The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries: The Education of a Doctor

by Stephen Hauser M.D.

Overview

A doctor’s powerful and deeply human memoir about the mysteries of the brain and his 40-year quest to find a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Stephen L. Hauser is an acclaimed physician and neuroimmunologist who has spent his career performing cutting-edge research on multiple sclerosis (MS), a devastating brain disease that affects millions of people worldwide. His work has revolutionized our understanding of the genetics, immunology and treatment of MS, and led to the development of B cell therapies—the most effective therapy for all forms of MS and the only therapy currently in place for progressive MS patients.

The Face Laughs While The Brain Cries is a riveting memoir that follows Dr. Hauser from his unorthodox upbringing among the colorful cast of characters responsible for his development into a tenacious and innovative researcher, to the life-changing medical breakthroughs he has made against extremely long odds. Along the way, readers will learn the incredible stories of many of his patients, whose bravery, strength, and optimism in the face of a debilitating illness were instrumental to the progress that has been made in the fight against MS. This heartwarming book, written in accessible prose and related with equal measures of humor, empathy, and excitement, is sure to inspire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250283894
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/23/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	479,184
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

STEPHEN L. HAUSER, M.D. is a Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, and Director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences. His research as a physician-scientist has led to a powerful new approach to the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a disabling neurologic disease. His work has received numerous honors, such as the Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, the John Dystel Prize, the Charcot Award, the Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Research, and the Scientific Breakthrough Award from the American Brain Foundation.

Editorial Reviews

This is an extraordinary coming-of-age memoir by a neurologist whose work led to the first highly effective and safe treatments for multiple sclerosis. In prose that is moving, personal, and vivid, Hauser captures the suffering of patients and his own long arduous journey that led to this major scientific breakthrough.”
—Abraham Verghese M.D., author of Cutting for Stone

"The Face Laughs While The Brain Cries reads like a Sherlock Holmes thriller as Dr. Hauser searches for the source and cure of the crippling disease MS. His sleuthing is mixed with his personal biography as he sets the stage for his remarkable discovery. A must-read for everyone interested in the brain."
—Louann Brizendine M.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Female Brain

“The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries stands out amongst the best nonfiction medical writing of our times. Dr. Hauser's voice is truly unique: at once textured and clear, calm and compassionate, unrushed yet direct and to the point. He strikes the difficult balance of being technically precise while still readable and understandable for us humanities majors...the perfect mix of personal biography and the story of the discovery of a treatment that will alter the lives of millions.”
—William F. Meehan III, Raccoon Partners Lecturer in Management, Stanford Graduate School 0f Business; Senior Partner Emeritus, McKinsey & Company; co-author, Engine of Impact

“For many years, Dr. Stephen Hauser has been my 'go-to' expert for referring patients with multiple sclerosis. But I had no idea about what made him tick—the long arc of discoveries, and deep compassion for patients—until I read The Face Laughs While The Brain Cries, the remarkable inside story of progress being made for this condition.”
—Eric Topol, Professor of Molecular Medicine and EVP, Scripps Research; author of Deep Medicine

"A neurologist brings us into his unique, fascinating world...[Hauser] is a skilled writer, and he offers many compelling insights into his career as well as necessary doses of subtle humor along the way...A winning mix of engaging memoir, accessible popular science, and a happy ending."
—Kirkus (starred)

From the Publisher

★ 2023-03-04
A neurologist brings us into his unique, fascinating world.

Hauser, director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences and a leading researcher in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, is a skilled writer, and he offers many compelling insights into his career as well as necessary doses of subtle humor along the way. A neurologist is arguably the most intellectual of medical specialists, and their first step in any procedure is determining the precise location of a problem with a careful exam and the latest high-tech scans. “In the Jewish religion, life begins when the fetus is accepted to medical school,” writes the author amusingly, though he maintains that he did not decide on a career until well into his studies at MIT, after which he attended Harvard Medical School. In addition to chronicling his own upbringing, Hauser writes about his youngest brother, who was born “severely handicapped, mentally and physically”; his best friend in elementary school, who died of a brain tumor; and his mother’s closest friend, stricken with crippling temporal lobe encephalitis. Near the halfway point of the narrative—after recounting his education, marriage, and post-graduate work (three years in Paris!)—the author shifts the focus to his life’s work: understanding and treating MS, an often devastating autoimmune disease affecting nearly 1 million Americans today, “a threefold increase in just one generation.” No good treatment existed when Hauser finished training in the late 1970s. Explaining the immune system is not for the faint of heart, but the author does a fine job describing several decades of research, during which he and others teased out the specific cells and antibodies that wreak havoc in MS patients. Partly as a result of his work, the 1990s brought rituximab, the first drug to dramatically relieve MS symptoms, followed by ocrelizumab, which works even better.

A winning mix of engaging memoir, accessible popular science, and a happy ending.

Kirkus Reviews