Most people would never leave a job at a distinguished university to go work at a hospital.
But, for Dr. Bettie M. Steinberg, it has always been about helping people.
After receiving her graduate degree from Stony Brook University, Steinberg, now 78 years old, started her career in medicine in 1980 when she was working at Columbia University in New York City. Steinberg was studying papilloma viruses at the time, which had been recently discovered.
Much of Steinberg’s research on the virus was focused on animals, but she longed to try to help combat the virus in humans.
“I want to use my science to make humans better and to improve medical care,” Steinberg said.
That is when Steinberg was offered the opportunity to work at North Shore-LIJ Health System, a place where her research would center around the virus in human beings.
“[The papilloma virus is a] human virus that affects human beings,” Steinberg said, “It’s a real cause.”
Driven by her passion to help those affected by the virus, Steinberg decided to leave her job at Columbia and begin working at North Shore-LIJ.
“Many people thought I was crazy,” Steinberg said, speaking about her decision to leave Columbia. “Working at North Shore-LIJ is [an opportunity] that you can’t find even at the most prestigious universities.”
As it turns out, making the move to North Shore-LIJ might have been the best decision that Steinberg ever made.
For the past 35 years, Steinberg’s research has been primarily focused on diseases of the airway caused by the Human Papilloma Virus.
Specifically, Steinberg studies recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or RRP.
Patients affected with RRP have growths in the larynx that are caused by HPV. The rare disease can affect both children and adults, and can be fatal because the growths can block a patient’s airway.
Surgery is an option for those afflicted with RRP, but Steinberg said the surgery is not usually effective.
Many times, Steinberg said, patients need surgery every two months just to breathe.
Steinberg also said that there are children who have RRP who need between 20-30 operations before they turn 10.
“It is a terrible disease that we have no answer for,” Steinberg said.
Despite all of that, Steinberg, the chief scientific officer and director of the Laboratory of Papillomavirus Research at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, says she has “made major contributions towards understanding the virus and how it causes disease.”
Steinberg also said that her research has the potential to help at least some of the patients with RRP. She has been trying to find new treatments for a disease that currently does not have a truly effective treatment program.
All of Steinberg’s hard work and dedication were recognized last month when she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Papillomavirus Society for her research on RRP.
“I am really touched because this award came from my peers,” she said. “The award validated my choice [to come to North Shore-LIJ.] I would not have been able to [conduct my research] in any other location. I needed to be with patients.”
Steinberg was recruited to North Shore-LIJ by Dr. Allan Abramson. Abramson, a surgeon who treated patients with RRP, formed a team with Steinberg, and she said the two of them worked together to help combat the disease.
“[North Shore-] LIJ has been extremely supportive of my work from the start,” Steinberg said.
When she was a young girl growing up in California, Steinberg said she wanted to be a nurse because she was always interested in working with human disease. Once she “discovered how exciting science was” in college at the Univeristy of California, Riverside, it reaffirmed her belief in trying to “use [her] science to make humans better and improve medical care.”
Steinberg utilized her desire to make humans better by fostering long-standing personal relationships with her patients.
She recalled one patient in particular that she met when the patient was just 2-years old.
The patient was affected with RRP, and Steinberg was conducting research regarding the patient’s disease.
The patient, now 30 years old and a mother of two, lives in Florida. She is still has RRP, but Steinberg says she is doing well.
Steinberg said she remains in contact with the patient on a regular basis. She said the two of them speak to one another every four to six months.
The patient enjoys keeping in contact with Steinberg, and Steinberg said that the feeling is mutual.
A mother of three, and a grandmother to six, Steinberg currently resides in Manhattan after she was a Huntington resident for 48 years.
Steinberg is professor and dean of the Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine, and professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. She is also the author or co-author of 98 peer-reviewed publications and 26 book chapters.
Steinberg’s overall message is simple: “Follow your passion,” she said. “Do what really excites you and do what you think is important.”
For Steinberg, following her passion meant providing help for her fellow human beings, and she would not have it any other way.
