James Spudich : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- James Spudich, the Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor of Cardiovascular Disease in the Department of Biochemistry at Stanford’s School of Medicine, speaks about his research career, his time as a graduate student during the early days of Stanford’s Biochemistry Department; and the founding of Stanford Bio-X. Spudich describes his upbringing, his early interest in chemistry, and his undergraduate education at the University of Illinois where he worked in the lab of Woody Hastings. He reflects on the interdisciplinary nature of his training and research and describes the focus of his research at UCSF and Stanford, particularly the development of an in vitro motility assay. Other topics include assisting Hastings at an early interdisciplinary physiology course in Woods Hole, Massachusetts; collaborations with physicist Steve Chu; founding startup companies Cytokinetics, MyoKardia, and Kainomyx; and Spudich’s personal and professional relationship with his wife, Anna.
- Summary
- Part 1 [00:00:00 – 00:31:09] Parents lives in Benld, Illinois • Moving to Phoenix, Arizona, for sister’s health • Childhood in Phoenix and freedom to explore • Early interest in chemistry • Parents’ struggles with money and sister’s health issues • Sister’s death as a child • Moving back to the Midwest; father’s job at Emerson Electric Company • Memories of Catholic school in sixth grade in Ferguson, Missouri • Extended family in Illinois • Junior high and high school education in Granite City, IL • Parents’ expectations for his education • Growing interest in chemistry; setting up a home chemistry lab with help from his father [00:31:10 – 01:02:15] Parents’ encouragement to pursue interests • Ease of purchasing sometimes dangerous chemicals; memories of backyard experiments • Teaching himself college chemistry and how to use a slide rule while working at the Tastee Freez • Studying chemistry at University of Illinois • Discovering interest in biochemistry • Working with Professor Woody Hastings in his biochemistry lab as an undergraduate • Hastings’ work on bioluminescence; Spudich’s discovery of an important aspect of energy transduction • Assisting in Hastings’s early interdisciplinary physiology course in Woods Hole, Massachusetts • Meeting his future wife, a PhD student from India, while at Woods Hole • Encouragement by U of I professor to apply to the new biochemistry program at Stanford • Admission to Stanford’s Biochemistry Department and a memorable visit with the faculty • Choosing Stanford over Berkeley for graduate school [01:02:16 – 01:42:23] Attracting the attention of his future wife, Anna, by delivering a seminar at Woods Hole • The joys and challenges of an intercultural marriage • Stanford Biochemistry in the 1960s • Biochemistry faculty at Stanford: Arthur Kornberg, Buzz Baldwin, Paul Berg, Dale Kaiser, Bob Lehman; family-like feeling of the department • Learning how to fly and memories of early interest in flight and model airplanes • Department’s focus on hardcore biochemistry, especially purifying enzymes for assays • Early molecular biology work and DNA research • Designing an interdisciplinary postdoc: studying genetics with Charlie Yanofsky at Stanford and structural biology at MRC labs in Cambridge with Hugh Huxley • Research on energy transduction in non-muscle cells • First faculty job at UCSF and building the new Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics with Bill Rutter • Decision to leave UCSF for Stanford Part 2 [00:00:00 – 00:31:09] Field of structural biology • Invitation from Lubert Stryer to join Stanford’s new Structural Biology Department • Stanford’s ability to nurture interdisciplinary work • Evolution of research in the 1970s and 1980s; focus on in vitro motility assay • Debates over models of how muscle contracts • Collaboration with physicist Steve Chu to use laser traps to study molecular motors • Funding sources [0:31:10 – 00:59:43] Reflections on relationship between basic science and translational research • Origins of Bio-X at Stanford • Vision and early years of Bio-X, including recruiting Norman Foster to design and build the Clark Center and Jim Clark’s donation • Challenges in working across the schools to create an interdisciplinary program • Support from school deans and Charles Kruger, the Vice Provost and Dean of Research • Origin of the Bio-X name [00:59:44 – 01:35:21] Thoughts on role as administrator • Chairing Stanford’s Biochemistry and Structural Biology departments • Teaching and mentoring students • Family • Demands of academic research • Receiving the Lasker Award • Founding Cytokinetics and MyoKardia companies • Working with Anna on new company, Kainomyx, to treat malaria • Life during the COVID-19 pandemic • Cancer surgery • Current research on malaria • Memories of Arthur Kornberg • Working at the National Center for Biological Sciences in Bangalore with Anna
Description
| Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text, still image |
|---|---|
| Extent | 2 audio files; 1 text file; 1 photograph |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | December 1, 2020 - 2020-12-10 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Spudich, James A. | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Spudich, James A. | |
| Interviewer | Costello, Paul | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Spudich, James A. |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Department of Biochemistry |
| Subject | Interdisciplinary research |
| Subject | Bio-X |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | James Spudich, Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor of Cardiovascular Disease, is in the Department of Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine. He received his BS in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1963 and his PhD in biochemistry from Stanford in 1968. He did postdoctoral work in genetics at Stanford and in structural biology at the MRC Laboratory in Cambridge, England. From 1971 to 1977 he was Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco. In 1977 he was appointed Professor in the Department of Structural Biology at Stanford University. Spudich served as Chairman of the Department of Structural Biology from 1979 to 1984. Since 1992 he has been Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, and served as Chairman from 1994 to 1998. He has held a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Developmental Biology since 1989. From 1998 to 2002, he was Co-Founder and first Director of the Stanford Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering, Biomedicine and Biosciences called Bio-X. At present he is also an Adjunct Professor at the National Center for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and InStem in Bangalore, India. |
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| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/yk826ns8548 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
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.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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