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MEMORANDUM

 

July 21, 1980

On Friday, July 11, 1980, Dr. Lederberg and I visited

Dr. Y.W. Kan. Dr. Kan has a laboratory in a new building
at the University of California San Francisco Medical
School. His appointment is in the Department of Medicine
and he has a Hughes Foundation Fellowship which pays his
salary and supports, at least in part, his scientific
program.

Dr. Kan has a facinating history. He was trained as a
hematologist having gone to medical school in Hong Kong

and coming to the States for his advanced training which

I believe was at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in

Boston. He moved on to San Francisco where he was appointed
Hematologist-in-Chief at the San Francisco General Hospital.
San Francisco General Hospital is a very poor cousin of

the University Hospital of California. I believe t is

a city hospital. While there as a working hematolugist

and running the lab, he did some fundamental work on

the genetics of hemoglobin which led to interesting
discoveries for both sickle cell diseases and Thalasemia.

As a result of this, he was given a Hughes Fellowship and
moved back to the campus of the University and is attached
to the Department of Medicine. He, like Dr. Raff, has a
tiny office which is fairly spartan ‘and very crowded and,

a very cluttered lab even though it is in a new building.

Dr. Kan is Chinese, and an attractive youngish man but

very reserved and, perhaps, even introverted. It is obvious
that he had never really considered any of the problems that
one might encounter in founding a new institute. He

readily voiced no opinions and, in fact, said very little

on the various issues, i.e. program, the Board, tenure,
appointments, recruiting, ad infinitum. Certainly there

is little doubt that Dr. Kan is a remarkable man judging
from his experience. However, it is my feeling that he

is not ready in his career to take on the task of building
a new research institute. He just has never really been
concerned with the problems that we will face.
PAGE TWO

Dr. Lederberg, I believe, does not share this opinion

from our brief discussion on the drive from Dr. Kan's
laboratory to the airport. He agrees that Dr. Kan

certainly has not thought much about the problems.

However, Dr. Lederberg has a very strong gut feeling

that Dr. Kan would do a good job for reasons he (Dr. L.)
can't really explain. I must admit to feeling uncomfortable
with taking a change on someone like this.

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A. Brill

Dr. Lederberg “
Dr. Nossal
J.A. Orlando
Dr. Skeggs
Dr. Sokol

J. Whitehead
P. Whitehead
S. Whitehead