Editor 's note : The following is an excerpt from Harold Varmus's upcoming memoir, The Art and Politics of Science, (Norton Books, Feb. 2009). In his book, Varmus recounts his days at the forefront of cancer research at the University of California, San Francisco, and shares his perspective from the trenches of politicized battlegrounds ranging from budget fights to stem cell research, global health to science publishing. Varmus served as the director of the National Institutes of Health director from 1993 to 1999, and is now president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
One of the most difficult aspects of the job of running the NIH, or of directing any individual institute, is the designation of research priorities. This is an emotionally and politically sensitive part of the job because it is closely watched by some of NIH's strongest supporters, who often advocate for the NIH because of ...
