Insights from

Nobel Laureates, for scientists everywhere

Harold Varmus

Harold Varmus

Harold Varmus MD, co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1989 for studies of the genetic basis of cancer, has been the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at the Meyer Cancer Center of Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, since April 2015.  Previously, Dr Varmus was the Director of the National Cancer Institute for five years, the President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for ten years, and the Director of the National Institutes of Health for six years.

A graduate of Amherst College and Harvard University in English Literature and Columbia University in Medicine, Dr Varmus trained at Columbia University Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), before becoming a member of the UCSF basic science faculty for over two decades.

He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, and is involved in several initiatives to promote science and health in developing countries.

The author of over 350 scientific papers and five books, including a memoir titled The Art and Politics of Science, Dr Varmus was a co-chair of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the Public Library of Science, and chair of the Scientific Board of the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges in Global Health.

Women in Science
Harold Varmus

Women in Science

Harold Varmus

Do you think we have a good understanding of what cancer is?

Can we judge a researcher based on publication in high-impact journals?
Harold Varmus

Can we judge a researcher based on publication in high-impact journals?

How should scientists deal with disappointment in the lab?
Harold Varmus

How should scientists deal with disappointment in the lab?

How can developing countries reduce the impact of cancer?
Harold Varmus

How can developing countries reduce the impact of cancer?

How are global health challenges changing?
Harold Varmus

How are global health challenges changing?

What careers beyond academia are available to PhD graduates?
Harold Varmus

What careers beyond academia are available to PhD graduates?

How can we speed up the publication process?
Harold Varmus

How can we speed up the publication process?

What should students know before they enter graduate school?
Harold Varmus

What should students know before they enter graduate school?

How can we use clinical data more effectively?
Harold Varmus

How can we use clinical data more effectively?

Should scientists take risks?
Harold Varmus

Should scientists take risks?

How should review panels decide which projects to fund?
Harold Varmus

How should review panels decide which projects to fund?

Do scientists need to work on important problems?
Harold Varmus

Do scientists need to work on important problems?

Do scientists need to be creative?
Harold Varmus

Do scientists need to be creative?

Are communication skills important in science?
Harold Varmus

Are communication skills important in science?