A Physiologist Who Breaks the Mold with Kindness
Edward J. Messina, Ph.D. '73, family man, sportsman, outdoorsman, relishes his consigliere role with the medical and graduate students.
Marjorie Roberts
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ABOVE: Edward P. Messina, Ph.D. '73, professor of physiology |
"Ed is a tower of strength for his family and friends, a great teacher and a confidant of students. I am proud to call him one of my most trusted colleagues and friends."
Based upon his belief that "family and friends" are what really count, Dr. Messina has lived a very private and fulfilling life in sync with his convictions. As he talks about his childhood and education, he brings to mind a character out of Our Town, a man with no sharp edges or regrets. The first thing out of his mouth is, "I am not retiring." Then he skips to how he met Tina, his wife of 43 years, a tale that combines what he loves most, and validates his revelation that, "Most things in my life become passions."
Personal recap
"She was 13 and I was 15 when we first met. I loved riding thoroughbreds when I was in high school. One day I was riding a pony in the flatland swamps of Canarsie when I ran into a classmate [Lafayette High School in Brooklyn] who invited me to his home for lunch. He said he wanted to introduce me to somebody named Marie. Well, Marie had a sister, Tina Mastropasqua, who had no interest in riding at all, but later would share my love for horses. What happened was Marie married my friend, Larry, who is now my brother-in-law, and I married Tina. She has been my best friend for 50 years. We have one child, Edward John-he's not a junior-who is senior counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.," he concludes.
Then he turns to another former interest cum passion, the band of 26 he put together that worked the hotels in the heyday of the Catskills. Dr. Messina was the bandleader and also played the drums. That's how he worked his way through undergraduate school, St. John's University in Jamaica, Queens. "There was a core group of six musicians and each one was paid $25, while I received $50 because I was the leader of the band and a member of the musician's union. Music was never meant to be a career choice, only a means towards an education. Actually, I had always wanted to be a jockey, but I got too big," he admits. "So I became an exercise boy fascinated with horses, jockeys and the race track."
The way he sees it, "I wasn't gifted enough with the piano, but I was good enough to be made the percussionist in high school. I still love big band jazz and I listen to it everyday."
For much of his scientific life, Dr. Messina was blessed with his own sage in the person of Walter Redisch, M.D., professor of medicine at New York University where Dr. Messina was employed as a research technician before he embarked on graduate school. "Dr. Redisch, an internationally renowned physician scientist, saw potential in me, and encouraged me to get a Ph.D. As a result I consider him to be my scientific father. He was an internist specializing in vascular diseases and blood flow regulation, and it became my interest, too," Dr. Messina says. But for an auto accident and an injury to his spine that interrupted his graduate education, Dr. Messina would have probably earned a Ph.D. in biology. After recovering from his injuries however, he changed direction at the insistence of Dr. Redisch. "Instead I chose physiology, which I loved because it was related to medicine, and switched my studies to New York Medical College. After completing my post-doctoral training, I remained at the college and took a position with the rank of instructor at the behest of Dr. Kaley," Dr. Messina says.
Dr. Messina is a cardiovascular physiologist with a sub-specialty in microcirculation. His original research in Dr. Redisch's laboratory involved the measurement of blood flow in the legs of patients, before and after surgery. "This was a way of gauging the effectiveness of surgical repair of blocked arteries," he explains. Later, when he had his own laboratory, he turned to investigating the role of prostaglandins and nitric oxide in the regulation of blood flow and blood pressure. There are two M.D.s and one Ph.D. post-doc fellow currently under his supervision.
No story on Dr. Messina would be complete without mention of his love for thoroughbred horses or his zeal for surf fishing the salt water beaches of Cape Cod and Montauk, Long Island, "the very hardest form of fishing there is." He considers himself a sportsman and outdoorsman, releasing everything he can catch. "I have never hunted deer," he states. "I fish for the thrill, not the kill."
In 1998, for the first time in three decades, he was without horses to breed. Only sickness could have made Dr. Messina sell them, and it was a double-whammy that laid him low. Kidney cancer left him a half-kidney short, while an acoustic neuroma killed the hearing in his right ear. Though benign, the tumor grew into the brain, leaving some facial paralysis. But continued therapy has greatly improved his speech. Then in 2003 the tumor recurred, and again it was safely removed.
"Life is a very short ride," is his pronouncement. "You take it or lie down and become a couch potato. People have commented on how well I weathered the illnesses and I can only say it's because of my wife and my passion for life and everything I do. I've failed to find anything more exciting than life itself. It's the ultimate high."