MHSNJ Zoom Program—Tuesday, September 16, 2025, 7 pm ET
Speaker:         Michael Nevins, MD
Topic:             “Monkey Business”

Dr. Nevins has submitted the following summary of his talk:

In 1889 French physiologist Charles Brown-Sequard began injecting himself with a solution of ground testicles from dogs and guinea pigs and reported improved strength, stamina and mental energy. This launched a craze for otherwise sensible people to use animal organ extracts to achieve rejuvenation.

Among the leading proponents was French surgeon Serge Voronoff, who began transplanting testicles from rams and goats into human scrotums and claimed this improved sex drive and memory and even would prolong life. He became known as “the monkey gland man” and when the supply of glands ran down, he opened a chimpanzee breeding clinic in his villa on the Riviera.                           

In the United States, John “Doc” Brinkley was a charlatan who favored goat and sheep glands. This self-styled “Ponce DeLeon of Kansas” was a brilliant self-promoter who advertised that if a man used his products he would become “the ram that am for every lamb.” Undaunted when the state’s medical board revoked his license, he ran for Governor of Kansas; after he lost, he considered a run for President.

All this and much more in Dr. Nevins’ Zoom talk on September 16.

About the speaker:

Dr. Michael Nevins practiced internal medicine, cardiology and geriatrics in Bergen County from 1968 until his retirement in 2012. In addition, for many years he served as Vice President of Medical Affairs and Director of Medical Education at Bergen Regional Medical Center and was a member of the state’s Bioethics Commission.

Dr. Nevins was Governor of New Jersey’s chapter of the American College of PhysIcians and received their Laureate Award for career achievements in medical education, bioethics and geriatrics. He also served as our history society’s president and in 2010 received the David L. Cowen Award for his work in medical history.

Dr. Nevins has published more than a dozen books related to medical history and you can read nearly one hundred of his essays and talks on his personal website that can be found at www.michaelnevinsmd.com