Page 3 - Dad's St Jude Projecy

Judith and I came to Memphis in 1964 just a few years after the
official opening. Many people did not encourage us to come to

Memphis. After all it just started and there were very few scientists
of note on the staff. But we felt that coming to St. Jude was a
worthwhile endeavor. For one thing the facilities were excellent and
both the city and the hospital were satisfactory. There were a
number of good hospitals and the medical university was located in

Memphis. So Judith and I took a chance and were not disappointed.
We also felt that coming to a new place had great advantages
because the staff was young and very energetic, hard working and
ambitious. Furthermore, Dr. Pinkel was very interested in building

up the hospital and furthermore the facilities were excellent and we
were able to work on projects of interest without interruption.

The hospital officially opened in 1962 and we arrived two years
later. Since the facilities were new and the staff was very anxious

to succeed, there was a chance that we might develop new
treatments. I was fortunate to have as a cohort Dr. Bruce Sells with
whom I was able to establish some joint programs. In addition, the
Virology Department was developed by Dr. Allan Granoff ,in Yale
and New York, whose previous work on viruses was well

established. And in addition, clinical departments were established.
The city of Memphis was satisfactory for family living. It was very
exciting to be part of something that was new and we were part of a
growing presence in the city. It was very exciting to see something

grow from a 2 story building to what it is now…..a major medical
complex in the mid-South. For us the exciting part was our ability
to interact with people from all over the world because of the influx
of our scientists and we established many friends from all over the
world with whom we are still friends. Among the early members of

the hospital staff were Allan Portner (he loved New York bagels and
rye bread); Dawn Vincent (Herb Ennis’ graduate student who
received her PhD. From University of Tennessee Medical Center) and
as time went along in addition, besides independent research the

hospital developed a graduate program in conjunction with the
Medical School.