Ralph Snyderman (Personal) Papers, 1899, 1968-2006

Navigate the Collection

Using These Materials Teaser

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, including the Health Insurance...
More about accessing and using these materials...

Summary

Creator:
Snyderman, Ralph.
Abstract:
Dr. Ralph Snyderman, MD, is Chancellor Emeritus of Duke University, James B. Duke Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Duke Center for Research on Personalized Health Care. Contains the collected papers of Snyderman. Materials document Snyderman's professional appointments at both Duke University and Genentech, Inc., a biomedical technology firm in San Francisco, California. The papers consist of publications, manuscript materials, research materials, collected publications and citations, presentations and related correspondence, travel files, Genentech, Inc. research and administrative materials, subject files, business records from Snyderman's role as Duke's Chancellor for Health Affairs, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) committee and working group files, and papers from other committees and professional organizations of which Snyderman was a member. Major subjects in this collection include Snyderman's research in inflammation, immunology, and rheumatology; health care reform; medical administration and the role of the academic health center; and integrative and prospective medicine. Materials range in date from 1899 to 2006 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1968 to 2006.
Extent:
57.5 Linear Feet (38 cartons, 1 flat box)
Language:
English
Collection ID:
MC.0115

Background

Scope and content:

Contains the collected papers of Ralph Snyderman. Materials document Snyderman's professional appointments at both Duke University and Genentech, Inc., a biomedical technology firm in San Francisco, California. The papers consist of publications, manuscript materials, research materials, collected publications and citations, presentations and related correspondence, travel files, Genentech, Inc. research and administrative materials, subject files, business records from Snyderman's role as Duke's Chancellor for Health Affairs, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) committee and working group files, and papers from other committees and professional organizations of which Snyderman was a member. Major subjects include Snyderman's research in inflammation, immunology, and rheumatology; health care reform; medical administration and the role of the academic health center; and integrative and prospective medicine. Materials range in date from 1899 to 2006 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1968 to 2006.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. Ralph Snyderman, MD, Chancellor Emeritus of Duke University, James B. Duke Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Duke Center for Research on Personalized Health Care, was born in 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian immigrants Morris and Ida Snyderman. Snyderman graduated in 1961 from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, and received his MD, magna cum laude, from the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York in 1965. Following graduation, Snyderman came to Duke to conduct his internship and residency in medicine and later worked as a Public Health Officer doing research in immunology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1967 to 1972.

In 1972, Snyderman accepted his first faculty appointment at Duke as a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Immunology. At this time, he also served as Chief of Rheumatology at the Durham Veteran's Administration Hospital. Snyderman rose through Duke's academic ranks, becoming Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology in 1974 and Frederick M. Hanes Professor of Medicine and Immunology in 1984.

Snyderman left Duke in 1987 to join Genentech, Inc., a biomedical technology firm in San Francisco, California. There, he held the position of Vice President for Medical Research and Development and served as a member of Genentech's senior leadership team. Snyderman was promoted to Senior Vice President a year later (1988). While at Genentech, Snyderman led the development and licensing of several therapeutics and supervised roughly 300 staff members working in pharmacology, clinical research, and regulatory affairs.

Snyderman returned to Duke in 1989 when he accepted the position of Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine, a position which he held from 1989 to 2004. In this role, Snyderman oversaw the development of the Duke University Health System (DUHS), one of the nation's successful integrated health systems, and served as DUHS first President and Chief Executive Officer. Under Snyderman's leadership, Duke's medical center grew from a single campus health care entity to an integrated health system, and the medical school and hospital ranked among the top in the nation. As Chancellor for Health Affairs and CEO of DUHS, Snyderman contributed to debates on health care reform issues before Congress, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the NIH, and national policy makers. After retiring from the position of Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine in 2004, Snyderman resumed teaching and researching at Duke as James B. Duke Professor of Medicine (1989-2017). His laboratory focused on defining the mechanisms which regulate chemoattractant receptors activation, desensitization, and priming. Snyderman also led the creation of the Duke Center for Research on Personalized Health Care, serving as its director.

Snyderman is internationally known for his contributions in inflammation research. As an immunologist, Snyderman's research into the mechanisms of inflammation led to worldwide recognition, including the two top scientific awards in this field (the CIBA GEIGY Award, and the Bonazinga Award for Excellence in Leukocyte Biology Research) and a lifetime achievement award from the Arthritis Foundation. His research in immunology has contributed to the understanding of the precise mechanism of how white blood cells respond to chemical signals to mediate host defense or tissue damage. For over 25 years, Snyderman has served as Principle Investigator on Investigator-initiated NIH grants and has published over 350 manuscripts as well as contributed to numerous books, such as "Inflammation: Basic Principles and Clinical Correlates" and multiple editions of "Cecil's Textbook of Medicine." Snyderman's research efforts resulted in new approaches for treating those suffering from inflammation-related diseases. He has researched and spoken extensively on arthritis treatment and periodontal health. Snyderman's areas of subject expertise include immunology, inflammation, rheumatology, and medical administration.

Snyderman has held leadership roles in several important national organizations. Among other appointments, he served as Chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in 2001-2002, President of the Association of American Physicians (AAP) in 2003-2004, and chaired the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) National Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public in February 2009. Snyderman also received membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Snyderman has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors from the scientific and medical communities. He received the two most prestigious awards worldwide in the field of inflammation research: the CIBA GEIGY Award (1992) for lifetime achievement in the field of inflammation research, and the Bonazinga Award (1993) for Excellence in Leukocyte Biology Research presented by the Society for Leukocyte Research. Other honors include the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award (1995) from the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York, the Washington College Distinguished Alumni Citation (1996), the Lifetime Achievement Award (1997) from the Arthritis Foundation, the Bravewell Leadership Award (2003) for outstanding achievements in the field of integrative medicine, the Leadership in Personalized Medicine Award (2007) from the Personalized Medicine Coalition, the Frost & Sullivan's North American HealthCare Lifetime Achievement Award (2008), the Triangle Business Journal's Healthcare Lifetime Achievement Award (2009), the David E. Rogers Award (2012) from the AAMC, and the North Carolina Life Sciences Leadership Award (2014). In bestowing Snyderman with the David E. Roger Award, the AAMC referred to Snyderman as the "father of personalized medicine." Snyderman also received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree (1996) from the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York and an honorary degree from Washington College in 2004 for outstanding achievement in the field of medicine.

Acquisition information:
Accession 2006.058 (gift, October 2006), Accession 2008.006 (gift, January 2008)
Processing information:

Processed by Alex Dowrey under the supervision of Lucy Waldrop: June 2017

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Writings and Publications, 1968-2002; Research, 1899-1989; Professional Papers, 1985-2005; Presentations and Talks, 1988-2003; Travel Files, 1983-2006; Genentech, 1985-1989; Personal/Biographical, 1971-1989; Subject Files, 1969-2000; Slides, circa 1977-1985.

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals or IRB approval may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Duke University assumes no responsibility.
Contains Medical Center Administrative records. These include records of the officers of the University, as defined in the Bylaws, the deans of schools and colleges, and departments, institutes, and other offices as designated by the President. For a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material, permission in writing from the director of the office of record and the Medical Center Archivist is required for use. After twenty-five years, records that have been processed may be consulted with the permission of the Medical Center Archivist. (Issued by the Office of the Chancellor, December 1, 1975).

Contains Records of the Board of Trustees of the Duke University Medical Center. These include minutes and supporting documentation of the Board, its Executive Committee, standing and ad hoc committees, reports, studies, and the like presented solely to the Board. Records which have been existence for at least fifty years are available for scholarly research with the permission of the Medical Center Archivist. Access to records which have been in existence for less than fifty years shall be granted only by special permission, in writing, of the Medical Center Board of Trustees.
Materials in boxes 36-38 are restricted and can only be accessed with the permission of the Medical Center Archivist.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Ralph Snyderman (Personal) Papers, Duke University Medical Center Archives.