Rosenberg, Saul A.
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Saul A. Rosenberg pioneered treatments for lymphoma and other cancers in the early 1960s, and his work helped to establish the field of medical oncology. He collaborated with Henry Kaplan to run the first random clinical trials for lymphoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Rosenberg gives a candid interview about the setbacks and serendipitous opportunities in his pursuit of a medical career in internal medicine and oncology that culminated in a decades-long career at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He begins the interview by describing his background as a poor Jewish kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, the first of his family to go to college. Rosenberg recounts his plan to enter medical school at the age of 18 to avoid being drafted for World War II and the personal and bureaucratic obstacles that caused him to drop out as an undergrad. This apparent misfortune, he explains, led to a lab technician position in Hymer Friedell’s Atomic Energy Medical Research Project, which in turn gave him unique and sought-after skills in radiology and put him in contact with numerous researchers when he did enter medical school at Western Reserve University. He recalls another seeming setback--being drafted to serve as a marine doctor--which interfered with his pursuit of a PhD but made him realize that he wanted to practice clinical medicine. He discusses his residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where he was made chief resident and spent a year researching lymphomas in Lloyd Craver’s lab. He goes into detail about an influential paper he wrote: a statistical analysis of 1,269 lymphomas, which was made possible by an early IBM punch-card computer. Rosenberg discusses how, despite these accomplishments, he had a difficult time finding an academic position that would allow him to work with radiotherapies and internal medicine until Kaplan and Halsted Holman made a place for him at Stanford where he eventually held professorships in both medicine and radiation. He began working at Stanford just as the medical school was relocating from San Francisco to the Stanford campus. He describes how his hospital experience was put to use by Holman as they developed their clinical program and how he eventually took over the role of physician-in-chief. He opines about what made the new medical school such a delight to work in and how more recent changes have diminished it. He talks about job offers he did not take and the failed merger with the University of California San Francisco, as well as his position on Stanford’s Advisory Board. Rosenberg then goes into detail about the work that made him famous: his collaboration with Kaplan that revolutionized lymphoma--and specifically Hodgkin’s lymphoma--treatments, turning a terminal diagnosis to one of hope. He describes how Kaplan’s cutting- edge linear accelerator, as well as his own clinical expertise, improved patient care and allowed them to begin randomized clinical trials. Rosenberg muses on his personal relationship with Kaplan and mentions Kaplan’s children and their careers. Finally, Rosenberg deliberates about what he feels are his real contributions: his children, his students, and his patients. He describes himself as a tree trunk that supports the beautiful leaves and flowers that are his former students’ accomplishments and careers. And he takes humble joy in knowing that through his medical administrations, his patients have lived longer, and often remarkable, lives.
Description
| Type of resource | mixed material |
|---|---|
| Date created | March 9, 2016 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Rosenberg, Saul A. | |
|---|---|---|
| Contributing author | Bach, Becky | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Saul A. Rosenberg |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford Historical Society |
| Subject | oral histories |
| Subject | interviews |
| Subject | higher education |
| Subject | professors |
| Subject | Stanford University School of Medicine > Department of Medicine (Oncology) |
| Subject | oncologists |
| Subject | radiologists |
| Subject | radiotherapy |
| Subject | lymphoma |
| Subject | cancer > treatment > United States > history |
Bibliographic information
| Related item |
|
|---|---|
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/tc076cv3182 |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
Rosenberg, Saul A. (2016).
Oral History. Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program Interviews (SC0932).
Department of Special Collections & University Archives, Stanford University Libraries,
Stanford, Calif. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/tc076cv3182
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
View other items in this collection in SearchWorksContact information
- Contact
- archivesref@stanford.edu
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...