Medical World News (MWN) was a weekly publication that focused on medical developments, issues, and personalities. It was published for 35 years from 1960 to 1994. Self-described as "The Newsmagazine of Medicine,” Medical World News was the only news magazine devoted solely to medicine during its years of publication.

With Maxwell M. Geffen as the publisher, the first issue of Medical World News hit the newsstand on April 22, 1960. It began as a biweekly publication, but quickly increased its frequency to every week. From the beginning Medical World News aspired to be more than just another medical journal. As Geffen describes in his first Letter from the Publisher, “Medical World News proposes to offer a new, unique and clear channel of communication between the profession and the world around it, and to set new standards of accuracy and disclosure, covering every phase of medical journalism.” (MWN, 1960, 04/22, p.11) It was a unique and independent publication with the freedom to report all aspects on controversial issues in medicine. Its target audience was the physician, and the image-rich content was “designed to facilitate communications and easy reading.” (MWN, 1960, 04/22, p.11) Within the first 2 months, Medical World News covered “the Kefauver investigation, the rapid developments surrounding medical care for the aged, the debate of the ‘polio greats,’ the use of oral contraceptives and the exciting conversation of tumorous cells into normal cells by a Rockefeller Institute scientist.” (MWN, 1960, 06/03, p.9)

Morris Fishbein, previously editor of Journal of the American Medical Association, was the first editor for the Medical World News. He shaped the tone and concepts of the publication, emphasizing photography to differentiate Medical World News from other medical journals. He had a photo staff of six people, including Rick Giacalone as art director and Don Monaco and Martha Roberts as photo editors. The work of the staff and amount of images created, reviewed, and used for each story was a massive undertaking. Geffen describes, “[the picture staff] handles about 30,000 pictures every year. For a single story, they may scrutinize as many as 150 color slides or a dozen rolls of 36-frame black-and-white film--from which they will choose only four or five of the best for publication.” (MWN, 1967, 03/31, p.21) To capture all the footage, Medical World News hired freelance photographers for assignments all over the world. Many were members of the American Society of Magazine Photographers. Notable photographers who contributed to issues are George Tames, Art Shay, Joe Baker, James Pickerell, Ivan Massar, Jerry Miller, Al Geise, Mike Shea, Dennis Galloway, and Bob Phillips. Some photographers were associated with photo agencies, like Black Star and Magnum Photos.

Ownership of the Medical World News changed throughout its 35-year history. The following is a list of publishing companies, their locations, and years of ownership: Medical World News Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1960-1967 McGraw-Hill Publications, New York, NY, 1967-1981 Hospital Equities International (HEI) Publishing Company, Houston, TX, 1981-1985 Miller Freeman Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1985-1992 Axel Springer Publications, New York, NY, 1992-1994

By the 1990s Medical World News had become a monthly magazine. Nicholas K. Zittel was the last editor, and he wrote in his final Editor’s Note, “Over the years, MWN has fought valiantly to fulfill [its] promise. The ‘war on cancer,’ the artificial heart, Medicare, advances in neonatology, the halcyon days of drug discovery, political battles in Congress. With its comprehensive coverage of these and other critical issues MWN has fought tirelessly for and on behalf of the primary-care physician.” (MWN, February 1994, p.2) The last issue of the Medical World News was published in February 1994.

SOURCES: Medical World News, 1960, 1967, 1994; IC 077 Medical World News Photograph Collection

William J. Schull, PhD was an American scientist and geneticist famous for his research into the effects of ionizing radiation on the human body largely based on the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after World War II. Dr. Schull began his scientific career in radiation research in 1949 when he joined the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), established in Japan in 1946 by the United States National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council to study the effects of the bombings in accordance with a presidential directive from Harry S. Truman. From his first post as Head of the Department of Genetics at ABCC, Dr. Schull served many decades in the elite corps of scientists conducting research into the genetic impact of irradiation on human health. A professor emeritus of The Human Genetics Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas, Dr. Schull served on most of the major governmental and non-governmental committees formed throughout the 20th century to quantify the effects of ionizing radiation. He helped form the genetics department at the University of Michigan where he served as a professor from 1956 to 1972. As his career progressed, Dr. Schull frequently served in executive positions, chairing many of the governmental committees he served on and becoming a director, 1986-1987 and 1990-1991, and in 1996-1997, vice chairman and chief of research of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), established in 1975 as the follow-on organization to the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission. Dr. Schull was inducted into the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2001. In affirmation of his long and honorable service to the Japanese people, Dr. Schull received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class from the Emperor of Japan in 1992.

William Jackson Schull was born on March 17, 1922 to Gertrude Edna (maiden name Davenport) (1900-1938) and Eugene Shull (1896-1975) in Louisiana, Missouri. While Shull is the last name inscribed on his birth certificate, his name was changed to Schull while he was in elementary school. Dr. Schull spent most of his boyhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from that city’s Lincoln High School in 1939. In 1946, Dr. Schull earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1947, he earned a Master of Science in Zoology from the same university. He received a Doctor Of Philosophy in Genetics From Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio in 1949. Enlisting in December 1942, Dr. Schull served in the United States Army as a surgical technician with the 37th Infantry Division in the South Pacific until December 1945. In concert with his scientific work, Dr. Schull valued the preservation of the archival historic record and promoted the preservation of the history of the ABCC and RERF throughout his career. He died June 20, 2017, in Houston.

A detailed curriculum vitae is available for Dr. Schull in the control folder for his collection at the McGovern Historical Collection.