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Anti-Cancer App

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By David Shamah
Times of Israel

Guardian Against Hate

Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer

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n innovative early disease detection system that
uses the sense of smell is going mobile.
The Nallose breathalyzer technology devel-
oped by Professor Hossam Haick of the Technion—Israel
Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, will soon be
installed in a mobile phone — to be called the SniffPhone.
A tiny smell-sensitive sensor
ii will be installed onto a phone add-
on, and using specially designed
software, the phone will be able to
"smell" users' breath to determine if
they have cancer, among other seri-
ous diseases.
By identifying the special "odor"
emitted by cancer cells, the Nallose
system can detect the presence of
Hossam Haick
tumors, both benign and malig-
nant, more quickly, efficiently and
cheaply than previously possible, said Haick.
"Current cancer diagnosis techniques are ineffective and
impractical; he said. Nallose technology, he said, "could
facilitate faster therapeutic intervention, replacing expen-
sive and time-consuming clinical follow-up that would
eventually lead to the same intervention:'
According to research done by Haick's team, the Nallose
system has a 90 percent accuracy rate.
The smartphone device is just a vehicle to implement
the Nallose technology that can be taken anywhere and
used in any circumstances, including in rural areas of the
developing world where bringing in sophisticated testing
equipment is impossible.
The plan calls for a chip with Nallose technology to
be installed in a device that is attached to a smartphone,
and for an app to read the sensor data, analyzing it on the
device or uploading it to the Cloud for processing.
Nallose technology will be especially useful in battling
lung cancer, said Haick. According to U.S. government
statistics, lung cancer kills more Americans annually than
the next three most common cancers — colon, breast,
and pancreatic — combined. The reason, doctors say, is
because lung cancer is so difficult to detect. Currently, the
only way to detect early-stage lung cancer is through an
extensive process involving blood tests, biopsies, CT scans,
ultrasound tests and other procedures — and even then,
detection is difficult.
"Mostly the patient arrives for diagnosis when the symp-
toms of the sickness have already begun to appear:' said
Haick, describing the drawbacks in current detection pro-
tocols. "Months pass before a real analysis in completed.
And the process requires complicated and expensive equip-
ment such as CT and mammography imaging devices.
Each machine costs millions of dollars, and ends up deliv-
ering rough, inaccurate results:'
The Nallose-based system, on the other hand, doesn't
require anything more than a patient's breathing into the
device in order to come up with an initial diagnosis. Lung
cancer tumors produce chemicals called volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) that easily evaporate into the air and
produce a discernible scent profile.
Haick's Nallose chip detects the unique "signature"
of VOCs in exhaled breath. In four out of five cases, the
device differentiated between benign and malignant lung
lesions and even different cancer subtypes.

❑

ciate professor of speech com-
munication and also served as
director of debate and forensics,
r. Jack Kay of
helping his students win numer-
Farmington Hills devot- ous championships in debate,
ed a large part of his life public speaking and oral inter-
pretation.
to the investigation of extremist
While working there, he
groups — especially those with
infiltrated
the Idaho compound
anti-Semitic agendas. He died
of
the
Aryan
Nation, a white
on Jan. 30, 2015, at age 63, fol-
lowing a long illness.
supremacy organiza-
As a professor,
tion, by observing
their operations
Jack concentrated
on political commu-
without revealing
nication, including
his true identity. He
extremist communi-
was appalled by the
blatant anti-Semitic
cation. He authored
rhetoric, particularly
numerous books and
the "Bible training"
articles on communi-
cation, rhetoric and
classes, which taught
argumentation dur-
the younger children
Dr. Jack K ay
ing his 30-year aca-
that Jews were evil-
demic career, which
doers who wanted to
included posts at the
control the country.
three major Michigan
According to Rabbi
universities.
Joseph Krakoff, who officiated
Jack was born Dec. 20, 1951,
at the funeral service, Jack's
in Detroit, the son of Emma and zealous interest in hate groups
Leon Kay. He attended Livonia
stemmed from his father's
Stevenson High School, where
experience in the concentration
camps during World War II.
he demonstrated his estimable
communication skills as a mem-
As the result of his extensive
ber of the debate team.
research on extremist groups,
He received his undergradu-
which focused on the commu-
ate degree from Wayne State
nication strategies of groups
such as the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan
University in speech and politi-
cal science in 1974, a master's
Nation and neo-Nazi skinheads,
degree from Southern Illinois
he became a "go-to" expert for
the media, appearing on more
University-Carbondale in
1975, and a Ph.D. in commu-
than 100 television news pro-
nications from WSU in 1979.
grams and contributing to more
While coaching the nationally
than 60 newspaper and maga-
zine articles.
recognized WSU debate team
as a graduate student, he took
He also testified about
special notice of one of the team extremist groups before the
members, Ruth, who became his U.S. Civil Rights Commission,
wife two years later.
consulted with various law
While raising their daugh-
enforcement agencies, lectured
ter, Erin, the couple traveled
frequently on hate messages in
extensively throughout the
music and in cyberspace.
United States and the world. His
Jack believed education, rath-
position as head of the Global
er than censorship, was the most
Initiative at Wayne State took
effective way to combat hate
him to more than 30 countries
messages on the Internet and
and regions, including Israel,
that it was important to teach
Egypt, South Africa, Russia and
the current generation how to
Siberia. Jack was an avid collec-
identify these messages in social
tor of political buttons and other media and other popular com-
memorabilia; and he and Erin
munication venues.
shared a love of horseback rid-
ing and going to Tigers games,
Academic Life
Jack returned to Wayne State
especially on opening day.
for 15 years, where he was a
He began his academic career
professor and later became
at the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln, where he was an asso-
chair of the Department of

D

Communication, the interim
dean of two colleges and an
associate provost. His next move
was to University of Michigan-
Flint, where he held several
positions that included admin-
istrator, vice chancellor for
academic affairs and provost. At
Eastern Michigan University, he
served as provost, vice president
and later as a professor in the
Department of Communication,
Media and Theatre Arts.
He belonged to many pro-
fessional associations and
received several awards from
various organizations and
academic institutions. He pub-
lished numerous book chapters,
journal articles, newspaper
editorials and a book called
Argumentation: Inquiry and
Advocacy.
He did numerous presenta-
tions on topics such as hate in
cyberspace, anti-Semitism on
the Internet and presidential
election campaigns.
"We must recognize the
importance of speaking up —
failure to denounce hate speech
is tacit acceptance of such
speech," he said in an interview
about a 2012 presentation on
hate speech in cyberspace at the
Holocaust Memorial Center in
Farmington Hills.
He valued fairness and equal-
ity and was always eager to
champion the underdog. He
willingly took on causes such as
providing support to veterans
wishing to re-enter the academ-
ic world and creating a resource
center for student veterans at
the University of Michigan-
Flint.
Dr. Jack Kay is survived by
his beloved wife, Ruth Kay;
cherished daughter, Erin Kay;
devoted mother, Emma Kay;
dear sisters, Susan (Joe) Rivers,
Frances Cohen and Brigette
Pearlman; sister-in-law, Doris
(Billy) Fletcher; brother-in-law,
David Colwander.
He was the son of the late
Leon Kay.
Contributions may be made
to the Jack Kay Award in Speech
at Wayne State University, 5475
Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI,
48202, www.pivotalmoments@
wayne.edu. Arrangements by Ira
Kaufman Chapel.

❑

Obituaries on page 70

Obituaries

2015

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