This oral history interview was conducted with James B. Wyngaarden on April 9, 1982 by James Gifford.
Duration: 1:10:00
Wyngaarden discusses his background; education; war experience; research; internship at Massachusetts General Hospital; work with Walter Bauer on arthritis patients; steroids; potential draft for Korean War; Jim Shannon; National Institutes of Health; Public Health Service; work in Public Health Institute of the City of New York; purines; interest in chemistry; gout; research life at the NIH; eventual dissatisfaction with research life; looking for other employment; excitement at Duke University; Phil Handler; Eugene Stead; declining to work at VA hospital at Duke; arthritis training grant; receiving offer of junior position at Duke; arthritis research; increase in NIH budget, especially under William Sebrell; Department of Medicine taking advantage of NIH funding; financial support of department from PDC; members of department; growth of department; career investigator for NIH; joint appointment in Department of Biochemistry; medical research training program; funding for medical research training program; end of rounding duties in running medical research training program; year's work in the Sorbonne; molecular biochemical genetics; heavy leadership duties at Duke; retirement of Eugene Stead; chairmanship at University of Pennsylvania; meeting with Dr. William Anlyan and Dr. David Sabiston to recruit Wyngaarden back to Duke; atmosphere at University of Pennsylvania versus atmosphere at Duke; chairmanship at Duke; purine metabolism; philosophy and character of Eugene Stead; contrast between research in 1950s and current; Department of Medicine under Eugene Stead; Dan Tosteson; beginnings of research training program; initial faculty of research training program; MD/PhD programs funded by NIH; end of research training program; impact of research training program; new curriculum; and the advantages and disadvantages of curriculum. Includes 1 master audiocassette tape, 1 use audiocassette tape, and 1 transcript.