Andy Grove: More on Speeding Cures

Recently we carried an item on Andy Grove's views on translational medicine, a subject that now deeply engages the California stem cell community. Today, the San Jose Mercury News ran an interview with Grove, a Silicon Valley pioneer, former CEO of Intel and currently a patient advocate. The piece dealt with his campaign to generate therapies more quickly as well providing a glimpse into his current life.

The article by Lisa Krieger is well worth reading. Here are some excerpts.

"He handles (Parkinson's) disease the way he handles everything else: open and direct. He adopts none of the common tricks employed by sufferers -- clutching a pen, or stuffing hands into pockets -- often used to minimize its visibility. His torso keels with each step, a distorted but determined gait. His arms bob; his fingers fidget.

"Underneath is keen intellect and a growing sense of frustration that medical science has offered him and other patients so little after decades of experimentation."

Krieger continued,

"'He's turned his own encounters into problems to be solved,' said Robert A. Burgelman, professor of management at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. "He takes a strategic approach.

"'He's an extraordinary man, one of the most focused persons I have every come across. Once he comes to an insight, he follows through on it, turning it into action,' he said. 'And he has an ability to reflect on his own experience and draw insights from that, which is an unusual and powerful thing for leaders to have.'"