August 17, 1993 Vol.XLVNo. 17 "Still U.S. Department of Health The Second and Human Services Best Thing National Institutes of About Payday" Health Nobelist Is Clinton's Choice Max Cooper To Deliver Harold Varmus Nominated as 14th NIH Director NIAID's Kinyoun Lecture resident Clinton on Aug. 3 announced nternatio~ally recognized fo~ his pioneer­ his intention to nominate Dr. Harold ing work m developmental 1mmuno­ PEliot Varmus as the 14th director of Ibiology, Dr. Max D. Cooper will deliver rhe National lnsrituces of Health. A Senare che Kinyoun Lecture on Sept. I at 4 p.m. in confirmation process must precede Varmus' Bldg. lO's Lipsett Amphitheater. He has citied caki ng over leadership of the institutes. the talk «Lymphocyte Differentiation Pathways: Winner of che Nobel Prize in 1989 for his Changing Paradigms." work in cancer research, Varmus, 53, is a The topic derives from research in which he professor of microbiology, biochemistry, and showed that the human immune system can be biophysics, and the American Cancer Society divided developmentally and functionally into B professor of molecular virology at the Univer­ cell and T cell populations. This work was che sity of California, San Francisco. He is a leader major breakthrough in our understanding of the in the smdy of cancer-causing genes called mechanisms of immunodeficiencies and has "oncogenes," and an internationally recognized since led to a classification system and treatment authority on retroviruses, the viruses char cause advances for these illnesses. Cooper was also AIDS and many cancers in animals. responsible for pivotal insights into the process Varmus would be the first NIH director to regulating the formation of lymphoid neoplasia. have won a Nobel Prize, and is one of the Currently, as the Howard Hughes investigator world's most eminent and most honored ar che University of Alabama ar Birmingham, biomedical scientists. He has been working at Cooper directs an international team of the cutting edge of modern cell and molecular Dr. Harold E. Varmus researchers in studies of cancer, leukemia, and biology, and has had an active relationship with gene, v-src, responsible for causing tumors in che immunology ofAIDS. The university is NIH for about 30 years as an intramural chickens, they discovered a nonviral src gene, one of only 26 having a Howard Hughes scientist, grantee, and public advisor. very similar to v-src, present in the normal cells researcher on staff. Since 1967, Cooper has Varmus and his UCSF colleague Dr. J. of birds and mammals. held the position of professor of medicine, Michael Bishop shared a Nobel Prize in In recent years, his work has assumed special pediatrics, and microbiology at rhe university, physiology or medicine in 1989 for demonsuar­ relevance to AIDS, through a focus on bio­ where he also serves as director of rhe division of ing char cancer genes (oncogenes) can arise chemical properties of HIV, and to breast developmental and clinical immunology, from normal cellular genes, called proco­ cancer, ch rough investigation of mammary director of the cellular immunobiology unit of oncogenes. While investigating a retroviral (See VARMUS, Page 6) (See KINYOUN LECTURE, Page 2) NHLBI Opens Bone Marrow New Effort Targets Skin Transplantation Unit in CC Disease Epidemiology By Ellen Sommer r a rime when the health care dollar is being squeezed, there is a great need to rh rh e recent opening of NHLBI's develop means of measuring and scare-of-the-art bone marrow A documenting che suffering caused by skin uansplancacion unic in 2 Wesc of W diseases," said Dr. John Koo of the University the Clinical Cencer, NIH now has a special of California, San Francisco, at rhe first national capability ro conduct research co improve che workshop on the epidemiology of skin diseases, safety and effectiveness of chis treatment. held earlier this year at NIH. Ar a ribbon-cutting ceremony held to The workshop, sponsored and organized by celebrate the opening of the new facility, NIAMS, convened a group of national and NHLBI director Dr. Claude Lenfant noted, international experrs in dermatology and "This new unit will result in a concerted, epidemiology to review the current status of multidisciplinary effort that will involve epidemiologic research on diverse skin diseases. investigators from other NIH components. Ir The diseases included nonmelanoma skin will enable our scientists ro convert laboratory discoveries into effective treatments for a cancer, psoriasis, toxic epidermal necrolysis, dermatologic aspects of HIV infection, and variety of life-threatening diseases." Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) meets with NIH acting chronic cutaneous ulcers. The workshop also Clinical bone marrow transplantation was director Dr. Ruth Kirschstein during a visit to identified areas in which epidemiologic studies first done in chis country in the late I 960's for NIH on Aug. 2. Kerrey toured the Clinical would advance understanding, management, immune deficiency disorders. Today, more Center (the stop above was in the clinical and prevention of skin diseases in order to than 15,000 bone marrow transplants are pathology department), meeting scientists and encourage more research into chese areas. carried our worldwide every year for a growing patients. He received briefings on cancer research number of diseases. The National Marrow from Dr. Steven Rosenberg, chiefof NCI's Surgery According to the American Skin Association, there may be as many as 2,000 skin diseases; Donor Program in chis country, which is Branch, as well as NCI director Dr. Samuel some 75 of these are che most common. managed by NHLBI, currently facilitates about Broder. He also inspected NHLBI's new bone "Previous surveys have indicated that each 60 transplants a month, and has more than marrow transplantation unit, quizzing unit head year, one in chree Americans has a skin condi­ 900,000 donors on its registry. Dr. John Bennett on uses for the therapy. Before leaving, Kerrey assured his NIH hosts that this was tion serious enough to be seen by a physician," (See MARROW UNIT, Page 4) just an introduction to a continuing relationship. (See SKIN DISEASES, Page 5) The Record page 2 August 17, 1993 KINYOUN LECTURE foundation of current therapy for T and B cell­ Two NIH Fencers Excel (Continued from Page 1} related malignancies. Two charter members of the NIH Fencers the tumor institute, and senior scientist of their The Society for Experimental Biology and Club have just won top honors in open comprehensive cancer center. Medicine conferred on Cooper one of its most competition. Cooper specialized in pediatrics in his studies prestigious awards for his B and T cell differen­ Dr. Pecer Roller of NCI won the Capital Area at the University of Mississippi Medical School tiation studies, for Division Open Sabre Championship, after a and at Tulane University Medical School. In which he also won rhe fierce battle for first place with Dr. Novera his clinical work at the University of 1990 inaugural "Herb" Spector of NINOS. California's San Francisco Medical Center, Sandoz Prize for Spector defended his sabre championship in where he began as a fellow in 1961, Cooper Immunology, an che senior category ar the U.S. National became absorbed with cases involving recurring honor he shared with Championships, jusc concluded in Fe. Myers, infections in children who had been identified Dr. Jacques Miller of Fla., by winning all of his bouts in the above-55 with immunologic deficits. His immunologic the Walter and Eliza divisions. Spector, 73, continues to break his interests flourished in his subsequent work Hall Institute in own world records for qualification for the U.S. based on the chicken as the immune system Melbourne. The Open Championships (55 successive years) and model, enabling him to show the distinction National Academy of for coral gold medals in foil, epee, and sabre between lymphocytes originating in the thymus Sciences inducted competitions in che senior (formerly senior gland (T cells) and those developing from the Dr. Max Cooper Cooper into its olympic) categories. bursa (B cells). Virtually every aspect of our membership in 1988, In che super-senior sabre event composed of knowledge of the human immune system making him the first researcher in Alabama to winners from all age groups, Speccor again gave derives in large pan from these seminal studies. be so recognized, and in 1990, he became a the only defeat (5-1) to last year's super-senior Stimulated by the pediatric studies he began member of the Institute of Medicine. He also champion, an Alaskan from the 40-44 group, in medical school, Cooper also went on to serves on the editorial boards of several highly and barely missed a tie for first place in the identify a new type of childhood lymphoblastic regarded scientific journals. supers, which he has won on two previous leukemia, known as pre-B cell leukemia. Not Cooper continues his longstanding relation­ occasions. only did he discover pre-B cells, he demon­ ship with the NIAID, both as a grantee and as a For information on the NIH and ocher strated that B cell neoplasms originate in the member of che inscituce's board of scientific fencing clubs in the D .C. mecropolican area, bone marrow. This work proved to be the counselors.-Karcn Leighty 0 call or write to Cleveland Cooper, Federal Bldg., Rm. 916, phone 65745, fax 21501. 0 NIDDK's Hoofnagle Receives Clinical Research Award Dr. Jay Hoofnagle, director of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition and senior investigator in the liver disease section of NIDDK recently received the Miles Ficerman/ The NIH Record Hugh R. Butt Award for Clinical Research in Published biweekly at Bethesda, Md., by the Editorial Hepacology/Nucririon from the American Operations Branch, Division of Public Information, for Gascroenterological Association Awards the information of employees of the National lnstiturcs of Foundation.