Varmus to quit as Sloan-Kettering head

Former National Institutes of Health director and Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus will leave his post as president of New York City's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as soon as his successor is chosen.Image: Public Library of Science According to linkurl:__Science__,;http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/01/polymath-scient.html Varmus sent an email to his Sloan-Kettering colleagues this morning announcing his decision to step down. He wrote that he'd stay at the institution until

Written byBob Grant
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share
Former National Institutes of Health director and Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus will leave his post as president of New York City's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as soon as his successor is chosen.
Image: Public Library of Science
According to linkurl:__Science__,;http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/01/polymath-scient.html Varmus sent an email to his Sloan-Kettering colleagues this morning announcing his decision to step down. He wrote that he'd stay at the institution until a successor is found, and that he'd continue to run his lab, which focuses on the molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis. Varmus shared the 1989 linkurl:Nobel Prize;http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1989/varmus-autobio.html in Physiology or Medicine for the identification of oncogenes, headed up the NIH from 1993 to 1999, and co-founded the Public Library of Science, an open access publishing group. More recently, Varmus has been advising President Barack Obama as a co-chair of the linkurl:Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.;http://www.ostp.gov/cs/pcast He has been the president of Sloan-Kettering since 2000. Varmus linkurl:told;http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/01/definitely-not.html __Science__ that his reason for leaving is to reinvigorate Sloan-Kettering with some new blood. "I've done this job long enough, and now someone else should do it," he said. __Correction (1/13): The original headline of this story incorrectly indicated that Varmus would be leaving Sloan-Kettering when in fact he plans to stay on as a lab head and teacher at the cancer center even after he steps down as president. __The Scientist__ regrets the error.__
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:Priority Setting at the NIH;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/55314/
[January 2009]*linkurl:Varmus, Lubchenco top Obama team;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55317/
[22nd December 2008]*linkurl:Varmus votes - how will you?;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54278/
[4th February 2008]
Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

    View Full Profile
Share
Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Conceptual multicolored vector image of cancer research, depicting various biomedical approaches to cancer therapy

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

bioxcell

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Pioneers Life Sciences Innovation with High-Quality Bioreagents on Inside Business Today with Bill and Guiliana Rancic

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Expands Research Reagent Portfolio to Support Global Nipah Virus Vaccine and Diagnostic Development

Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Partners with Automata to Accelerate AI-Ready Laboratory Automation

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies