My life in Madison: Began in 1985 when I moved here to attend medical school. My goal was to become the best doctor I could be. My mother’s history of breast cancer (she was diagnosed in 1975 and died cancer-free over three decades later) informed my decision to become a breast cancer surgeon. I was blessed to have been offered the first breast fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in 1994. All the while, I lived in Madison and remained here to begin one of the most productive periods of my life, creating the first Breast Service for the Barnabas Health System in Belleville where, over the next 25 years I cared for more than 10,000 patients.
“My writing life: Began in 2007 during my visit to Kuwait. I was one of two people chosen from the United States to attend the first International Masters in Health Leadership at McGill University. During this time one of my colleagues, Dr. Salman Al Sabah, a member of the royal family of Kuwait, invited me to be his guest and to help establish the first integrated breast service for the women of his country. It was during that time that I first became aware of the existence of a breast cancer virus. Immediately, I devoted every spare minute to understanding this virus and developing strategies to complete the research so that we could develop the world’s first preventive breast cancer vaccine. Because so few people knew of the virus or the important scientific evidence of its causal role as the primary instigator of breast cancer in women, I wrote “The End of Breast Cancer: A Virus and the Hope for a Vaccine,” published in 2017.
My life as a healthcare leader: Began in 2009 when I created the first breast cancer foundation devoted specifically to the prevention of breast cancer, the Breast Health and Healing Foundation whose mission statement was “To discover the causes of breast cancer and to use this knowledge to prevent the disease.” Two breast cancer summits on capitol hill, the first one held in the Senate hearing room compliments of Senator Susan Collins, and an invitation to share the research on the human breast cancer virus at the Clinton Global Initiative were, among many other endeavors, especially gratifying achievements.
“My life as an inventor: Began in 1991 when I became aware of the faulty mechanism of action of the titanium surgical clips being used in laparoscopic surgery. I found a mechanical engineer from Bell Labs, Frank Gates, who was willing to help me design a clip that would not ‘fall off’ either during or after it was placed. Within two months we had a working model that I was happy with. We tested it in animal tissue. We applied and received a patent for it, and for a device that could remove it without damaging surrounding tissue . We then applied to the FDA for approval of these devices. We achieved all three goals – a latching/ligating surgical clip that did not fall off after it (the Ruddy Clip) was applied and a device to remove it ; patents for these devices; and FDA 510-K approval of them – within three years! The “Ruddy clip” is one of my favorite successes. But of course, nothing beats saving lives, especially those of women diagnosed with breast cancer. The moral of this story, one that has always informed my life is: When you see a need, identify the nature of the problem, and do what you can to fix it.
Kathleen T. Ruddy, MD 