INTRODUCING THE STURGEON SURGEON
Like thousands of skilled surgeons across the country, Gregory Lewbart, MS'85, has removed tumors, prescribed chemotherapy treatment, even performed a caesarean section. What sets Lewbart apart, though, is that he treats fish rather than people.
Lewbart, a veterinarian and assistant professor of aquatic science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, got interested in fish surgery while working at a pet store during his second year in veterinary school in Pennsylvania. Fascinated by the diseases that the fish in the store had developed, he began reading up on ichthyology, examining the store's fish stock, and diagnosing their maladies. The store owner loved Lewbart's work and recommended him to a pet fish supplier in Florida, which hired Lewbart right out of vet school in 1988.
"It was a new frontier kind of medicine," Lewbart says. "No one was doing it at the time. I thought, 'Man, this fish thing is wide open.' "
Today, Lewbart is still one of a handful of vets in the country who specializes in the treatment of fish and reptiles. He says that while many fish owners don't feel a strong emotional attachment to their pets, there are plenty who will go to great depths to save the lives of their aquatic companions. "Some people would rather flush their fish down the toilet and buy another one," he says matter-of-factly. "But some have had their fish for ten years and don't want to lose it."
Lewbart's most noteworthy achievement to date came two years ago when he and his assistants conducted what is believed to be the first glass eye implant for a diseased fish. After the operation, the creature was put on display at the North Carolina Aquarium, where reporters from as far away as London rushed to cover the story. Goldeneye, as the fish came to be known, died a few weeks after the surgery-Lewbart speculates its tankmates didn't take a shine to their new one-eyed companion-but the procedure provided valuable information about the way fish respond to radical surgery, he says.
Lewbart's love of water creatures dates back to his days at Northeastern, where he studied invertebrates and marine worms as a graduate student in biology at the Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts. Today, he conducts cutting-edge research on fish innards. He says there's much more to be learned in the field of fish surgery. In the meantime, he keeps busy by responding to the daily needs of his patients. "You'll have to excuse me," he says, cutting off a conversation. "I have an iguana coming in."
- Meghan Irons
