TAMU professor with leukemia still teaching from hospital
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A professor at Texas A&M University is still going strong with his research duties despite his diagnosis with a lethal form of leukemia.
In fact, Prof. Vaughan Bryant is still teaching 400 students right from his hospital bed at MD Anderson.
A microscope was the first thing he asked for when he was told he would spend 30 days in isolation while undergoing treatment, which included daily blood transfusions.
"They said no one had asked them for a microscope before and they had to think about it. They thought it might contaminate my germ-free environment," Bryant told ABC13.
Doctors eventually approved his request, and Bryant has spent the last several weeks continuing his research of 50 years analyzing honey from all over the world.
Bryant studies where honey comes from and what types of plants the bees used.
"There is a lot of research to do and that's why I told them here they have to fix me!" he quipped.
Bryant is the only person in North America doing that type of work. His granddaughter, a junior at TAMU, is following in his footsteps.
The experience has been challenging, but Bryant said he feels truly blessed.
"If they hadn't have caught it when they did, it would have been too late," he said.
Bryant hopes to be back in the classroom by next week.
