THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

1230 YORK AVENUE NEW YORK. NY 10021

 

IOSHUA LEDERBERG

PRESIDENT

April 13, 1981

Dr. Philip Levine

Lotos Club

5 East 66 Street

New York, New York 10022

Dear Phil:

As part of an ongoing program to provide our donors with
regular reports on significant aspects of the University's work,
I have enclosed brief summaries of four important campus pro-
jects. These projects are representative of the scope and qual-
ity of our scientific activities and, therefore, typify the work
which is being supported by your commitment to the University. I
hope you will agree that a review of these projects offers an
insight into the ways in which private support is making possible
a diverse program.of scientific research.

The work of Professors Elaine Diacumakos, Marcus Horwitz,
Mary Rifkin, Samuel Silverstein, and Igor Tamm are highlighted in
the attached material. This group of researchers embodies the
institution's characteristic blend of experience and talent in
many fields that so often results in important scientific accom-
plishments -- Dr.-Diacumakos is expanding application of physical
microinjection, a procedure which may make it possible to correct
genetic defects in cells; Drs. Horwitz and Silverstein's investi-
gation of Legionnaires' disease bacteria is bringing closer the
day when a vaccine will be developed against the disease; Dr.
Rifkin's research on the nature of trypanosomiasis is yielding
unexpected knowledge about parasitic disease; and finally, Dr.
Tamm and his associates are pioneering a method of producing
interferon. from human connective tissue, a procedure which may
make more of the scarce substance available for research and
clinical use.

The efforts of these and other investigators at The
Rockefeller are linked together in both subtle and obvious ways;
each adds a strand, central and peripheral, to the complex web of
research which underlies medical and scientific advances. But
Page 2

the University's ability to continue such necessary work is
dependent on the substantial involvement of many segments of our
society. We are striving both to attract the new resources and
implement the managerial decisions that will help to sustain our —
traditions of excellence in the years ahead. 7

I want to thank you, Phil, for your efforts as a member of
the University Associates Committee. Your personal assistance in
fund-raising is most helpful to us.

Sincerely,

Joshua Lederberg

be: Dr. Alexander G. Bearn