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MAY 27 i975

- ] . - 17 Fifth Avenue
wnt . ot per Waterford, CT 06385
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‘ , May 20, 1975
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Dr. Joshua Lederberg, Chairman
Department of Genetics

Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California 94305

  

Dear Dr. Lederberg,
| would like to fntroduce myself to you via this letter. My name

LL is Mark Weidenbaum. [ have been interested in your work for some time and

ETE
ee,

had mentioned this to my father quite a while ago. [ understand that he
knew you when you were in college and that he contacted you with regard to
the possibility of my obtaining a summer job in your laboratories. 1! also
understand that via phone you indicated that this would not be feasible
because it would take at least the summer period to learn the techniques
needed to contribute to your laboratory program, and by then it would be
time for me to return to the University of Connecticut. My father told me
that you suggested the possibility of my taking courses in the University
Summer Session at Stanford. You kindly indicated that if 1 were at Stanford
you would be willing to talk with me concerning your work. Since that time
| have looked through the Summer Session Bulletin carefully.

| still want very much to somehow get to know more about the work
that you have done and are doing. Since it would not be possible to get
a job with you | have come up with what | hope would be acceptable to you.
| notice that the summer session bulletin lists under MEDICINE (p. 92) a
Genetics 260 course entitled ''Supervised Study: Special Topics'’. Therefore,
| would like to take Genetics 260 for 8 credits (which is the minimum
allowed for undergraduates) with you as my advisor. This would not involve
any commitment as to working in your laboratories but it would enable me

to select a project which would be within my capabilitfes and related to the

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area of work which you are doing. 1| realize that | have a very limited
background but I would try to learn whatever material was necessary so

that during the eight week summer session (June 24 to Auqust 16) | could
better get to know your work and make some kind of a contribution, However,
| feel that ! do want to take on this challenge. [Ff you will permit it,

it will be an extremely worthwhile expertence for me.

| have asked a pathologist (4.D.) at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital
in New London, Conn. under whose direction [ worked on an original research
project entitled “NEW INTERFERENCE CONTRAST TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING NERVE
FIBERS IN HUMAN BRAIN TISSUE™, to send you a letter of reference, Also,
| am enclosing an abstract of this work.

My brief experiences with research work while tin high school revealed
clearly that there were huge gaps fn my background when [ began the project.
More importantly, these experiences proved to me that [{ could rapidly fill
these gaps. Last summer | found that I was able to learn an entire semester
of college Physics in three weeks. Now, with two intensive years of
grounding in the basic sciences and mathematics behind me, | am confident
that | could learn enough of one aspect of your work to do a meaningful,
although limited, supervised study.

With regard to my tentative summer program, ! would like to study
some of the important papers that came out of the recent conference in
Asilomar. In particular, | would like to investigate the potentialities of
transplanting bits of disease resistant human DNA into common bacteria in
order to colonize large quantities of hybrid bacteria. ! would like to
see how and where chemical principles are involved tn this work since |
am a Chemistry major at the University of Connecticut, and am interested

in the structure of molecules related to biological functions.
| have just finished an intensive year of Honors Organic Chemistry,

a course heavily geared to the theoretical aspects of structure, mechanisms,
and synthesis, at the University of Connecticut. This course was accompanied
by a full year of Honors Organic Chemistry Laboratory including nearly two
months devoted to original synthesis. I have also completed intensive
courses in Physics and Advanced Calculus. Should you wish any references

or other material [ would be happy to have them sent to you immediately.

It is necessary for me to make a decision on my summer plans very
soon. I consider this program to be my number one choice. I hope that you
will be willing to let me register for such a program. Since | must make
the necessary financial preparations, t plan to call you very soon to find
out whether this plan is acceptable to you, | hope you will consider this

request favorably.

Sincerely yours,

Wark iSredoutaum~

Mark Wei denbaum

Please feel free to contact the following people for further references:

(1) Dr. W.R.Vaughan
Chairman, Dept. of Chemistry
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Ct. 6268

(2) Dr. R.E. Steigert
Dept. of Physics
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Ct. 06268