David B. Levine

David B. Levine
Born	1932 Binghamton, NY
Citizenship	USA
Occupation	Orthopedic Surgeon
Medical career
Institutions	Weill Cornell Medical College Hospital for Special Surgery New York-Presbyterian Hospital Rockefeller University
Specialism	Spinal surgery, scoliosis

David B. Levine, M.D., is an orthopaedic surgeon, hospital administrator, professor and historian of medicine who has held positions since 1961 at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, New York.

Early Life, Education, and Residencies

Dr. Levine was born in 1932 in Binghamton, NY, and attended public schools there. His mother and father, Sarah Garber (September 6, 1900-March 9, 1982) and Herbert Levine (June 18, 1897-April 15, 1965), ran Milton's Clothing Store in downtown Binghamton. He studied from 1950 to 1953 at Dartmouth College^[1] and graduated in 1957 with an M.D. degree from State University of New York Upstate Medical University at Syracuse.

From 1957 to 1958, he worked as a Rotating Intern at the Case Western Reserve's Metropolitan General Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. From 1958 to 1959 he was an Assistant Surgical Resident at Beth Israel Hospital (now known as Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) in Boston, Massachusetts, and also during this year was an instructor in surgery at Harvard Medical School.

From 1959 to 1961, he served at the rank of Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy as the Medical Officer aboard the USS Forrestal in the Sixth Fleet.

Practice at Hospital for Special Surgery

During 1961–1964, Dr. Levine served as an Orthopaedic Resident at the Hospital for Special Surgery.^[2] In 1965–1966 received an Orthopaedic Spine Fellowship at the Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Downey, California. From 1965 to 1966, he was an Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Los Angeles General Hospital, where he was also an Instructor in Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Southern California. In 1967, he was certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

HSS-River-View wikipedia

In 1966, Dr. Levine became an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery, and from 1974 to 1995 was Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon. He held the titles of Chief of the Scoliosis Service (1968–1994), and Director of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery (1987–1990). As Chairman of the Orthopedic Residency Training Program (1987–1990), he streamlined the application process, implementing the first computerized scoring process in the country. and adding a psychologist interview session.

He taught for over thirty years at Cornell University Medical College, and from 1978 to 1995 held the title of Professor of Clinical Surgery. From 1979 to 1982, Dr. Levine was an Alumni Council Trustee of the College.

In addition, he was a surgeon at The New York Hospital, and the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital. From 1976 to 1980, he was Visiting Associate Physician at The Rockefeller University Hospital in New York City.

During his career, Dr. Levine was active in orthopedic research and helped found prominent medical societies. He founded the Scoliosis Research Society, was President of the Society from 1978 to 1979, and served on the Board of Directors for fifteen years. In 2010, the Society recognized him with its "Lifetime Achievement Award."^[3]

In 2006, the hospital announced the creation of The David B. Levine Endowed Clinical Research Chair.^[4] The Chair has previously been held by Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, M.D.^[5]

Historian of Medicine and Early Immunotherapy Research

In 1995, Dr. Levine resigned from active patient care and in 1996 moved with his wife Janet, an artist, to Florence, Italy, where he lectured at Careggi University Orthopaedic Hospital, and studied Italian cooking. He returned to New York in 1997, purchased a farm in Pine Plains, Columbia County, New York, restored a 19th century home, tended an organic garden and cared for a raft of ducks, and a herd of sheep and goats.

In 2003 became the Director of Alumni Relations at Hospital for Special Surgery. In this capacity, in 2013 he co-wrote and edited a history titled, Anatomy of a Hospital. History of the Hospital for Special Surgery, 1863–2013.^[6]

Dr. Levine has pursued history of medicine, and given presentations on medicine during the Civil War.^[7] From the beginning of the Civil War in April 1861, until the Confederate States surrendered in April 1865, the casualties and deaths on both sides were monumental, changing the face of medical care, resulting in the creation of the Army Medical Corps.^[8] New statistics reported in December 2011 by historian J. David Hacker of Binghamton University raise the death toll of the Civil War over 20 percent of what had been previously known.^[9]

Dr. Levine has spoken about the history of cancer immunotherapy research at Hospital for Special Surgery.^[10] Dr. William Coley (January 12, 1862 – April 16, 1936), a surgeon-in-chief who developed Coley's Toxins, investigated the field.^[11]

Selected Writings

• Levine DB (2013). Anatomy of a Hospital. Hospital for Special Surgery 1863–2013. New York, NY: Print Matters, Inc. ISBN 0979668522, ISBN 978-0979668524.
• Anand N, Levine DB, Burke S, Bansal M. Neuopathic spinal atrophy in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. J Bone Joint Surg. 1997; 79-A:1235–39.
• Dhuper S, Ehlers KH, Fatica NS, Myridakis DJ, Klein AA, Friedman DM, Levine DB. Incidence and risk factors for mitral valve prolapse in severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Pediatr Cardiol. 1997 Nov-Dec; 18(6):425 – 28. PMID 9326688
• Cole BJ, Flics S, Levine DB. Optimizing hospital reimbursement through physician awareness: A step toward better patient care. Orthopedics. Jan 1998; 21(1): 79 – 83. PMID 9474635
• Wilson PD Jr., Levine DB. Hospital for Special Surgery. A brief review of its development and current position. Clin Orthop. 2000 May; (374):90-105. PMID 10818970
• Levine DB. Hospital for Special Surgery. First site 1863–1870. Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled. J HSS 2005 Sep; 1(1): 3-8. PMID 18751802
• Levine DB. The Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled: Knight to Gibney, 1870–1887. J HSS 2006 Feb; 2(1):1-6. PMID 18751838
• Levine DB. Gibney as surgeon-in-chief: The earlier years, 1887–1900. J HSS 2006 Sep; 2(2):95-101.
• Levine DB . The Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled, Entering the twentieth century, ca. 1900 to 1912. J HSS 2007 Feb 3(1):2-12.
• Levine DB. The Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled moves east on 42nd Street 1912 to 1925. J HSS 2007 Sep; 3(2):131-136.
• Levine DB. The Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled: William Bradley Coley, third surgeon-in-chief 1925–1933. J HSS 2007 Feb; 4(1):1-9.
• Levine DB. The Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled, Eugene H. Pool, fourth surgeon-in-chief 1933–1935, followed by Philip D. Wilson, fifth surgeon-in-chief 1935. J HSS 2008 Mar; 4(1):97-106.
• Levine DB. The Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled renamed The Hospital for Special Surgery 1940; the war years 1941–1945. J HSS 2009 Feb; 5(1): 1-8.
• Levine DB. The Hospital for Special Surgery affiliates with Cornell University Medical College and New York Hospital, 1951; Philip D. Wilson retires as surgeon-in-chief, 1955. J HSS 2009 Sep; 5(2): 83-91.
• Levine DB. The Hospital for Special Surgery 1955 to 1972: T. Campbell Thompson serves as sixth surgeon-in-chief 1955–1963 followed by Robert Lee Patterson, Jr. the seventh surgeon-in-chief 1963–1972. J HSS 2010; 6: 1-13.
• Levine DB. The Hospital for Special Surgery 1972–1989; Philip D. Wilson, Jr., eighth surgeon-in-chief. J HSS 2010 Sep; 6(2): 119-133.
• Johanson NA, Levine DB. Obituary Henry Hubert Sherk MD (1930–2012). Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2013 Oct; 471(10): 3389–3390.
• Levine DB, Braun RM. Obituary: Ronald L. Linscheid MD (1929–2012). Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2013 Nov; 471(11): 3722–3723: 3722–3723.
• Levine DB. Obituary: John Phillip Nelson MD (1936–2013). Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2014 Jun; 472(6): 1996–1997.
• Levine DB, Obituary: William J. Kane, MD (1933–2015). Spine Deform 2015 Jul; 3(4): 287.
• Levine, DB. Origin & Early Years of the Scoliosis Research Society 1966–1979. Spine Deform 2015 Sep; 3(5): 392-401.

References

1. Dartmouth Alumni Newsletter September 2013, Class of 1954, p. 7.
2. "Hospital for Special Surgery lays claim to being the oldest U.S. orthopedic hospital," Orthopedics Today, July 2009.
3. "Discovery to Recovery," Clinical and Research Highlights at Hospital for Special Surgery, Spring 2010, p. 8.
4. "From the Surgeon-in-Chief Thomas P. Sculco, M.D." Hospital for Special Surgery Alumni News, Fall 2006, p 2.
5. "Discovery to Recovery," Clinical and Research Highlights at Hospital for Special Surgery, Summer 2006, p. 5.
6. Levine DB (2013). Anatomy of a Hospital. Hospital for Special Surgery 1863–2013. New York, NY: Print Matters, Inc. ISBN 0979668522, ISBN 978-0979668524
7. Levine, David B. (January 24, 2014), "Orthopedic Medicine in Civil War New York," C-SPAN video (60 min).
8. Dr. David B. Levine to present Heberden Society Lecture: "The Civil War and its Casualties," January 23, 2013, New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
9. Coker, Rachel (September 21, 2011). "History professor: Civil War death toll has been underestimated," Inside Binghamton University. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
10. Davis, Rebecca (December 28, 2015 ). "Training The Immune System To Fight Cancer Has 19th-Century Roots," Morning Edition, Nat'l Public Radio. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
11. Pallardy, Carrie, "On Tracing the History of Hospital for Special Surgery: Q&A With Dr. David B. Levine of HSS," Becker's Spine Review, August 1, 2013 ("The third surgeon-in-chief, William Bradley Coley (1925 to 1933) was trained as a general surgeon and leaves a legacy in the field of cancer for his world renowned use of Coley's Toxins. Coley is known as the Father of Cancer Immunotherapy, a field today considered to be the future of cancer treatment.")