Back in my trainee days when I was studying for the ACVP board exam, I often struggled to remember the names of diseases, and anatomic features of diseases, that were named after people rather than something logical. I wondered why people like Alzheimer, Parkinson, Negri, Krebs, Robbins, and many, many others, chose to name their discoveries after themselves instead of a meaningful descriptor relevant to the pathogenesis of the disease. As my studies progressed, it became my habit to end the long days by reading the histories of these people to see if they were really worthy of this confusing and egocentric practice. Likewise, at this early stage of my career, I was also fond of daydreaming about what the other end of my career journey might look like, and what I might do for a post-retirement career. I especially liked the visions that included me working for myself as an independent consultant in translational and molecular pathology. 

 

One evening, I read about Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), The Father of Modern Pathology. Virchow was a German physician and pathologist who made innumerable contributions to the fields of anatomy, physiology, and cellular and histologic pathology. In addition, he was also a well-regarded social health reformer, activist, anthropologist, and politician. Throughout his career, he was an outspoken advocate for good health for all, man and beast, and is credited with developing the field of comparative pathology and the One Medicine concept. As an ardent politician and public health advocate, he was once challenged to a duel by Otto von Bismarck who he angered by criticizing his military budget. Virchow, being entitled to choose the weapons, chose 2 pork sausages: a cooked sausage for himself, and an uncooked sausage, loaded with Trichinella larvae, for Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, who proceeded to decline the proposition as too risky. Learning these things, I became so impressed, humbled, and amused, I decided that if I were ever lucky enough to reach the independent consulting stage of my own pathology career, which by that point had grown to include a lot of digital pathology and advanced computer-assisted quantitation, I would call my company “Beyond Virchow”, in deference to this true scientific giant upon whose shoulders I so firmly stand.

 

Fast forward 16 years, never in my wildest career daydreams could I have imagined that I would be launching an independent consultancy 10+ years pre-retirement in a completely different field. Yet, my amazing journey has led me to a place where I am no longer just a Comparative & Translational Pathologist, but also a Clinical Herbalist, and it is in this regard that I finally venture into the world of entrepreneurship with my Herbal Medicine Consultancy & Apothecary. The name was an easy choice =)

​

Jennifer A. Cann, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVP 

Comparative Pathologist & Clinical Herbalist