Dr. Charles DeLisi Collection Department of Energy, Office of Health and Environmental Research, Sequencing the Human Genome Santa Fe, March 3-4, 1986 Title: Dr. Charles DeLisi Collection Department of Energy Office of Health and Environmental Research, Sequencing the Human Genome, Santa Fe, March 3-4, 1986 Date: 1986 Creator: Dr. Charles DeLisi Repository: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Library and Archives. Abstract: These files are the letters sent by attendees of the Santa Fe in 1986. These formed the basis of Dr. DeLisi s memo to the Assistant Secretary proposing the project. Language: English Publisher: Library and Archives Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 1 Bungtown Road Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724 Finding Aid Prepared by Clare Clark Finding aid written in English. 2013 CSHL Library and Archives ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation: Dr. Charles DeLisi Collection. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Library and Archives. Provenance: Materials given to Mila Pollock, Executive Director of Library and Archives at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory from Charles DeLisi in March 2008. Accession No. 2013_003. RESTRICTIONS Access Restrictions: There are no restrictions to this collection. Access is given only by appointment 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Use Restrictions: Archival materials must remain in the archival reading area. Item duplication is to be done by archivists. Fees are applied to copies made. Digital photography is permitted by users. Due to the very fragile nature of some materials in this collection, some are available through photocopies; others must be used under the supervision of an archivist.
Biography Charles DeLisi is the Metcalf Professor of Science and Engineering at Boston University. Prior to moving to Boston University, he was Professor and Chair of Biomathematical Sciences and Professor of Molecular Biology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (1987 1989), Director of the United States Department of Energy's Health and Environmental Research Programs (1985 1987), Section Chief at National Institutes of Health (1975 1985), and Theoretical Division Staff Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (1972 1975). In 1999 he initiated the Boston University graduate program in Bioinformatics, which now includes approximately 120 students and 50 faculty from across the university. In 1985, as Director of the U.S. Department of Energy s (DOE) Health and Environmental Research Programs, DeLisi and his advisors proposed, planned and defended before the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Congress, the Human Genome Project. The proposal created a storm of controversy, but was included in President Ronald Reagan s FY 1987 budget submission to the Congress, and subsequently passed both the House and the Senate, the latter with the essential support of Senator Pete Domenici (R, NM). DeLisi is recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Citizens Medal, awarded to him by President Clinton for his seminal role in initiating the Human Genome Project. For more information regarding Charles DeLisi and the 1986 Santa Fe meeting, please refer to Nature 455, 876-877 (16 October 2008) Meetings that changed the world: Santa Fe 1986: Human genome baby-steps. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7215/full/455876a.html Historical Note The Human Genome Project was launched in 1986 by Charles DeLisi, who was then Director of the US Department of Energy's Health and Environmental Research Programs. He was later awarded the Citizen's medal by President Clinton for his seminal role in the Project. The goals and general strategy of the Project were outlined in a two-page memo to the Assistant Secretary in April 1986, which helped garner support from the DOE, the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the United States Congress, especially Senator Pete Domenici. A series of Scientific Advisory meetings, and complex negotiations with senior Federal officials resulted in a line item for the Project in the 1987 Presidential budget submission to the Congress. Initiation of the Project was the culmination of several years of work supported by the US Department of Energy, in particular a feasibility workshop in 1986 and a subsequent detailed description of the Human Genome Initiative in a report that led to the formal sanctioning of the initiative by the Department of Energy.
SCOPE AND CONTENT This box contains 31 letters of which 20 were written to Dr. Mark Bitensky, Los Alamos National Laboratory. The majority of the letters are comments and input after the human genome project meeting held in Santa Fe, New Mexico March 3-4, 1986. There are two items from Senator Peter Domenici, Republican state senator from New Mexico and considered an early proponent of the Human Genome Project. ARRANGEMENT NOTE The letters arrived in a binder with clear sleeves in no organized order. The archivist put the letters in alphabetical order according to author. TERMINOLOGY People The following people related to this collection, when applicable, were cataloged according to the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF): Anderson, Norman, 1942- Bell, George I., 1926- Bitensky, Mark Burks, Christian Branscomb, Elbert Cantor, Charles R., 1942- Carrano, Anthony DeLisi, Charles, 1941- Domenici, Pete Friedmann, Theodore, 1935- Gelinas, Richard Gilbert, Walter, 1932- Hearst, John Mitra, Sankar Puck, Theodore T. (Theodore Thomas), 1916-2005 Ruddle, Frank H Smith, Hamilton Sutton, H. Eldon (Harry Eldon), 1927- Weissman, Sherman M. Subjects The following subjects related to this collection were cataloged using the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Automated DNA Sequencers Human Genome Project. Human Genome Project--History. Human Genome Project--International cooperation.
Human Genome Project--legislation & jurisprudence. Locations The following locations related to this collection were cataloged using the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Santa Fe, New Mexico Washington, D.C. Institutions The following institutions related to this collection were cataloged using the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dupont GenBank Johns Hopkins University. Los Alamos National Laboratory. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Material types The following material types found in this collection were cataloged using the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT): Clippings (information artifacts) Correspondence Memorandums RELATED COLLECTIONS Related collections in the CSHL Library and Archives are the James D. Watson Collection, the Sydney Brenner Collection and the Norton Zinder Collection.. Dr. DeLisi also participated in the CSHL Oral History Collection. His interview can be found at http://library.cshl.edu/oralhistory/speaker/charles-delisi/.
Box Date Author Recipient Description 1 March 18, 1986 Norman Anderson, Charles DeLisi, Dept. of Los Alamos Conference. Proteus Technologies Energy 1 October 10, 1986 Norman Anderson, Proteus Technologies Charles DeLisi, Dept. of Energy Letter to Anderson from Dr. Miyazima on automated 1 September 24, T. Miyazima Robert E. Stevenson, Automated DNA 1986 REIKEN 1 March 13, 1986 George Bell ATCC Sequencing machine Summary of Computations aspects from Santa Fe Meeting for HGP 1 May 15, 1986 George Bell Charles DeLisi HGP 1 April 2, 1986 Mark Bitensky Charles DeLisi Santa Fe workshop summary 1 May 5, 1986 Christian Burks Graph of HG DNA 1 March 6, 1986 Charles Cantor Columbia University Opinions on topics discussed at Santa Fe 1 March 13, 1986 Anthony Carrano and Elbert Branscomb 1 March 11, 1986 David Comings City of Hope 1 April 4, 1986 Charles DeLisi Department of Energy 1 September 17, Senator Pete V. 1987 Domenici Republican Senator from New Mexico, USA. 1 July 11, 2000 Senator Pete V. Domenci Republican Senator from New Mexico, USA. 1 Jun 17, 1986 Theodore Friedmann, Agouron Institute 1 March 17, 1986 Richard Gelinas, Fred Hutchinson 1 February 2, Walter Gilbert, 1986 Harvard Inventory Brian Crawford, Academic Press Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Subcommittee on Energy Research Development. George Bush, Sr., President of USA David Smith, Unknown Publication of Journal Genome The human genome initiative title of the department of energy national laboratory cooperative research initiative Human Genome mapping project Work done on the characterization of a human genome Memo about the Human Genome Institute
1 March 14, 1986 Walter Goad, GenBank Not named 1 March 17, 1986 John Hearst, LBL Mark Bitensky 1 March 7, 1986 Elaine Jones Herson, Applied Biosystems 1 March 18, 1986 Maurice Kashdan, Dupont 1 March 24, 1986 Sankar Mitra, ORNL Mark Bitensky 1 March 17, 1986 Theodore T. Puck, University of Colorado 1 March 17, 1986 Frank Ruddle Yale University 1 October 6, 1986 Masami Shimizu, Charles DeLisi, Dept. of Nihon Keizaik Energy Shimbun 1 March 6, 1986 Hamilton Smith, Johns Hopkins 1 March 17, 1986 Gary Stein, University of Florida 1 March 24, 1986 F. William Studier, Charles DeLisi Input Article on Genome BNL 1 March 13, 1986 H. Eldon Sutton (2 copies) 1 March 7,1986 David C. Ward, Yale 1 March 12, 1986 Sherman Weissman, Yale 1 March 14, 1986 Unsigned, Laboratoire European de Biologie Moleculaire