The correspondence and collaboration of Harvey Cushing and Irvine Page: Lessons from the Cleveland Clinic Archives

Harvey Cushing is well-known as a pioneer of brain surgery and is considered the father of modern neurosurgery. However, Cushing's interests and contributions extend beyond neurosurgery. Through his determined interdisciplinary collaboration in medicine and biomedical research, Cushing was able to contribute to numerous fields including bacteriology, anesthesiology, and endocrinology. With regards to the latter, Cushing corresponds with Irvine Page, well-known for isolating serotonin, discovering the renin-angiotensin system, and postulating of the mosaic theory of hypertension. In a correspondence spanning 3 years, from January 1933 to April 1936, Cushing and Page collaborated to discover a substance responsible for hypertension. In this historical article, the authors review the letters to highlight the collaborative efforts between leaders in disparate fields driven by the scientific curiosity. As national research agencies are focusing their funds toward collaborative and interdisciplinary research, it is interesting to note the historical communication among the scientific leaders that led to discoveries in the respective fields.