In addition to creating safety designs for catheters to decrease urinary tract infections in hospital patients, a 14-year stint in the Army, locking pins that enable building with pool noodles, treating dermatology patients, and keeping track of his three children, Dr. Curt Samlaska is a science fiction author.
In 1998, he published Eucarion—a political-medical techno-thriller. The story is based on a lot of his experiences in the military with scientific stuff thrown in.
Dr. Samlaska takes the reader through the process of basic research to figure out what’s going on with a certain medical conditions caused by a comet from space that lands on an island.
The book is set in the future. When a ceramic superconductor is discovered on the Tok-To islands located in the Korean strait, Korea and Japan lay claim to the find, intensifying their already strained relations.
Whichever nation mines and processes the clay-based superconductor will become the ultimate superpower, producing economic growth unparalleled in the 21st century. As their military encounters escalate, the United States mobilizes troops to the island of Tinian as a show of readiness to intervene if necessary.
However, prior to American troop deployment, a Hirayama asteroid struck Tinian—more than half of the comet was composed of ice. On impact, alien cells were sprayed into the air and inhaled by a single rat that fled the scene.
American troops were soon afflicted with the Eucarion organism, which produced an illness never before seen or imagined.
In his book, the two plots collide at the end of part one and explode into part two, resulting in a vortex of out-of-control events. As World War III brews, Dr. Robert Skillman works furiously to discover a cure for the deadly disease and prevent two Armageddons.
Dr. Samlaska said he was inspired to write the book during a time when doctors and researchers were studying the HIV virus in the 1990s as far as therapy and what causes the disease.
In addition to his book, which is available through third-party sellers on Amazon, Dr. Samlaska has written about 75 articles, and penned textbook chapters about dermatology.
The doctor is currently working on a report about something which hasn’t been written about yet—stay tuned for that.
Along with writing copiously, Dr. Samlaska is an annual favorite with organizers of the annual Skin Disease Education Foundation (SDEF) convention. They typically host Dr. Sam as a speaker about great cases in dermatology from Las Vegas dermatologists.
Dr. Samlaska also speaks on behalf of some drug companies. In 1989 and 1991, he was named Essay Winner by the Association of Military Dermatologists.
“I’m always keeping my eyes open for new things,” he said.