CHENNAI: Pulitzer Prize-winning author and cancer physician Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee speaks to CE about his writing practice, looking at mental health from a cellular perspective having battled depression himself, and the revolutionary innovations in biology
On one of the many visits of eminent cancer physician and celebrated author Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee to India, he was informed of a case of a little boy battling cancer. When he went to the hospital to meet the child, the latter confided in him that his father worked as a security guard at a luxury hotel: the same hotel where the doctor had stayed multiple times and happened to know him. In a coincidental case of fates coming together, Dr Mukherjee rolled up his sleeves and worked with the oncology team to cure the child. He is now completely healed and Dr Mukherjee played a significant role in the nursing process.
“There can’t be any greater joy than seeing a healthy patient who would otherwise not be alive today. That child walked into the hospital on the brink of death but walked out completely alive and fine. Very soon, he, who loves playing football, will be able to integrate back into his life. And this would hopefully be a distant but important memory for him,” says Dr Mukherjee.
Recently in Bengaluru for the formal release of his latest literary endeavour The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human, the doctor was at The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP). His book, the fourth in his bibliography, was unveiled by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited.
While Dr Mukherjee has assisted in the recovery of countless ill patients, he fell into a deep spell of depression right in the middle of writing the book. The doctor believes that experience was instrumental in directing the narrative of The Song of the Cell. “I wanted to have the idea of mental health destigmatised. And the only way to remove the stigma of mental health is to think about it, not only as a psychosocial and environmental effect but at a cellular level. People still have this impression that disorders of mental health are something that you can just ‘snap out of’. But turning the focus and rethinking about mental health at the cellular level, while not denying the psychosocial and environmental situational aspects of grief, really helps. Think about it as an organic illness, much like any other illness. At least, that’s how it helped me,” shares Dr Mukherjee, who has been working with cells since 1993.
He mentions that he has pointed out new forms of medications as mechanisms to think about mental health in the book. He does this while reflecting on the entire history of the cell, cellular pathology and ‘revolutionary’ mechanisms of modifying T cells to treat cancer, an area in medicine he has been working on, at Bengaluru-based Immuneel Therapeutics alongside Mazumdar-Shaw, who co-founded the institute with him.
He had previously won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, for his debut book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.
When it comes to writing his books, Dr Mukherjee has a style. While he describes the history of hefty topics in medicine, he laces the narrative with anecdotes of his own experiences as a physician in the field. This approach, he feels, makes his books more accessible to the general public.
“My interest in writing grew over time. There’s a hunger or a curiosity among people to understand more about the scientific world of medicine and biology. And the books are written to respond to that need. They are part of my larger intellectual project to make knowledge and medicines accessible. My writing practice involves everything I know — from my personal experiences as a physician, my personal experiences as a father and patient, all the way to my experiences as a scientist. There are elements of memoir in my books as well as elements of deep science, history and philosophy,” he says, adding that we are currently undergoing one of the most revolutionary times of biological research and innovation.
Working as a physician and scientist means working in a world of research, diseases and to an extent, morbidity. Dr Mukherjee believes when dabbling in more imaginative fields like writing, his wife, widely recognised American artist Sarah Sze, and her work keep him engaged with creativity. “Sarah and I are not just life partners, but also we’re partners in our creative pursuits. She is the first person who reads my books. I’m one of the first people who go to the studio to look at her work. I think our creative pursuits are interlinked. They may not seem so on paper, but behind it, the urge to make a difference and to bring something new to the world is a shared constant in our lives,” he concludes.