About Alvin Ziegler

The idea for GRIDLOCK hit me while flying from San Francisco to Florida wedged in a coach seat. The isolation of that cross-country flight allowed me to process the meaning of my work in New York.

At Beth Israel Medical Center, I visited dozens of hospital departments to update computer networks. I witnessed firsthand how biology and computers were converging. Petri dishes and microscopes were being replaced with databases and computer workstations. A profound shift was happening around me although I didn’t hear a whisper about its significance. 

On that plane flight I pondered how the digital revolution was transforming medicine and redefining meanstream healthcare. Such change would surely meet with fierce opposition from the status quo. Before landing, I had outlined the mystery in my head.

I’ve read that customized treatments are steadily replacing one-size-fits-all drugs. It’s about time. Diseases like cancer are as individual as a fingerprint. At last, scientists are unlocking the genome to understand our susceptibilities to disease so that personalized treatment can become the norm.