An early advocate for distraction osteogenesis in the facial skeleton, he helped to develop one of the first multi-planner devices used for lengthening the mandible in children. After a brief surgery, the device is used to slowly lengthen bones that are congenitally too small. Over the course of two weeks, daily adjustments actively stretch the native structures so that new bone and soft tissue can be created as the surgeon works to restore facial balance and harmony.

Dr. Hubli has crisscrossed the globe in the name of craniofacial and cleft care, operating and educating from Brazil to Romania and from Finland to Saudi Arabia. He has been asked to speak on the topics of quality in medicine, craniofacial and cleft care and enhancing patient satisfaction at sites, including Harvard University and the Mayo Clinic. His work has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show and in Parade Magazine.

But Dr. Hubli is known for more than his skill as a surgeon. It’s the approach to the way he cares for “his kids” that makes him special.

“When I meet new families I like to joke with the moms and dads and tell them, ‘Now, these are my kids too,’” Dr. Hubli said. “I have two wonderful kids of my own. These are my extra kids, my extended family if you will. When I offer advice to parents or make medical or surgical decisions for my patients, I make the same decisions based on what I would do for my own child and trust me … I love my children dearly.”

Dr. Hubli has two children – Alexander, 17, and Sidney, 12, -- and has been married to Joni for 26 years.

It was Dr. Hubli’s brain that Joni says first attracted her to him. No so much his intelligence that would make him a world-class craniofacial surgeon, but his sense of humor.

“He likes to make everybody laugh,” she said. “He’s always been that way. I liked him the first time I met him. He had a great sense of humor. It helps him as a doctor, especially treating children and talking to parents. He has a way of lightening up a situation and that helps them to feel good.”

Dr. Hubli has a unique reason as to why he relates well to his patients – he was once in their shoes. As a child, Dr. Hubli spent many hours in a hospital while he was a youngster in Connecticut. He suffered from complications due to allergy induced asthma.

Things were different back then. Parents were only allowed to visit for a couple of hours a day and there were no parental overnight stays. A week-long stay in a cold-multi-bed pediatric hospital ward left a lasting impression on a 5-year old mind. The facilities were grim, but Dr. Hubli found that the caregivers, the doctor and staff could be rays of sunshine when times were trying. Joni believes that’s what led him into a career as a physician.

And what made him work with kids? More than anything else, Dr. Hubli simply wants to repair a child’s face so he or she can smile. After all, smiles and laughs are so important to the self-professed clown.

Watch him walk down the halls of the medical center and you’ll see him stop and joke with almost anyone he sees, especially the children. Maybe, it’s because he identifies with their sense of humor.

“Pediatrics is a perfect fit for Eric because he can still see the lighter side of life,” Joni said. “Like a kid, he looks to have fun in everything he does and that makes him fun to be around. He has a saying, ‘I have to grow old, but I don’t have to grow up.’ He’s a great doctor and very skilled, but he is not afraid to let his silly side out. We were talking at lunch the other day and he said, ‘Our 12-year old daughter is more grown up than I am.’”

But make no mistake; Dr. Hubli takes his career and the kids he cares for seriously. For him craniofacial and cleft surgery is not just a job, it’s a vocation. Joni will tell you that “he takes his work home. He still studies, he still reviews, he challenges himself to be better every case and we see the distracted dad at home sometimes because he’s thinking about a patient.”

His dedication is energized by the strength of his patients and their families whom he calls “an essay in courage.” Dr. Hubli thought of becoming a priest as a teenager, but felt a stronger calling to becoming a physician. Either way, healing was the goal.

“Would that all of us have the same grace as these kids do! I don’t know if I would,” Dr. Hubli said. “But wow, these kids are cool. If you don’t believe in God, take a look at the kid next to you. It’s a miracle. It’s beyond my comprehension. You can talk to me about DNA and all the wonders of science, but how did these little strands make all of that? I have the degrees. I’ve taken genetics. I’m an educated person. But I say, ‘That it’s still a miracle.’”

Dr. Hubli’s surgical work on children varies. At times, he may be preventing a speech impediment that will stop a lifetime of being made fun or getting bullied. At other times, it’s a matter of performing a surgery that saves a child’s life by giving him or her opportunity to eat or breathe properly.

“Each case is unique because each child is unique. It’s not because of what they look like or why I’m seeing them, but because of who they are,” Dr. Hubli said. “Regardless of the child, the surgical goal is always the same. If I’m successful, their life truly becomes their own to mold and make. Their potential and their future are in their own hands.”

And many times, he’s performing that surgery with Richard Roberts, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Cook Children’s.

“I love working with Eric. We have a great friendship and work well together,” Dr. Roberts said. “The days that we have surgery together are among my most enjoyable. He is a funny guy and great entertainment, but when we step in the operating room it becomes all business. We share a common goal of trying to do the best for the children and we both carry that attitude through surgery until we’re finished.”

So you have two sides of Eric Hubli. The funny guy with hyperactivity issues (his word) … and the other guy, who happens to be a brilliant surgeon.

“I love having fun. In general, I think we all take ourselves too seriously,” Dr. Hubli said. “Don’t get me wrong. This work is not a game and I’m wholly committed to what I do. I work hard and I take my job very seriously. That said, there is healing in humor. I want what’s best for the children I care for, but that’s the thing, they are children and we are a children’s hospital. We should have fun so that our kids, our patients, can have fun even when what we do is some of the most serious and important work that you will ever find.”

Discovered in Uganda in 1947 by scientists who were working to understand mosquito borne illnesses, the Zika virus has never been high on the radar of medical professionals. Transmitted via the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito, Zika was thought to be a “weak” cousin of the more dangerous viruses that caused diseases such as Dengue Fever and Chikungunya. Many people who contracted the virus showed no obvious symptoms. The people who got sick could expect mild to moderate discomfort due to symptoms which include fever, fatigue and a rash. Symptoms often lessened or stopped in a few days and no significant after effects were noted.

In essence an encounter with Zika was considered to be no more distressing than the common cold … until now.

Understanding that the Zika virus was thought to be isolated in the Eastern Hemispheres (Africa and Asia), those in the West had little reason to be aware of this puny, little pathogen. However, all of that changed over the course of 2015 when the country of Brazil noted a sharp spike in the number of newborns being delivered with a unique birth defect: microcephaly.

Microcephaly, is a medical term for an abnormally small head. The causes of microcephaly can vary, but in this instance the small skull was directly related to abnormal fetal brain development. In a normal year, we would expect to see a few hundred children born with microcephaly, but in 2015 over 3,900 children were born with microcephaly in Brazil. This was an astounding tenfold increase in occurrence. Trying to explain the sudden rise in microcephaly, specialists in Belem, Brazil examined the amniotic fluid of pregnant women carrying microcephalic babies. Results demonstrated the presence of the Zika virus in the fluid indicating that is could be a “causative agent.” Subsequently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) solidified the link when it isolated the virus in the brain tissue of microcephalic neonates who had died shortly after birth. All findings seem to indicate that the Zika virus has developed from a nuisance to a genuine threat to public health around the world.

Is it time to be concerned? Sure, but probably the real take home message is to be aware. Zika is in the Western hemisphere and if past history is any indication of future reality, Zika will not stay isolated to Brazil and South America. The virus can be expected to move north through Puerto Rico and South America, winding its way into the southern states. Already cases have been reported in South America, the Caribbean and Polynesia, as well as more than a dozen states in the U.S., including Hawaii, Florida and one in Texas, but these cases do not appear to be native born; rather they arose in mothers who travelled to countries where Zika is in evidence. Any area that contains the appropriate carrier mosquito is at risk.

Is there a vaccine, or antibiotic to manage the disease? Zika is new as a frontline viral threat and as such no vaccines are yet available. Antiviral medication do exist but their efficacy against the Zika virus is not known so the key to staying Zika-free is an avoidance protocol. Remembering that the, the major new alarms surrounding Zika are related to pregnancy, and specifically the neural development in the first trimester, it is newly pregnant women that are at greatest risk. These new mothers-to-be should avoid any areas know to harbor the Zika virus. Wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts creates a protective clothing barrier and in areas where open ventilation is present, mosquito netting has proven very effective in warding off flying pests. Pregnancy safe mosquito repellents are recommended and areas with standing stagnant water should be drained so that mosquito populations can be controlled. Given the newness of the problem, with Zika, an ounce of prevention is the only known “cure.”

Sources:

World Health Organization

Pan American Health Organization