Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biographical Information
System of Arrangement
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Harold E. Varmus papers
Date (inclusive): 1967-1993,
Date (bulk): bulk 1983-1993
Collection Number: MSS 93-51
Creator :
Varmus, Harold
Extent:
Number of containers: 5 cartons, 3 boxes
Linear feet: 7.75
Repository: The UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management, Archives and Special Collections
University of California, San Francisco
530 Parnassus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94143-0840
Phone: (415) 476-8112
Fax: (415) 476-4653
Email: http://www.library.ucsf.edu/collres/archives/contactform.html
URL: http://www.library.ucsf.edu/collres/archives/
Abstract: This collection documents Dr. Harold Varmus' activities as a UCSF professor, research scientist, and author and editor of
international repute. The teaching materials, research files, and journal club entries reflect Dr. Varmus' investigations
in the field of oncogenes and retroviruses and the implications for understanding mechanisms of cancer, Hepatitis B, and the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The correspondence files illustrate the process of bringing scientific research from experiment
to manuscript and then journal article review and publication. They also reflect the increased visibility and demands of
a Nobel Prize recipient (in collaboration with J. Michael Bishop of UCSF in 1989).
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog:
http://www.library.ucsf.edu/ .
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research; some correspondence files are restricted
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manager of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of the UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management as the owner of the physical items
and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Harold E. Varmus Papers, MSS 93-51, The UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management, Archives
and Special Collections, University of California, San Francisco.
Alternate Forms Available
Related Collections
MSS 84-25 and MSS 88-47
Separated Material
None
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Varmus, Harold
Human Retrovirus Study Group
AIDS (Disease)
Nobel prizes
Oncogenes
Virologists--California--San Francisco
Virology--Research--California--San Francisco
Retroviruses
Cancer cells
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Harold E. Varmus Papers were donated to UCSF by Dr. Varmus in 1993.
Processing Information
Processed by Jane Bassett and Valerie Wheat
Biographical Information
Born in Oceanside, New York, December 18, 1939, Harold E. Varmus received his undergraduate degree (B.A. magna cum laude)
from Amherst College in 1961, an M.A. (in literature) the following year from Harvard University, and the M.D. from Columbia
University in 1966. From 1967 to 1970 Varmus was an intern in medicine (1966-67) and Assistant Resident in Medicine (1967-68)
at Presbyterian Hospital, New York, and Clinical Associate at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases,
Bethesda, MD (1968-70). In 1970 he was appointed a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer in the Department of Microbiology at
UCSF, for 1970-72. At the end of this period Dr. Varmus was appointed Assistant Professor in Residence, for 1972-74, Associate
Professor (1974-79), and full Professor, 1979-1993, in that department. He was on the faculty of the Molecular Medicine group
in the Program in Biological Sciences (PIBS) consortium.
In conjunction with J. Michael Bishop, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 for their discovery
of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes. They also received the Alfred P. Sloan Prize from the General Motors Cancer
Research Foundation in 1984. Other research colleagues on the faculty at UCSF included Y.W. Kan (hemoglobinopathies), Gordon
Tomkins and Keith Yamamoto (glucocorticoid action), and Donald Ganem (hepatitis B viruses). In 1985 Dr. Varmus was selected
to give the Annual Faculty Research Lecture at UCSF entitled "Tree-Shaking and Jelly-Making: Growing Up with Retroviruses."
In 1993, he was appointed Director of the National Institutes of Health where he instituted administrative and personnel reforms,
changed the peer review system, created the online publications archive E-biomed, and dealt with political issues such as
human embryo research. He resigned in 1999 to become Director of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and
was named President of that institution in 2000. In 2002, Varmus was named a recipient of the 2001 National Medal of Science
and recognized at a ceremony at the White House with President George W. Bush.
Varmus is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Omega Alpha, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American
Society for Microbiology. He was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1984 and to the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 1988. Among his honors are the following: Woodrow Wilson Fellow (1961-62); International Fellow of Columbia University
(1963-64); Smith, Kline, and French Foreign Fellow (Bareilly, India) in 1961; Senior Dernham Fellow, California Division,
American Cancer Society (1970-72); USPHS Research Career Development Awardee, 1972-77; Josiah Macy Scholar (Imperial Cancer
Research Fund, London, 1978-79); California scientist of the Year, 1982; Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, 1982;
Passano Foundation Award, 1983; Armand Hammer Cancer Prize, 1984; Gairdner Foundation International Award, 1984; and the American
College of Physicians Award, 1987. He received an honorary degree from Amherst College in 1985 and the Alumni Gold Medal
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1989.
Dr. Varmus served as associate editor of
Cell and Virology (1974-84), and as a member of various working groups and study sections at the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes
of Health. From 1981-1986, Varmus chaired the Retrovirus Study Group within the Vertebrate Virus Subcommitee of the International
Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. In this role he convened a subcommittee to investigate proposed nomenclature of AIDS-associated
viruses in humans. He has co-authored more than 300 scientific papers and four books, including
Genes and the Biology of Cancer for a general audience.
System of Arrangement
Arranged to the folder level.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection documents Dr. Harold Varmus's activities as a professor in the UCSF Department of Microbiology and as head
of the Virology Research Group before he moved to Washington, D.C. to become director of the National Institutes of Health.
During this time he was a leading scientist in the study of cancer-causing genes called oncogenes. His collaboration with
J. Michael Bishop on the Rous Sarcoma Virus led to their receipt of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1989. The
lectures, research, and grant proposal files capture a very productive period of research in the molecular biology of retroviruses
and illustrate the multiple roles of a research scientist within a university setting.
The collection includes: correspondence, appointment calendars, financial records relating to grants awarded to UCSF by
the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, departmental budgets from 1980-1988, teaching and research materials.
There are also minutes of professional meetings, correspondence and materials from workshops and papers, and documentation
of participation in organizations or advisory boards.
The Collection is divided into 6 Series. I. Correspondence; II. Financial Records; III. Lecture Notes; IV. Research; V. Professional
Activities; and VI. Appointment Calendars and Directories.