Early Research Career Robert Ledley

1 research career

1.1 u.s. army dental research
1.2 work standards eastern automatic computer
1.3 operations research , rna tie club
1.4 electrical engineering
1.5 collaboration lee b. lusted
1.6 nas-nrc survey , computer advocacy

early research career
u.s. army dental research

in 1950, shortly after outbreak of korean war, ledley contacted u.s. army recruitment officer, offered him choice: volunteer join u.s. army dental corps first lieutenant or conscripted infantry private. ledley promptly volunteered, , sent u.s. army medical field service school training. because ledley trained in physics, assigned dental research unit @ walter reed general hospital, in washington, d.c..

during time in army ledley responsible improving prosthetic dental devices (such dentures) used army personnel. notably, ledley drew on training in dentistry , physics develop system optimized process of fitting dentures allowing dentists determine “angle of chew,” or mean slope of each tooth relative surface of object (e.g. piece of food) being bitten. ledley presented work american physical society in 1952, , generated nationwide attention via associated press newspaper story titled “mathematics used keep false teeth in place.”

work standards eastern automatic computer

terry ledley operating standards eastern automatic computer (seac) @ national bureau of standards in 1950s. robert ledley learned program on computer, first via paper tapes terry brought him , using machine extensively himself.

ledley s work on dental prosthetics brought him collaboration researchers based @ national bureau of standards dental materials research section, offered research job in 1952 following discharge army. there encountered standards eastern automatic computer, 1 of earliest stored-program electronic digital computers. ledley s first interaction seac came via wife, terry, worked 1 of machine s programmers – robert taught himself program examining programs (on perforated paper tape) , manuals terry brought home. ledley started use seac himself dental research, after proving adept programmer , troubleshooter, found himself working seac (and later dyseac) full-time on wide variety of projects, including remote-controlled aircraft guidance system.

for ledley, working seac produced epiphany, concerning both career , potential importance of computers biomedical research. recalled: “i had realized although, conceptually, physics equations written describe biomedical phenomenon, such equations complex not feasibly solved in closed form. seac panacea, because equations become tractable numerical methods of solutions. or believed @ time. field, application of computers biomedical problems.”

operations research , rna tie club

though ledley had envisioned career of employing computers solve biomedical problems early 1950s, several years before pursue career full-time. @ national bureau of standards, ledley’s work related solving military problems using techniques of operations research. instance, published article in journal operations research showing how 1 use boolean algebra reduce complex military decision-making problems point resolved using collection of truth tables , yes-or-no questions.

when ledley lost job @ nbs in 1954 due budget cuts, turned down offer work ibm (which hired ledley’s colleagues en masse). instead, found employment “operations research analyst” @ operations research office @ johns hopkins university. there, work remained focused on military problems, expertise in biology, physics, mathematics, , computing caught attention of 1 of new oro colleagues, george gamow. gamow, renowned contributions big bang cosmological model, had taken interest in molecular biology after james d. watson , francis crick elucidated double helix structure of dna in 1953. gamow believed ledley’s skills instrumental in helping crack genetic code, is, solving problem of how dna sequence translates proteins. in 1954, gamow invited ledley join elite rna tie club; other members of club watson, crick, richard feynman, max delbrück, edward teller, , sydney brenner.

ledley’s main work rna tie club effort generate set of contingency tables purpose of writing computer program determine correspondence between three-letter sequence (triplet) of nucleotide bases , amino acid (the building blocks of proteins). sponsored gamow, ledley published work in 1955 in proceedings of national academy of sciences. though ledley had produced combinatorial table theoretically used determine three-letter sequence of dna bases corresponded amino acid, problem required several thousand years of computation time on world’s fastest computers (circa 1955) produce solution.

having established computers not used reasonably decode dna, ledley drifted away rna tie club. code broken in 1961 nirenberg , matthaei experiment, did not use computers , not carried out rna tie club members.

electrical engineering

in 1956, ledley hired assistant professor of electrical engineering @ george washington university school of engineering , applied science. there, taught of earliest courses on computer programming , wrote first book, digital computer , control engineering (1960). @ gwu, ledley acquired florida automatic computer , ii, 2 descendants of seac had been discarded air force surplus, purpose of establishing “computation center” use computers automate frederick sanger’s process of determining amino acid sequence of proteins. center never built, however, because national institutes of health rejected ledley’s request grant fund it, , because university balked @ prospect of installing , supporting 2 enormous computers.

collaboration lee b. lusted

lee b. lusted (1922-1994), radiologist background in electrical engineering, became aware of ledley’s work in 1956 after ledley gave presentation titled “an operations-research view of medicine , health” annual meeting of operations research society of america. after meeting, lusted telephoned ledley, , 2 found shared strong interest in using electronics , mathematics improve medicine. 2 men began collaborate on developing ways teach physicians , biomedical researchers, had training in electronics or mathematics, use electronic digital computers in work.

in 1959, ledley , lusted published “reasoning foundations of medical diagnosis,” read article in science, introduced operations research techniques medical workers. areas covered included: symbolic logic, bayes’ theorem (probability), , value theory. in article, physicians instructed how create diagnostic databases using edge-notched cards prepare time when have opportunity enter data electronic computers analysis. ledley , lusted expressed hope harnessing computers, of physicians’ work become automated , many human errors therefore avoided.

within medicine, ledley , lusted’s article has remained influential decades, within field of medical decision making. among enthusiastic readers cardiologist homer r. warner, emulated ledley , lusted’s methods @ research clinic @ lds hospital in utah. warner’s work, in turn, shaped many of practices , priorities of heavily computerized intermountain healthcare, inc., in 2009 portrayed obama administration exemplary model of healthcare system provided high-quality , low-cost care.

the article brought national media attention ledley , lusted’s work. articles work of 2 men ran in several major newspapers. small demonstration device ledley built show how electronic diagnosis work described in new york world telegram “a metal brain diagnosis,” while new york post ran headline: “dr. univac wanted in surgery.” on several occasions, ledley , lusted explained journalists believed computers aid physicians rather replace them, , process of introducing computers medicine challenging due non-quantitative nature of medical information. envisioned, years before development of arpanet, national network of medical computers allow healthcare providers create nationally accessible medical record each american , allow rapid mass data analysis information gathered individual clinics , sent regional , national computer centers.

nas-nrc survey , computer advocacy

in 1957, ledley hired on part-time basis national academy of sciences - national research council (nas-nrc) conduct national survey of current , potential computer use in biology , medicine in united states. supported senator hubert humphrey , nih director james a. shannon, nas-nrc commissioned survey in effort physicians , life scientists overcome reluctance use computers.

ledley published survey findings in november 6, 1959 science article, “digital electronic computers in biomedical science,” in called on biologists train in mathematics , engineering in order use electronic digital computers. predicted in long run, “perhaps greatest utilization of computers in biomedical applications. earlier science article co-authored lusted, ledley’s new piece read – among influential , enthusiastic readers joshua lederberg, spent of later part of career using computers solve problems in biology research.

ledley’s survey , article shaped national institutes of health’s first major effort encourage biomedical researchers use computers. effort began shortly after soviet launch of sputnik in october 1957—in reaction sputnik, u.s. congress sought means boost u.s. scientific , technological productivity. beginning in 1960, congress allocated $40 million nih purpose of stimulating computer use in biomedical research. ledley’s survey recommendations, particularly call biomedical workers train extensively in mathematics , engineering, served guide nih effort, carried out nih’s advisory committee on computers in research (accr). accr led 1960 1964 ledley’s collaborator, lee lusted. during years, committee established several major biomedical computing centers around usa , sponsored development of linc. accr’s successor, computers in research study section, headed homer warner, 1 of first research physicians employ ledley , lusted’s techniques in clinical setting.