April 19, 1963

Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni
President

Syntex Laboratories, inc.
Tol Weich Road

Palo Alito, Californla

Dear Alejandro:

As you wisely suggested | am now putting In writing the proposals
we hed just briefly discussed about possible support of some aspects of
our genographic work an the seasonality of birth by the Syntex Laboratories.

| am enclosing a brief description of the project as an attachment.

Qur main problems in continuing with this work and planning its
further development come from the inflexibility of RIN policy which has
prevented me from making any extensive use of funds from other grants,
even though they may be related to the general question of human blology
and development. {| have been In close correspondence with Dr. Luca
Cavalli-Sforza in Pavia, and he has access to a considerable body of
Itallan and other European date which would be very useful in further analysis.
in addition, he hes with him at the present time, Dr. Howard Cann, who Is
returning to Stanford after an additional year, as en Assistant Profassor
of Pediatrics, and Or. Cann's assignment to the problem would provide a very
desirable degree of continulty in this line of work. | am preparing an
application to the NIH which will be submitted about June 1, and on which
we have every expectation of a favorable reply, to be effective, hopefully,
by September 1, possibly a month or two after that. However, to make it
possible to assure the development of the program at Pavia, and to some
extent some similar things ourselves, it would be very advantageous to
be able to make some definite commitments right away. So my first
proposal to Syntex Laboratories [s a requegt for a research grant to the
extent of £20,000 for a one year commitment on an underwriting basts.

That is to say, the commitment of these funds Is Intended to make It possible
for me to make prompt arrangements and 1 would not ask you to actually grant
them unless they were needed to discharge our obligations made now and for
some reason we had not received the expected funds fram the subsequent action
of the NIH. ta our conversation | had mentioned a larger figure of about
$35,000 which Is approximately the scope of the grant { Intend to apply for,
but {| belleve that £20,000 would cover the esgent!al commitments that we
would have to follow through on regardless of the availability of Nit funds.
Ly)

Dr. Zaffaront April 19, 1965

My second proposal Is a request for funds to ald In the continulty
of our work over a period of three years, and asks for a grant of $7500
for each of three years, effective May 1, 1963. These funds are Tikewise
Intended to cover gaps in support from other sources and would be most
helpful In arrangements for details that are difficult to foresee, for
new equipment, and especially for travel end expenses involving consul tet ion
and data from other government agencles which places serfous complications
in the use of NIK funds.

Yours cordially,

Joshua Lederberg
Professor of Genetics
Director, Kennedy Laboratories