Ricardo Brentani: a legacy for the future

On the first anniversary of the death of FMUSP Professor Emeritus and FAPESP’s former CEO, scientists remember that Brazil’s outstanding position in cancer treatment and research is largely due to Professor Brentani.

By José Tadeu Arantes

Agência FAPESP – A year ago, when the calendar registered November 29, 2011, the scientist Ricardo Renzo Brentani (1937-2011) experienced, as usual, an extremely active and creative day, dialoguing with collaborators, responding to multiple professional requests and idealizing new research projects. 

 

That night, as he dressed to dine with his spouse, chemist Maria Mitzi Brentani, and a couple of notable former students, Renata Pasqualini and Wadih Arap, both working at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, his brilliant trajectory was interrupted by a heart attack that was as unexpected as lightning in blue skies. 

 

Professor Emeritus at Universidade de São Paulo’s Medical School (FMUSP), a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) and a recipient of numerous awards and honors, Brentani also served as chair of FAPESP’s Executive Board, president of the Antônio Prudente Foundation, which maintains the Hospital A.C. Camargo, and coordinator of the Antonio Prudente Center for Research and Treatment of Cancer, a FAPESP Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center (CEPID). Additionally, he previously served as the director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

 

Born on July 21, 1937, in Trieste, Italy, to Segismundo and Gerda Brentani, he concluded his undergraduate degree at the Mackenzie Institute in 1955 and graduated from FMUSP in 1962, becoming a doctor in 1966 under the mentorship of Isais Raw. He left behind four children and 10 grandchildren.

 

With more than 300 scientific articles published in high-impact journals, including Nature and Science, Brentani was a global reference in cancer studies. 

 

 With a unique talent for sharing ideas, training researchers and sending the right person to the right place, he left behind a generation of exceptional scientists clustered in several work groups in the areas of epidemiology, immunology, cellular biology, cancer genetics and genomics, bioinformatics, neurobiology, molecular pathology and clinical research. This is one of his greatest legacies.

 

“Talking with Brentani was as pleasurable as a stroll in the park,” recalls Roger Chammas fondly, one of his heirs, a doctor and biochemist who took his spot as a full professor at the Oncology Department at FMUSP.

 

It is difficult to aptly describe a personality that was as restless and multifaceted as Ricardo Brentani. He was famous for frank expressions and the quick-witted jests that characterized his conversations. However, in addition to a sense of humor and spirited phrases, he was a visionary who was capable of catching a glimpse of even the slightest clue, the possibility of advancing scientific knowledge.

 

There was also the leader who was capable of mobilizing talents and garnering resources to transform a remote possibility into concrete reality and following the entire cycle from basic research to application and from medical science to the art of serving patients well.

 

There was also the strategist who was capable of seeing the scientific process as a whole, defining priorities and formulating policies, as he demonstrated in his work at FAPESP. 

 

“As chair of the Executive Board, Brentani made a priceless contribution to FAPESP,” said Celso Lafer, president of FAPESP.

 

“This is because he brought two of his most notable characteristics: a major researcher, with renowned originality, and a great administrator, with a history of success at the helm of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at Hospital A.C. Camargo and the USP Medical School’s Oncology Department,” he said.

 

“Furthermore, he had a striking personality. Working with him and talking to him was a fascinating experience. Regardless of the topic, he always added something new, shedding light on a different angle or making a peculiar comment,” said Lafer.

 

Emmanuel Dias-Neto, head of the Medical Genomics Department at the Hospital A.C. Camargo Research Center, highlighted the enterprising side of Brentani’s multifaceted personality.

 

“All manifestations of cancer are associated with DNA alterations, and the prospect of utilizing the information present in the genome for prevention or treatment was a promise that we nurtured 15 years ago. The major obstacles were the excessively long time it took for sequencing and the high cost of the process. However, we knew that technological development would shorten the time and cheapen the cost,” commented Dias-Neto.

 

“At that time, professor Brentani was very excited because he had obtained financing for the acquisition of a new sequencer, the only one in Latin America capable of doing a job that previously took years in just four hours and cutting the cost from US $5 billion to US $2,000 or US $3,000. Exactly one year later, this sequencer is being installed in our laboratory,” he said.

 

First Chair of the Oncology Department

“When he became the first chair of an Oncology Department at a Brazilian university, Brentani inaugurated and institutionalized the position. At USP, he was instrumental in building the graduate program in addition to the undergraduate level. With the work he developed at the Ludwig Institute and Hospital A.C. Camargo, he produced a critical mass of research that has led Brazil to occupy a noteworthy position in cancer research and treatment,” he added.

 

 Beyond any consideration of international competitiveness, this critical mass has enormous social importance, particularly because given the aging population and the successful reduction in the mortality rate associated with heart attacks/strokes, the forecast is for cancer to be the leading cause of death in Brazil beginning in 2020. 

 

This integration of basic research with clinical practice was also highlighted by Fernando Augusto Soares, director of A. C. Camargo’s Pathological Anatomy Department, president of the Graduate Committee at the same institution and coordinator of the Antonio Prudente Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Cancer Research and Treatment.

 

“From my point of view, this is Professor Brentani’s greatest legacy. In this and other aspects, he was a visionary, transforming A.C. Camargo into a hospital capable of producing science and applying the scientific knowledge produced [here] to patient treatment,” he said.

 

“This was absolutely pioneering in Brazil: equipping a private hospital with a research structure and accredited graduate courses with researchers in its working body. In the late 1990s, Brentani set the course that would later be followed by other major Brazilian hospitals. Innovative research on head and throat cancer, familial cancer predisposition (which accounts for 10% of cases) and other issues created the routine procedures at the hospital,” he said.

 

“As a researcher, his last great contribution was in understanding the mechanism of metastasis, the metabolism of the tumor cell. His final scientific article on the subject, produced collectively, was published posthumously at the beginning of 2012. However, his work far surpassed mere singular research. In the last few years, he had become a great mentor, welcoming, enriching and furthering the ideas that several researchers presented to him. Every day, we discussed a new project,” said Soares.

 

Liana Moraes, who was invited by Brentani to take the helm of Hospital A.C. Camargo’s Volunteer Network and who is now a member of the institution’s Executive Directors, comments, “He was a master mentor to me.”

 

 “In addition to his impeccable character and extreme ability, he was always available to help others. He was firm in his command. He did not tolerate any type of deviation or reward incompetence. However, anyone in need of a mentor or support in a difficult situation knew that they could count on him. As busy as he was, he always welcomed the person into his office and gave them his full attention. Furthermore, he had an extraordinary sense of humor. I think his sense of humor was his best quality. With it, he answered even the most challenging questions with knowledge,” she said.