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.
Ralph Snyderman, 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 M.D., 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 Institute 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.
