Exploring passions outside the sciences has long been a hallmark of the PLME experience.
For two of the program’s graduates, that passion has sparked a new creative endeavor: writing children’s books.
Srihari Naidu ’93 MD’97
For Srihari Naidu ’93 MD’97, a lifelong interest in history felt natural to explore alongside his knack for science as an undergrad. His love for writing served him well throughout medical school, and later as a researcher, editor of textbooks, and trustee emeritus of Brown University.
Inspiration appeared for Naidu through his work as an interventional cardiologist studying hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that often starts in childhood in which the heart muscle thickens. In seeing more than 2,000 patients with HCM, Naidu found that the familial aspect of the disease was largely ignored. “We live in a culture where disease is often a secret,” he says. “[Patients may] go to the doctor, but by and large HCM is something they handle alone.”
Naidu, a professor of medicine at New York Medical College, felt certain that HCM awareness had to be bigger than it was. Partnering with former Miss Ohio and HCM patient advocate Lindsay Davis, his dream for Lindsay’s Big Heart was to create a resource that patients and families could use to understand that HCM can be evaluated and treated.
Jonah Cohen ’04 MD’10
Jonah Cohen ’04 MD’10 knew that the arts would play an important role in his life and practice. Now a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard, he concentrated in visual arts as a PLME.
Cohen was inspired to write his book while watching a 3-year-old niece learn to ride a scooter. Upon reflecting that everyone has an intense internal critic, he decided to share a fundamental aspiration: that “our worth is not contingent on outward measures of success.” Creating the book was a labor of love; the idea came to him in a poem he wrote with the same title. He says he finds time for his art amidst medicine by recognizing that “if something energizes you, it makes you more efficient in other places.”
“Do a little soul-searching,” Cohen adds. “Pursue the things you really want to explore.”
Naidu agrees: “Think bigger. Find the intersection between your passions, what society needs, and what you can do to contribute. And follow that.”
Lindsay’s Big Heart
BY Srihari Naidu’93 MD’97 and
Lindsay Davis
Greenleaf Book Group, 2024
You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but with Lindsay’s Big Heart, you can. The vibrant colors and charming illustrations outside capture the striking story within.
The reader is introduced to characters who rise off the page, beginning with Lindsay, a young ballerina who feels the first symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as she prepares for her first dance solo. The whirlwind of treatment and new information that Lindsay and her family experience parallels that of any young athlete diagnosed with HCM; this book acknowledges, reassures, and informs anyone who might have the disease.
The appealing plot is interspersed with clear and accurate information, reflecting a symphonic blend of the authors’ experiences: this is a collaboration between a leading specialist in HCM and a lifelong advocate for patients with the condition.
Naidu and Davis have penned an illuminating, uplifting children’s book that’s truly en pointe.
You’ve Always Been Good Enough
By Jonah Cohen ’04 MD’10
Mascot Kids, 2023
This poetic letter from a parent to a child is both personal and universal. Cohen reveals his roots in music with the gentle cadence of the couplets in You’ve Always Been Good Enough; it’s as much a bedtime story as it is a series of affirming mantras.
The vivid watercolor illustrations are green and outdoorsy, reflecting the central message that every life is valuable. The reader feels the words poignantly because they are poetry, evoking a warm empathy and a sense that we’re interconnected with nature and the other lives on our “precious green planet.”
“Be kind to others, for you never know their lot,” Cohen writes. While this is a children’s book, we would all do well to remember the gentle phrases in this book. It’s a reminder that a search for value should always strike gold within.
