Decoding Cancer | Harold Varmus, MD

Dec 6, 2022

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A pivotal development in the history of cancer research was the discovery that cancers can arise from mutations in genes already present in normal, healthy cells. Joining us in this episode is Harold Varmus, MD, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 with his colleague, J. Michael Bishop, for this discovery. Their work has enabled scientists to explore why certain cancers develop in the human body and how we can develop better cancer treatments that target these genetic mutations. In addition to his pioneering research, Dr. Varmus has served as Director of the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Scientific Advisor to the US Government, World Health Organization, and various other foundations and academic institutions. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Varmus describes his groundbreaking research, approach to institutional leadership, and his advocacy for the democratization of scientific knowledge through his role in the founding of PubMed Central and the Public Library of Science.

In this episode, you will hear about:

How Dr. Varmus' broad educational interests led him to pursue a medical career - 2:56
How working at the National Institutes of Health drove Dr. Varmus’s passion for research and the trailblazing path his career took - 8:48
A summary of Dr. Varmus’s research on retroviral oncogenes, which led to major advancements in cancer diagnoses and treatments - 16:35
How Dr. Varmus became involved in the politics of science after receiving a Nobel Prize - 27:13
Dr. Varmus’ mission while he was Director of the National Institutes of Health and his perspectives on the elements of effective healthcare institutional leadership - 30:28
A discussion of open access publishing, a mechanism of distributing the results of scientific research online for free - 32:37

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