new ideas and prefer installations and concept-art participate as well.

In 1977 the club was enriched with a second section of all kinds of artisans such as potters, jewelry makers, woodcarvers etc. This gave a new dimension to the activities of the union. They started to organize an arts and crafts market twice a year in and around the old fortress in town: one for Christmas and a big one in the summer. They invited artists and artisans from all parts of Germany. It’s a real festival. Musicians play traditional music on old instruments. Nearly everybody wears a costume from old times and the visitor has the feeling of being in a fantasy world.

In 1998 an art workshop for children was started -- the “Kuk”. “Kinder und Kunst” which translates as “Children and Art”. These weekly workshops try to awaken children’s natural curiosity and love for artistic creation.

For the time being there are about 30 members in the union and many guests that are always welcome. They visit “Malkasten” sometimes to exchange ideas, to try their abilities spontaneously or learn more in one of the many workshops. “Malkasten” also provides studio space to some of the members.

A very positive aspect of all these activities is that the money – especially gathered by the arts and crafts market, goes to a charity. In the last 32 years, Malkasten has donated to such varied causes as Alzheimer disease, earthquakes, refugees, SOS Children’s Villages, Unicef, poverty in the Third World and others. Nikos Samartzidis is a Greek artist who immigrated to Rüesselsheim , Germany in 1990. He is a painter, printmaker and potter and one of his current interests is the ancient Greek script, the Cretan-Mycenaean “Linear B”. In 2001, he entered a piece of art into a municipal art contest and won first prize. This is when “Malkasten” extended him an invitation to join their ranks.

Why Do It? Corralling a "Collection of Art in the Service of Science"

by Zina Deretsky and Marcia Hartsock

Our graduate schools are brilliant centers incubators of the future; tried and true mechanisms to pass along our craft, our science and our art to the generation of tomorrow. But have we given enough thought to the day after tomorrow?

Diamonds are forever, but diamonds are not made by the hand of man. Aside from those numbered, inexplicable and mute man-made wonders that have persevered in the sands of time – the sphinx, the pyramids, the roads of Rome… our safest bet to speak to the “day after tomorrow” is a recipe summarized in six small letters that encompass a BIG idea: m-u-s-e-u-m.

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What exactly is our legacy as a profession? We reach into textbooks, atlases, journals, hospitals, courtrooms, classrooms and websites. We distill complex scientific and medical information into elegant visual communication. Publishers, researchers, doctors, nurses, teachers, pharmacists are the beneficiaries of our industry as they point to our figures explaining an ailment, a procedure, a cure. We provide them a tool they need but hardly notice.

Just try introducing yourself and your profession at a cocktail party and you’ll realize how familiar yet invisible we really are. We straddle the worlds of science and the worlds of art. This strong suit and trademark of ours is also our weakness – it positions us to easily fall between the cracks.

What we produce – is produced to an end. An illustration is not a goal unto itself unlike a piece of fine art. And while the unassuming products of our toils work their hearts out – teaching med students, speaking to patients, juries or promoting medical products, their non-utilitarian counterparts – painting, drawings, prints sit comfort-ably above plush chairs in climate controlled rooms entertaining throngs of art-appreciators.

A search for museums devoted entirely to illustration reveals a dearth of them both worldwide and in North America. If they exist they tend to center around one particular artist. For example – there is a Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, MA (http://www.nrm.org/) . The only example of a museum devoted to illustration as a whole is the Museum of American Illustration in New York City (http://societyillustrators.org/museum/index.cms) run by the Society of Illustrators, but its space and holdings are not vast or exhaustive.

If Claude Monet had not acted upon a seemingly eccentric fascination with an obscure art, would we today enjoy museum wings full of Japanese woodblock prints? In the late 1800’s Japan had a booming, highly skilled woodblock industry. The likes of Hiroshige and Hokusai (known for his iconic woodblock of a wave) churned out beautiful print after print. Frequently these were advertisements or flyers, and once they had served their purpose, they were converted to wrapping paper. In 1856, Claude Monet happened to see a piece of this “wrapping paper” in a Dutch shop selling the Japanese goods that had been wrapped in it. He was transfixed. A collecting fever blossomed – and now the pieces were sought after, cherished. Now museums were stockpiling them and the coffee table book industry itching to flaunt them.

In our case we needn’t and shouldn’t wait for benevolent strangers to walk in and “discover” us. We are our own best critics and connoisseurs. The founding members of the AMI recognized this. And so we need to be our own best stewards and advocates as well.

And we need to do it now.

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2011 marks one hundred years of the establishment of the first North American medical art program. And how the face, musculature and skull of our profession have changed in that time! Medicine and science have progressively focused on the very small. Microscopes and imaging have grown more and more powerful and innovative. Our colleagues have followed the advances in science and medicine with their pens and brushes – making virtual snapshots of medical history – the first heart transplant, the first robotically-assisted procedure… And in the meanwhile, their very own tools and methods changed as well.

Gone are the days of carbon dust. Gone are the days of Letraset. Exeunt crowquils, rapidographs, airbrushes. Enter pixels, jpegs, nurbs. All the work I have done in the last five years can fit quite comfortably in a diminutive external hard drive no larger than a deck of cards.

Not so for our older colleagues. The baby boomer generation – the generation about to retire – these are the last people whose life’s work mostly, if not entirely was created with traditional media. Sketch upon sketch, artboard upon artboard, year upon year – this generation has generated flat file upon flat file of work. A mountain of work is teetering over the precipice of a very uncertain future.

When an illustrator passes away – no matter how dear his or her work was to family members – children and heirs do not always have the option, the space or the know-how to preserve the most important work of the deceased. In the January 5, 2000 edition of the Wall Street Journal, Ernie Beck’s daughter, columnist Melinda Beck, wrote a moving article about the difficult decisions facing an artist’s heirs as she and her brother disposed of their parents’ original work.

Some of our colleagues are not even so lucky to have a body of work to pass on. Institutions change, rearrange and downsize – sometimes quite mercilessly where it comes to original artwork. Don Biggerstaff found out two days too late that his lifetime work, and that of several other talented medical illustrators, had just been incinerated by the University where he had worked for 34 years. He was told, “I didn’t know it was that important”.

Publishers, universities, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies are not our artwork’s keepers. Or at least not reliably. We must become our own stewards and advocates.

The notion is certainly not an original one. Every school and some institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and NIH have a collection and keep archival information. Every school hosts exhibits. I am most familiar with the Hopkins Brödel archives. Though tremendously prized and revered, even these materials can become burden-some and tricky to maintain for an academic facility.

Can the schools bear the load of ever growing collections?

What about the work of our colleagues with no such affiliation, or whose schools no longer exist?

Could the sum of us represent something richer and more significant than the parts?

Having faced the death of a loved one – one who left a legacy of scientific data and papers some of which are still accessible and perusable through digital libraries – Marcia Hartsock, AMI Past President, has given a lot of soul-searching thought to the questions:
• What will we do with the fruits of our life’s work?
• How do we handle the legacy of our profession?
• How can we ensure that the works we create to teach can keep teaching tomorrow and the day after?
• How do we maintain a knowledge base of techniques no longer used or taught?

Marcia has spearheaded the effort we are now calling “The Collection of Art in the Service of Science.” I have joined her in this work, and in this adventure. Believe me – hunting on the trail of medical art on the verge of extinction is just as breathtaking as a trip to the Galapagos!

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Museums are not born overnight. We have a long, arduous road ahead of us. Most museums start with a collection in hand. Here we find ourselves one step behind.

Marcia and I began our Artwork Census back in June of 2008 to find out exactly what original hand drawn artwork exists in personal studios or collections. Our questionnaire was sent out to all Emeritus and 25 year (and over) members of the AMI asking them to assess how much physical artwork they had in their possession, and if they had made arrangements for its disposition. The survey is ongoing*, but so far we have identified over 3,000 pieces of hand-drawn medical illustration that could potentially be a part of this collection.

So we are actually two full steps ahead in goodwill, overwhelming response and interest, in the value of what we are collecting and in the nature of our tremendously organized community that gives generously of its time and many talents.

At its annual meeting in February 2009, the Vesalius Trust accepted the role of fiscal sponsor for the Collection of Art in the Service of Science. This means that tax deductible donations and grant funding to the cause can be received by the Vesalius Trust, by virtue of its 501 (c) 3 status as a charitable organization. The Trust will provide administrative support and will have fiscal oversight of any funds received and spent on behalf of the Collection.

Our challenges ahead have four major thrusts:
• We need to identify and find art (both traditional, and digital)
• We need to handle, house, scan, digitize, catalog and help make the art accessible
• We need to bring in the funding to do all of the above
• And we need to form a partnership with an existing museum or collection, or strike out on our own.

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The technique of encaustic used in the famed Fayum portraits, a type of Renaissance stained glass, certain brilliant shades of blue ceramic glaze from Samarkand – these are all lost arts that have vanished from the collective memory of our civilization.

Let us ensure that the beauty, the wisdom, the instructive nature of our craft and profession that illuminates science and medicine remains a cherished, tended and accessible part of our cultural heritage that will speak to, instruct and inspire the day after tomorrow!

* A PDF of the Artwork Census questionnaire is available online in the OMC. Please download and fill it out if you haven’t already done so.

An Interview with Dr. David S. Goodsell

by Ophelia Lee



Cross section through an Escherichia coli cell, showing all macromolecules. The cell wall, colored green, is composed of two concentric membranes filled with proteins, including the large flagellar motor. Inside the cell is a collection of soluble enzymes shown in blue, and ribosomes and transfer RNA, shown in pink. At the center is the nucleoid which includes DNA, in yellow, and proteins involved in DNA packaging, reading and repair, in orange. This painting is a chapter opener in the second edition of the Machinery of Life, Springer-Verlag.

Dr. David S. Goodsell is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, as well as a member of the Board of Directors for The Vesalius Trust. He is currently working on the second edition of The Machinery of Life, to be published April 21, 2009. While working on the proofs, he was gracious enough to take time for a short interview to answer our questions about the new edition.

He currently produces the Protein of the Month, featured on the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RSCB PDB), which reached its 100th edition last April. He has authored three books: Bionanotechnology: Lessons from Nature (Springer-Verlag, 2004), Our Molecular Nature: The Body's Motors, Machines, and Messages (Springer-Verlag, 1996), and The Machinery of Life, which was awarded the Frank Netter Award for Special Contributions to Health Science Education in 1999. Like medical illustrators, he has a passion for science as well as art, as his beautiful images of molecules have been published in scientific journals and displayed in galleries.

Ophelia Lee: Like Carl Sagan and Neil Shubin, you've done an excellent job in bringing complex concepts to the lay audience in an interesting and approachable manner. Have you encountered any challenges in writing for this audience?

David Goodsell: Writing for the general audiences is nothing but fun, it’s the perfect opportunity to look at a subject and focus on what’s really interesting. In my scientific writing, it’s far too easy to get caught up in all the details, making sure that all the experimental details are spelled out and that all of the similar work from other labs is properly mentioned and cited. But with popular writing, you get to lay all that aside and look at the subject as a whole. There is one great challenge, though: digging up interesting tidbits that ground scientific results in real life. Scientific papers are filled with facts and figures, but when you have to commit to what it actually does in the cell, how it keeps us alive, it’s often difficult to get a definitive answer. Of course, this is due in large part to the state of biology; we’re still working out those connections.



A recent portrait of Dr. David Goodsell

Lee: What made you decide that now was the right time to release this new edition of The Machinery of Life? Have any particular breakthroughs in molecular biology been a catalyst?

Goodsell: I’ve wanted to do a second edition of the Machinery of Life for years. An amazing amount of data has been discovered since then: the atomic structure of the ribosome is a premier example. I’ve also wanted to update the pictures and present them in color. The thing that finally stopped my procrastination was a conference hosted by the Fondation Scientifique Fourmentin-Guilbert. They are working on an exciting whole-cell simulator, and the conference brought together scientists of all disciplines to help them with their planning. They offered to do a French translation of the book, so I got to work and put the new edition together.

Lee: What's your process, in a nutshell, for your watercolor paintings? Do you find yourself combining tradition and digital techniques or keeping the two separate?

Goodsell: I have developed a style that uses non-photorealistic digital methods for images of atomic structures, and hand-drawn watercolors for the cellular environment images. For more information, take a look at my article in Structure (“Visual Methods from Atoms to Cells” Structure 13(3), 347-354, 2005). I used both of these methods in the book, and stayed as much as possible with the concept of using a few consistent scales for all the images. I continue to do watercolor work for two reasons. First, the task of creating 3D models for the cellular environments has been too daunting for the amount of time I can devote to this (but keep your eyes open—Graham Johnson and others are on the verge of making this a reality). But more importantly, I enjoy the process of painting—the hours spent on the painting are hours to reflect on the complexity and unusual beauty of the subject.

Lee: What other projects, personal or professional do you have in the works?

Goodsell: I’m currently focusing my attention on my research and on my writing for the RCSB Protein Data Bank. I’m also managing to fit a few painting commissions in too, which is always fun.



Tobacco mosaic virus, from atomic coordinates in entry 2tmv from the Protein Data Bank. The protein subunits are shown in blue and the genomic RNA is shown in red. This image was presented as part of the Molecule of the Month at the RCSB Protein Data Bank (http://www.pdb.org ).

Lee: What are your thoughts on the collaborative atmosphere between biomedical illustrators and molecular biologists today?

Goodsell: That is an interesting question, and the answer has changed a lot since I started working in this field. Molecular illustration, in particular, is entirely different today. Most molecular biologists now do their own graphics, since there are so many easy, free methods for interactive molecular graphics. It seems that they go to illustration professionals only when something extraordinary needs to be done. Here in the Molecular Graphics Laboratory, we no longer have researchers asking us for journal figures, although we occasionally get a request to help with a cover illustration. We do, however, continue working with researchers on cutting-edge visualization projects. For instance, Arthur Olson is currently perfecting methods for creating 3D models of molecules using rapid prototyping methods, and Michel Sanner is working on modular graphics methods that provide a simple way to add a visualization component to other computational biology methods.

Lee: What artists and scientists would you say have had the biggest influence on your work with this book?

Goodsell: I owe a lot to my mentors, Richard Dickerson at UCLA and Arthur Olson at the Scripps Research Institute. Both of them have created unique laboratory settings where science and art work together, and where scientific research and science education are given equal importance.

Current topics in science and medicine

If you see, illustrate or read a topic or article that you’d like to share in this column, please contact Zina (see masthead for email).

The Journal of the American Medical Association
Date: February 11, 2009.
Citation: JAMA. JAMA. 2009;301(6):619-628.
Availability: Pay access. Will be open to all (Full text) in August 2009.
URL: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/301/6/619
Title: Targeted Muscle Reinnervation for Real-Time Myoelectric Control of Multifunction Artificial Arms
Authors: Kuiken TA, et al.
What's it about? An article on a novel technique, targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), that permits patients' control of more advanced prosthetic arms. TMR surgery transfers residual arm nerves to chest or upper arm muscles to produce enhanced and physiologically appropriate electromyogram signals on the surface of the skin that can be measured and associated with patterns of wrist, elbow and hand movements.
What's there to see? Anatomy and examples of targeted muscle reinnervation, screen captures of the software used for training and testing, example of performance metrics used by software and data gathered from study patients, photos and videos of patients using experimental advanced prosthetic arm systems in various tasks, and additional interactive material.
Why's it interesting? The results of the study suggest that reinnervated muscles can produce sufficient EMG information for real-time control of advanced artificial arms. One can imagine the wider range of abilities that will be possible for those missing limbs, as both technology (software and materials) advances and surgical techniques develop!

The Journal of the American Medical Association
Date: January 9, 2009.
Citation: JAMA. 2009;301(1):82-93.
Availability: Pay access. Will be open to all (Full text) in June 2009.
URL: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/301/1/82
Title: A 41-Year-Old Woman With Menorrhagia, Anemia, and Fibroids: Review of Treatment of Uterine Fibroids
Authors: Van Voorhis B
What's it about? A review of uterine fibroids, their evaluation, and current and promising future treatment options, in the context of a patient case.
What's there to see? Ultrasound (also interactive of ultrasound anatomy), figure on normal pelvic anatomy, locations of uterine fibroids, and fibroid tissue histology, figure on technique of uterine artery embolization (UAE)
Why's it interesting? Provides an overview of the indications and outcomes of certain treatment options, including covering UAE, a new minimally invasive approach typically performed by interventional radiologists.


The Journal of the American Medical Association
Date: July 4, 2007.
Citation: JAMA. 2007;298:41-48.
Availability: Open to all (Full text)
URL: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/1/41
Title: Mechanisms of Morbid Hearing Loss Associated With Tumors of the Endolymphatic Sac in von Hippel-Lindau Disease
Authors: Lonser RR et al.
What's it about? Relationship of endolymphatic sac tumors and intralabyrinthine hemorrhage to sensorineural hearing loss and vestibulopathy in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.
What's there to see? Depictions of the anatomical relationships of the endolymphatic sac to surrounding structures in the petrous temporal bone and case study magnetic resonance images (MRIs) with color overlays.
Why's it interesting? Examines a very small, yet important clinically-relevant component of the inner ear that is often glossed over in introductory anatomy courses. Anatomical images take a different anatomical perspective than typical inner ear depictions, and correlate with MRIs axial plane of view used in case evaluation.

National Science Foundation
Date: February 23, 2009
Available: Press release open to all URL: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114260
Press release title: Determining Risk for Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Joshua Chamot (press release); Vadim Backman (one of the lead authors of the science paper)
What’s it about? In the latest clinical trial for a technique to detect pancreatic cancer, researchers found they could differentiate cells that are cancerous from those that are benign, pre-cancerous, or even early stage indicators called mucinous cystic lesions with a technique that analyzes light refracted through cells in the duodenum.
What’s there to see? An animation, several static images and a video conference with the researchers.
Why’s it interesting? Pancreatic cancer was very hard to detect with anything but a biopsy which is quite dangerous to the patient. This new engineering team has introduced a non-invasive and effective mode of diagnosis.

Vesalius Art and Anatomy Tour

Mark Your Calendars for the next Vesalius Art and Anatomy Tour!
Northern and Central ItalyOctober 27 – November 8, 2009Program cost, land only - $3,995

Tour the historically rich cities of Florence, Bologna, Venice, Padua and Milan. Follow professional guides into exclusive areas not open to the public. Enjoy travel with medical art friends and colleagues while earning CEUs. Attend the Annual AEIMS* Conference in Milan. Be welcomed not as a tourist, but as a friend and member of the medical art family.
To see a detailed itinerary, visit http://www.vesaliustrust.org/news.html
For more info contact Marie Dauenheimer: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (703) 648 9038
* Association Européenne des Illustrateurs Médicaux et Scientifiques