Epstein, Fred J. 1937-

PERSONAL:

Born 1937; married; wife's name Kathy; children: Samara, Ilana, Jason, Joey, Benjamin. Education: New York University, M.D., 1963; Diplomate, American Board of Neurological Surgeons, 1972.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Greenwich, CT. Office— Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Medical Center, 170 East End Ave., New York, NY 10128.

CAREER:

Montefiore Medical Center, New York, NY, resident in surgery, 1964-65; New York University- Bellevue Medical Center, resident in neurosurgery, 1965-70, neurosurgeon, 1970-96, director of division of pediatric neurosurgery and professor of neurosurgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Hyman- Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Medical Center, codirector, 1996—, president of INN Foundation, 1999—.

MEMBER:

International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery, American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fellowships from American College of Surgeons, New York Academy of Medicine, and American Academy of Pediatrics.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Harold J. Hoffman) Disorders of the Developing Nervous System: Diagnosis and Treatment, Blackwell Scientific Publications (Boston, MA), 1986.

(With Elaine Fantle) Gifts of Time: The Inspiring Story of a Pioneering Surgeon and the Children Who Are His Mission, William Morrow (New York, NY), 1993

(With Joshua Horwitz) If I Get to Five: What Children Can Teach Us about Courage and Character, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor of more than 175 scientific papers to medical journals and scholarly periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Fred J. Epstein is a pioneering pediatric neurosurgeon who has devised and perfected techniques for removing and treating tumors on the brains of children and adults. Epstein's accomplishments transcend the merely technical, however. As the cofounder and codirector of the Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery at New York's Beth Israel Medical Center, Epstein has created a hospital environment where his young patients and their families can retain measures of privacy, loving contact, and emotional comfort not often found in medical settings. Known throughout his career as a doctor who has taken a personal interest in the humanity of his patients, Epstein has written two books dealing with the profound life lessons he has learned from working with youngsters facing the most serious and life-threatening illnesses. Gifts of Time: The Inspiring Story of a Pioneering Surgeon and the Children Who Are His Mission and If I Get to Five: What Children Can Teach Us about Courage and Character contain the surgeon's observations on resiliency, acceptance, human bonding, and environmental factors in the treatment of neurological disorders.

Gifts of Time, written with Elaine Fantle, offers readers a glimpse into the treatment of brain stem and spinal cord tumors in children, using Epstein's own anecdotes from his practice and detailing his optimism that the future will bring more medical breakthroughs in this field. Epstein also offers a guide to early symptoms of nervous-system tumors in hopes that parents will be able to aid in early detection of problems. A Kirkus Reviews critic wrote of the book: "The operating-room scenes are riveting, and the patients' stories utterly absorbing and often heart-rending: a first-rate medical casebook." Library Journal correspondent KellyJo Houtz Parish likewise praised the work as "rich in human emotion."

The title of If I Get to Five comes from one of Epstein's patients, a four-year-old facing delicate neurosurgery. Even more than Gifts of Time, If I Get to Five highlights Epstein's evolution to a more humanistic approach to medicine, as well as his humble understanding that his suffering patients and their families have taught him valuable lessons about how to engage deeply in life. In a work authored with Joshua Horwitz, Epstein describes the child-friendly environment he has created at Beth Israel Medical Center— complete with resident clown and therapy dogs—and how debilitating illness tests the courage and faith not only of the patient but also of the families who must trust doctors and nurses through the crisis. "It is no slight to call If I Get to Five a ‘feel-good’ book. It is," declared Edward Morris in BookPage. "But, after all, isn't feeling good what medicine is supposed to be about?" Vanessa Bush in Booklist appreciated "the lessons adults can learn from children" as reported in Epstein's book, and Alice Hershiser in Library Journal described the title as "compelling and sometimes heartrending." According to Sally Selvaduai on the Book Loons Web site, If I Get to Five "is a powerful book indeed … an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit."

Ironically, Epstein suffered an accident that had an impact upon his own neurological functioning. He is undertaking rehabilitation in hopes of returning to work in surgery and continues to serve the Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery in an administrative capacity.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 1993, William Beatty, review of Gifts of Time: The Inspiring Story of a Pioneering Surgeon and the Children Who Are His Mission, p. 210; March 15, 2003, Vanessa Bush, review of If I Get to Five: What Children Can Teach Us about Courage and Character, p. 1262.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 1993, review of Gifts of Time, p. 195.

Library Journal, April 1, 1993, KellyJo Houtz Parish, review of Gifts of Time, p. 122; March 15, 2003, Alice Hershiser, review of If I Get to Five, p. 102.

New York, May 20, 1996, Craig Horowitz, "This Is Brain Surgery," pp. 106-117.

Publishers Weekly, February 15, 1993, review of Gifts of Time, p. 224.

ONLINE

ABC News, http://printerfriendly.abcnews.com/ (September 30, 2003), "Connecting with Patients: A Q & A with Dr. Fred Epstein."

Book Loons, http://www.bookloons.com/ (September 30, 2003), Sally Selvadurai, review of If I Get to Five.

BookPage, http://www.bookpage.com/ (September 30, 2003), Edward Morris, "Young Patients' Heart- Rending Lessons."

Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery, http://www.nyneurosurgery.org/staff/ epstein.html (September 30, 2003), "Fred J. Epstein, M.D."