Past disease outbreaks have actually served as a catalyst for change for better in the world. An example is how the Black Plague in the mid 1300s led to the end of feudal obligations. COVID-19 is underscoring just how we are all connected to each other, even if we are separated by thousands of miles and international borders. We are already seeing many positive changes and I have no doubt that we will see more positive societal changes and social reforms come out when we are on the other side of this pandemic including helping those most marginalized by a health crisis such as this and its economic and other effects.
I had the pleasure to interview Dr. David Jin, MD, PhD.
Dr. Jin is the Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the Board of Directors of Avalon Globocare (NASDAQ:AVCO). From 2009 to 2017, Dr. Jin has served as the Chief Medical Officer of BioTime, Inc. (NYSE American: BTX), a clinical stage regenerative medicine company with a focus on pluripotent stem cell technology. Dr. Jin also acts as a senior translational clinician-scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Ansary Stem Cell Center at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. Prior to his current endeavors, Dr. Jin was Chief Consultant/Advisor for various biotech/pharmaceutical companies regarding hematology, oncology, immunotherapy and stem cell-based technology development. Dr. Jin has been Principle Investigator in more than 15 pre-clinical and clinical trials, as well as author/co-author of over 80 peer-reviewed scientific abstracts, articles, reviews, and book chapters. Dr. Jin studied medicine at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, New York. He received his clinical training and subsequent faculty tenure at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital (the teaching hospital for both Cornell and Columbia Universities) in the areas of internal medicine, hematology, and clinical oncology. Dr. Jin was honored as Top Chief Medical Officer by ExecRank in 2012, as well as recognized by Leading Physicians of the World in 2015.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how and where you grew up?
I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and my family emigrated to the United States in 1988. I have always had an interest in and passion for medicine, and that led me to the State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine where I completed the combined M.D.-Ph.D. medical-scientist training. Afterwards, I did my clinical training at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital with a focus in hematology, oncology, regenerative medicine and cell therapy.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale has made a deep and pragmatic impact on the way I view my every day, my life and my career. The ability to clear my thoughts in order to create a peaceful, open, and receptive mindset, no matter what is going on in my day, has been immensely beneficial for me. I think I was a relatively positive person before reading this book but being a physician-scientist can take its toll on the body and the mind — the long hours of seeing and caring for sick patients. Drawing on the positive in the everyday has made me better at caring for patients and conducting research.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
“If there’s a thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s to not be afraid of the responsibility that comes with caring for other people. What we do for love: those things endure. Even if the people you do them for don’t.”
Taking care for people is what I do for a living. It is a massive responsibility that I do not take lightly. Caring for patients day in and day out can feel like a burden some days and other days, it can feel like a blessing. I choose to see it as a blessing every day.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. You are currently leading a social impact organization that has stepped up during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to address?
Over the last twenty years or so, I have been developing therapies to deal with a very intense and severe immune reaction that can sometimes lead to organ failure. This is called a “cytokine storm” for the messenger molecules called cytokines that are suddenly released all at once in the body, and can occur due to a particularly bad infection, an autoimmune condition and as a result of other diseases. This cytokine storm, we are finding, sometimes occurs in patients with COVID-19 and has been linked to lung and other organ damage and sometimes death. I’m currently working on ways in which cell therapy, and particularly cellular immunotherapy, could help treat patients with COVID-19 to prevent severe disease including a cytokine storm, in those patients infected with this novel coronavirus. These therapies, we hope, would be useful for other pandemics in the future. I am also investigating COVID-19 related diagnostics to detect the virus, as well as therapeutics to treat COVID-19 and potential vaccines to provide protective immunity against the coronavirus. Given the seriousness and vastness of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we need as many clinicians and researchers as possible stepping in and helping develop tools to fight this pandemic.
In your opinion, what does it mean to be a hero?
I think our society likes to think of a hero as someone who is admired for his or her achievements and courage. But personally, I think of a hero as anyone who can do something good that they previously didn’t think they could do.
In your opinion or experience, what are “5 characteristics of a hero? Please share a story or example for each.
Sure, here are my top five characteristics of a hero:
1 — Humility: Heroes don’t try to be ‘heroes’ just to gain recognition from others or from the media or society. They simple step up to their calling and do what they think is right even as they struggle to believe in themselves.
2 — Courage: As I mentioned, true heroes are often called to do something good even as they have doubts and may be intimidated that they may not be successful.
3 — Inspiration: Heroes are everyday people who we can look up to and admire. They are an inspiration for each of us individually to step up and make an impact in our own communities as well. If all of us do good, no matter how small, we can make a really big impact.
4 — Determination: Heroes don’t give up! They willingly embrace challenge and use it as a learning experience.
5 — Self-Sacrifice: Heroes often have to give up something significant to achieve the things they do. This is often a hero’s most admirable characteristic, I think.
If heroism is rooted in doing something difficult, scary, or even self-sacrificing, what do you think drives some people — ordinary people — to become heroes?
I think the drive comes from their desire to help others and to make the world a better place. We are all here for a reason bigger than ourselves.
What was the specific catalyst for you or your organization to take heroic action? At what point did you personally decide that heroic action needed to be taken?
Like everyone else, I have been following how the pandemic is evolving around the world. Seeing that in many places the pandemic was getting out of control made it difficult to sit back idly. We at Avalon GloboCare realized that we had a choice to make between taking action to help, with the tools and resources we had at hand, or sitting back and doing nothing. Confronted with this choice, it was not a difficult decision to make.
Who are your heroes, or who do you see as heroes today?
The medical staff all around the world who are on the frontlines everyday working to combat the virus and helping treat patients while also literally risking their own health and lives and the health of the family members that live with them. Without these frontline healthcare heroes, the world would be in a significantly worse off place.
Let’s talk a bit about what is happening in the world today. What specifically frightened or frightens you most about the pandemic?
The fact that it is so widespread and accelerating fast and that the public is receiving mixed messages from the media, from political leaders and from public health organizations. That there is no cohesive leadership and message and rules to follow for the public has been disconcerting. It is a difficult situation as how to combat this virus. Ways to mitigate risk of infection have evolved since we learned about SARS-CoV-2 back in December 2019. Thanks to many healthcare officials, clinicians, researchers, we now know quite a lot more about this virus — how it is transmitted and how to treat patients with COVID-19. But we need our local and country leadership to communicate fact and science-driven information to the public. Every person needs to know that their actions are contributing either to the virus’s containment or its spread which is why we need everyone to understand that they are part of a global community and that their actions affect the outcome of this pandemic. This is why wearing masks or shields when around others and washing hands are the least all of us can do. There is also this worrying fact — that the longer the COVID-19 pandemic goes on, we in the U.S. and the global community become more vulnerable to other potential harmful events such as natural disasters, wildfires and other viral outbreaks.
Despite that, what gives you hope for the future? Can you explain?
We have made it through all other pandemics that have hit mankind before, haven’t we? No matter how scary you may think COVID-19 is now, the truth is, we have more scientific and technical tools available, more knowledge about viruses, and we will overcome it by working together as we have with all previous pandemics.
What has inspired you the most about the behavior of people during the pandemic, and what behaviors do you find most disappointing?
The fact that so many people are finding a ‘we’re all in this together’ attitude during the pandemic has been very inspirational and encouraging. There has been some disappointing behaviors, which have come, I suppose, from those who may be skeptical of the pandemic to the point that they don’t take action — they don’t wear masks, they don’t stay home, don’t minimize time indoors with people outside their immediate family, and don’t minimize overall contact with others to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Skepticism can be healthy of course, but there needs to be a balance between that and all of us working to decrease, and hopefully prevent the spread of this new virus. What is very important is that authorities provide guidelines and rules that are rooted in data and in science and explain these to the public.
Has this crisis caused you to reassess your view of the world or of society? We would love to hear what you mean.
I’ve been very inspired by everyday citizens in countries all over the globe who have taken action to work together to help slow the spread of the virus. It has helped remind me of the good that is inherent in so many people around the world. I suppose you could say my worldview has become a bit more hopeful and positive, and less cynical as a result.
What permanent changes would you like to see come out of this crisis?
Past disease outbreaks have actually served as a catalyst for change for better in the world. An example is how the Black Plague in the mid 1300s led to the end of feudal obligations. COVID-19 is underscoring just how we are all connected to each other, even if we are separated by thousands of miles and international borders. We are already seeing many positive changes and I have no doubt that we will see more positive societal changes and social reforms come out when we are on the other side of this pandemic including helping those most marginalized by a health crisis such as this and its economic and other effects.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Just do your part. Wear a mask outside and indoor public places. Wash your hands. Minimize contact with others outside of those you live with. We’re all in this together. Your everyday actions matter a lot to prevent others from contracting COVID-19 and potentially getting very ill or even dying. We all need to help end this pandemic.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Educating people about disease prevention first and foremost is absolutely important. Starting a movement to teach people how to minimize the risk of disease spreading in their everyday life, not only now for COVID-19 but for other kinds of diseases as well. Education that is science and data driven, and having people understand some of the vocabulary of infectious disease is of utmost importance for our ability to communicate and provide grounded, science-based information to the public. Ultimately, I think it would be the best thing we can do to help make the world a healthier place.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I’d like to have a private conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. NIAID to thank him for how he is handling the pandemic in the U.S., for his tireless communication with the public, and to understand how best to help even more in the effort to end the pandemic.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow my blog and social media posts where I provide regular updates.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!