DIRECTOR OF THE NATIUNAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH QUITS POST,
CITING PERSONAL REASONS/N.Y.Times/6-20-61/P.39

 

resignation ag director of the National In-
stitutes of Health, the Federal agency
that has given the United States a

nant position ig biomedical research.

Dr. Fredrickson's resignation for “‘per-
sonal reasons" was initially disclosed to
about 550 employees at the end of a morn-
ing meeting onthe agency's compound in
suburban Bethesda, Md. The widely re-
spected 56-year-old expert on blood fats
said that the agency seemed ‘‘as exhila-
rating and worthwhile as in the summer
of 1953 when I arrived.”

He added: “The last six years, how-
ever, have been: t in the relentless
company of the tive burdens
of the director. It ig time to shed them for
a while, lest I forget completely how to be
ascientist and a physician.”

Dr. Fredrickson then read his letter of
resignation to President-Reagan, asking
to be allowed to leave the agency on July
1. A second letter to Richard S. Schwei-
ker, Secret of Health and Human
Services, “I take this step with
great ambivalence, for N.I.H. is in the
very marrow of my bones.”

Not ‘a Political Decision’

In a telephone interview later, Dr.
Fredrickson denied that he was leaving
because of with Reagan Ad-
ministration health policies and appoint-

 

sion,” said Dr, Fredrickson. He said Mr.
Schweiker had
charge of the National Institutes of

Health. However, he said, “after six
years in such a job, you wonder whether

1] retain the freshness and keen re-
flexes to do this kind of complex work.
What sped his hesaid, was the

decision,
realization that several major jobs at the
agency were opening, including the direc-
torships of two ot one oenpound. that oc-.
e cam) pound. .
wey had to asgure them I'd be here, and I

*t,"" said Dr. Fredrickson.
oth a budget of about $3.4 billion, the
agency supports thousands of medical
and biological research jects, both on
their home grounds -at universities
across the nation, The aim 0° ti Sup.
with about 12,000 employees, ne he

f
Pees, and cure of illness.

Dr. Fredrickson’s resignation startied
his colleagues. “st was @ real surprise,”

agency who attended
one -
oe moming’s meeting. “it was short,
sweet and sort of stunning. w fetter
Mr. schweieer ing Megret™ etter,
eredrickson s _ He said a
under Dr. . e
N.I.H. bas faithfully and effectively

cal breakthroughs into actual practice to

people's lives.

the years, N.I.H.-supported re-
search has saved countless lives through
the development of new treatments and
means of prevention for serious health
problems affecting le throughout the
world,”” said Mr. weiker. “This de-

| partment, this nation and the worle owe
‘ youa great debt.”

Dr. Fredrickson said in the interview
that he was leaving the $65,000-a-year
post to work, initially, as a visiting
scholar with the National Academy of
Sciences. He said his long-term plans
were uncertain.

A department spokesman said there
was no word on Dr. Fredrickson’s re-
placement. .

Even before his a as direc-
tor of the agency, Dr. Fredrickson was an
internationally known expert on blood
lipids, or fats, and an internist who had
conducted significant studies of blood
fats and their to heart disease.

Key Contributions Cited

Perhaps his key contribution as di
tor of the agency, Dr. Fredrickson sai
was the development of guidelines in the
rapidly growing field of genetic research

rough the fapyrinth we w
avoid restrictive statutes we

with the public safety and the

acience both intact,” said Dr. Fredrick-

gon. “We were trying to keep the public

interest foremost yet protect the oppar-

tunity for this revolutionary new tech-
to be efficiently developed.”

Gene-splicing is the process of manipu-
lating the genetic material of ceils, the
deoxyribanucieic aid, or DNA, to create
new life forms.

Asecond key contribution, he said, was
the development of a discussion process
in which doctors, patients, scientists and
others evaluate new technologies and
analyze, in Dr. Fredrickson's words, “the
risks and benefits, their capacities to
save lives as to creating haz-