Eugene Gu

Eugene Gu
Born (1986-03-05) March 5, 1986[1]
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Nationality United States
Alma mater Stanford University (B.S., 2008)
Duke University School of Medicine (M.D., 2015)

Eugene Gu (born March 5, 1986) is a former resident physician who is politically active on social media, and has been the subject of public attention due to his research on fetal tissue transplants. While Gu was in medical school, he founded a company called Ganogen to develop methods to use fetal tissue implants in organ transplantation. Work at Ganogen had ceased when he started his residency in 2015, but in 2016 he was subpoenaed as CEO of the company by the United States House Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood following the Planned Parenthood 2015 undercover videos controversy.

Gu was one of a group of Twitter users blocked by Donald Trump who sued the President for violating their first amendment rights in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, and won a declaratory judgement in May 2018.

Education and training

Gu earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 2008 in biology,[2] then earned his M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine in 2015.

He started a surgical residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2015.[3] Vanderbilt put Gu on administrative leave for two weeks in November 2017, and placed him on probation until March 2018. Gu said this was due to his tweets opposing white supremacy; Vanderbilt was unable to comment on personnel matters but stated that the leave was based on Vanderbilt's policies, including those concerning use of social media.[4][5] Gu received notice from Vanderbilt in May 2018 confirming that his residency contract would not be renewed after the third year of what is usually a five-year residency; the fourth year would have started on July 1, 2018. In a letter addressed to Gu, VUMC cited performance issues—as it did when he was placed on leave. A May 17 letter to Gu from VUMC General Counsel Michael Regier, which was obtained by the Duke Chronicle, cited “lack of sufficient improvement in performance and conduct in key areas.”[6][7]

Career

While he was in medical school, Gu was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship to perform research at the Stanford University School of Medicine.[8] He wanted to see if organs from a fetus might be able to adapt to the immune system of a host into which it was transplanted; as a first step he transplanted human fetal hearts and kidneys into immunocompromised rats.[9][10]

In 2012 Gu and Nick K. Chang, who had also gone to Stanford and was a Duke medical student, founded Ganogen, Inc., as a vehicle to further develop these methods.[9][11] Gu put the work on hold when he started his residency,[12] and took down the company's website after he was harassed in the wake of the Planned Parenthood 2015 undercover videos controversy.[13] He had decided in early 2016 to convert the company to a nonprofit.[13] He put the company's website back up when he learned he had been subpoenaed by Congress in March 2016.[13]

Politics

Gu is one of seven Twitter users who filed a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump in July 2017 after being blocked from Trump's personal @realDonaldTrump account; the case is Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump.[14][15][16] On May 23, 2018, federal judge Naomi Buchwald ruled that President Trump cannot block his critics on Twitter in violation of the First Amendment.[17][18]

In March 2016, Gu, in his role as CEO of Ganogen, was subpoenaed by the United States House Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood that was created in response to the Planned Parenthood 2015 undercover videos controversy, to testify about his research involving human fetal tissue.[19][13][20] Gu has since spoken out about what he perceives to be the unfair treatment and intimidation of researchers and physicians by the panel, which included the panel releasing the names, addresses, and contact information of people who work with fetal tissue.[21][22][23] Gu was recognized by the Union of Concerned Scientists for his response to the panel investigation and criticism from pro-life activists.[24]

Personal life

Gu was born San Francisco in 1986.[1]

Gu was married, and the marriage ended in divorce in October 2015.[25][26] His wife requested a one-month restraining order against him which was granted in February 2015, based on four allegations of domestic violence going back to 2013, the last of which involved the police being called and Gu being arrested in February 2015.[25] His ex-wife allowed the restraining order to lapse and the court records were eventually expunged.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 "Eugene Gu, Born 03/05/1986 in California - CaliforniaBirthIndex.org". www.californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Eugene Gu". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  3. ↑ "New PGY-1 Categorical Residents for 2015 - 2016" (PDF). Vanderbilt Section of Surgical Sciences: Section News. Spring 2015. p. 15.
  4. ↑ Ben Leonard (2018-01-09). "Vanderbilt puts Duke Med alum on leave after complaint about kneeling to protest white supremacy". Duke Chronicle.
  5. ↑ Leonard, Ben (2018-01-16). "After criticism, VUMC issues new statement denying doctor was placed on leave for kneeling against white supremacy, but instead for "lack of sufficient improvement in performance and conduct in key areas"". Duke Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  6. ↑ Ben Leonard (2018-06-01). "VUMC does not renew contract of Duke Med alum who kneeled against white supremacy". Duke Chronicle.
  7. ↑ Leonard, Ben (2018-06-01). "VUMC does not renew contract of Duke Med alum who kneeled against white supremacy". Duke Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  8. ↑ "Howard Hughes Medical Institute | 2011 Annual Report | Fellowship & Grants". Media.hhmi.org. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  9. 1 2 Lewis, Tanya (2015-01-21). "Growing human kidneys in rats sparks ethical debate". CBS News. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  10. ↑ "Arterial Flow Regulator Enables Transplantation and Growth of Human Fetal Kidneys in Rats". American Journal of Transplantation. 15: 1692–1700. doi:10.1111/ajt.13149. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  11. ↑ Esssoyan, Susan (2015-02-06). "Groundbreaking research". PressReader.com. Honolulu Star. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Science in the Crosshairs". Science Friday. 14 October 2016. (15:50) I actually put my research on hold when I started my residency in July 2015. And yet despite putting my research on hold, Congresswoman Blackburn and Diane Black still issued me the subpoena.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Scientist pushes fetal tissue research despite political pressure". Statnews.com. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  14. ↑ Heilweil, Rebecca (July 11, 2017). "Trump Violates First Amendment With Every Twitter User He Blocks, Lawsuit Contends". Forbes. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  15. ↑ S.M. (12 July 2017). "Twitter users sue Donald Trump for excluding them". The Economist. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  16. ↑ Wong, Julia Carrie (July 11, 2017). "Twitter users sue Donald Trump for blocking them over critical comments". The Guardian. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Here are the 7 tweets that led to landmark court decision against Trump". ABC News. 25 May 2018.
  18. ↑ Zhao, Christina (24 May 2018). "Trump ignores court ruling that he can't block critics on Twitter: "President thinks he's above the law"". Newsweek.
  19. ↑ Harris, Gardiner (30 March 2016). "House Panel Issues Subpoenas in Fetal Tissue Research Inquiry". The New York Times.
  20. ↑ Kelly Servick. "Groups protest House demands for names of fetal tissue researchers | Science | AAAS". Sciencemag.org. doi:10.1126/science.aaf9866. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  21. ↑ "Science AMA Series: I am Dr. Eugene Gu, President and CEO of Ganogen. I have been subpoenaed by Congress for my research involving fetal tissue but will continue to press on. AMA! : science". Reddit.com. 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  22. ↑ Eugene Gu; Cate Dyer. "Fetal tissue: US panel risks infant and researcher lives". Nature. 535: 37. doi:10.1038/535037c. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  23. ↑ Farmer, Blake. "Vanderbilt Doctor Blames Tennessee Congressman For Being Pulled Into Fetal Tissue Probe". nashvillepublicradio.org. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  24. ↑ "Announcing the 2016 Got Science? Champions | Union of Concerned Scientists". Ucsusa.org. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
  25. 1 2 3 Leonard, Ben (July 11, 2018). "Court records shed light on Trump Jr's claim that Duke alum Eugene Gu is a 'wife beater'". The Chronicle.
  26. ↑ Kelman, Brett (June 26, 2018). "Donald Trump Jr. mean tweets Nashville doctor who sued his dad and won". The Tennessean.
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