Oral Histories

Interview of William A. Muller

Subtitle:
Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences: William A. Muller
Series:
Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences
Topic:
Science, Medicine, and Technology
Interviewer:
Hathaway, Neil D.
Interviewee:
Muller, William A.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Series Statement:
Interviews in this series, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, document the research of "outstanding scientists from quality institutions" chosen by the Pew Scholars Program to receive four-year stipends.
Abstract:
Childhood in Manhattan and Long Island; why Muller entered science; volunteer work in Brookdale Hospital laboratory; attends Harvard University; community involvement; undergraduate curriculum and lab experience; Lynn C. Klotz; purifying DNA; participates in a vaccination project in Central America; public debate about recombinant DNA research; enters the Rockefeller University-Cornell University Medical College M.D./ Ph.D. program; the Vietnam War and conscription; David Baltimore's administrative changes at Rockefeller; Muller joins the Zanvil A. Cohn-James Hirsch lab; working with Ralph M. Steinman; research on endocytosis; iodination techniques; learning that membrane recycles; iodinating phagolysosomes; clinical training in medical school; residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; pathology residency at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital; how clinical experience enhances research; the importance of basic research; science funding; studies endothelial cells in the Michael A. Gimbrone Jr. lab; showing that angiotensin converting enzyme is apically polarized; examining how leukocytes bind to endothelial cells; research on cell adhesion molecules; discovery that PECAM-1 is required for transendothelial migration of leukocytes; possible clinical applications of the research; searching for unknown adhesion molecules; return to Rockefeller University; studies proteins which mediate monocyte binding and transmigration; the significance of the Pew grant and the RJR Nabisco Research Scholars Award in Muller's career development; establishing the role of PECAM in endothelial cell adhesion; trying to publish results of research on PECAM.