Carla M. Davis, MD, reflects on mentor, ‘a giant in immunology’

Carla M. Davis, MD, credits a brilliant scientist, caring and skilled educator, and compassionate physician for the reason why she entered into the field of allergy and immunology.

As a medical student, Davis, pediatrician, allergist and immunologist at Howard University Hospital and incoming president-elect of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, said she met “a giant in immunology” when meeting M. Louise Markert, MD, professor emeritus of pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine.

“I respect and attribute what I am doing today, in large part, to the example that she set for me. Dr. Markert was the first woman in medicine who truly supported me and lifted me up and is why I am in the field of allergy and immunology today,” Davis said during an interview with Healio. “In medical school at Duke University, I was given the task of finding a lab to conduct my research and in my third year, I heard about Dr. Markert from other medical students. She sounded incredibly supportive, and when I met her, she was dynamic. She told me about her research, but not only that, she spent an inordinate amount of time with me in the lab teaching me techniques, and she prepared me for presentations.”

Her greatness

Markert, the inventor of thymic transplantation for DiGeorge syndrome, which has now been FDA-approved for the treatment of patients with thymic insufficiency, was always accessible, according to Davis.

“I witnessed her greatness on so many levels,” Davis said. “I would always call her Dr. Markert and she would say, ‘Carla, call me Louise.’ I was a part of her lab, which had at least two lab techs and a couple of post docs, and I was the only medical student. She held a lab meeting every week where we would share the results of our experiments. I would present my work and no matter whether my experiments that past week were successful or not, the way that she would guide the discussion was always positive and supportive. She would say, ‘Carla, if this didn’t work out, what do you think happened, and how could we do it better next time?’ She would also bring up ideas for the explanation of the outcome, even if it wasn’t what we expected. She always had several different hypotheses as to why the results were what they were.”

Markert also cared deeply for her patients, Davis continued.

“She would often share things with me, for example, when a mom came to see her baby. For children with primary immunodeficiency, the expectation was for everyone to be masked all the time, but she had compassion and would say, ‘When a mom comes to see the baby, I tell the mom he or she needs to see your face.’ She would have them take off the mask and smile at their baby. Her care and concern are part of her greatness,” Davis said.

Recalling seeing pictures of Markert with her patients on their birthdays, Davis said Markert called every one of her patients who underwent bone marrow transplant, her own children.

“She went to every single one of her bone marrow transplanted patient’s birthdays, no matter where they were in the world,” Davis said. “She would fly to Europe and would go to a child’s birthday. She had pictures of her at all of these birthday celebrations.”

Her generosity

Another trait about Markert that Davis admires and has carried with her throughout her career is Markert’s generosity.

“She had an incredible sense of generosity when it came to taking credit for work,” Davis said. “When it came to her published research, if people contributed anything to the work and they wanted to be included as an author, she would honor that. She was never one to take all the credit for herself. In many ways, she could have lifted herself up even more than she did and receive even more recognition for what she did, but she never chose that. She always brought people along with her and was never offended if someone wanted to be a part of a paper if they contributed to the project. That is not a characteristic that I see in all scientists or physicians who conduct research. It is something that I have kept with me, and is such an admirable and generous characteristic, and for that, I truly admire Dr. Markert — or Louise, as she would say.”

‘An outsized role’

When asked what the one thing is that she would want Markert to know, Davis said, “I want her to know that she played an outsized role in my career as an allergist and immunologist.”

“She was an incredible role model,” she continued. “I am extremely grateful for the time, care and support she gave to me during my medical school years, and the role model that she set for me during my entire career. I love being an allergist and immunologist — it is a fantastic field. I am so glad that I chose it, and I am so glad that I sought a role model in Dr. Markert, a woman in my field that I could follow.”

For more information:

Carla M. Davis, MD, can be reached at [email protected].