Ralph B. Arlinghaus, PhD, Oral History Interview, March 21, 2014
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Description
Major topics covered:
- Personal background and education.
- Research areas, detailed discussions of progressive experimentation
- Research creativity, innovation, collaborations
Interview Chapters
Chapter 01: Key Research on ABL Kinases
Chapter 02: A Death Inspires a Career Change and a Commitment to Leukemia Research
Chapter 03: Initial Research with Viruses and Proteins: Slow Progress on the Gag Paul Gene
Chapter 05: Leaving Johnson and Johnson to Return to MD Anderson
Identifier
ArlinghausR_01_20140321
Publication Date
3-21-2014
Publisher
The Historical Resources Center, Research Medical Library, The University of Texas Cancer Center
City
Houston, Texas
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Topics Covered
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas System. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Recommended Citation
Arlinghaus, Ralph B. PhD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Ralph B. Arlinghaus, PhD, Oral History Interview, March 21, 2014" (2014). Interview Sessions. 52.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewsessions/52
Conditions Governing Access
Open
About the Interview
About the Interview Subject:
Molecular pathologist Ralph B. Arlinghaus (b. 16 August 1935, Newport, Kentucky)
came to MD Anderson 1969 to serve as Chief of the Section of Environmental Biology in the Department of Biology. Today he is a professor in the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology in the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Arlinghaus has made several key discoveries unraveling the genetic and molecular mechanisms of proteins that support and maintain leukemia (lipocalin 24p3, pathways of the BCR-ABL protein, the Janus kinase 2). In 1986 he was tasked with establishing the new Department of Molecular Pathology, and built a small but strong department of faculty with independent laboratories and funding. He stepped down from that role in 2012. In 2016 he was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In this interview, Dr. Arlinghaus talks at length about his research discoveries, often going into technical detail about genetic and molecular processes. He not only demonstrates the complexities of the research questions he takes on, but in the process also shows the creative approach to research that he feels has characterized his career and his mark on the field. He talks about his humble beginnings and career challenges and discusses the death of his young wife from chronic myeloid leukemia, a key event that focused him on the mission of curing that disease. He sketches his role in building the Department of Molecular Pathology and comments on tensions in MD Anderson that influenced his career at the institution.
Original Interview Profile
Date: 4/8/2014
This interview with molecular pathologist Ralph B. Arlinghaus (b. 16 August 1935, Newport, Kentucky) takes place in two sessions during spring of 2014 (approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes total duration).
Dr. Arlinghaus came to MD Anderson 1969 to serve as Chief of the Section of Environmental Biology. Dr. Arlinghaus spent some time away from MD Anderson (1983 -1986), returning in 1986 to serve as Chair of the new Department of Molecular Pathology. Today he is a professor in the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology in the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He holds Hubert L. Stringer Chair in Cancer Research. The interview takes place in the Dr. Arlinghaus’ office in the Life Sciences Building on Holcombe Boulevard, just west of the main campus of MD Anderson. Tacey A. Rosolowski, Ph.D. is the interviewer.
Dr. Arlinghaus received his Bachelors’ in Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Pharmacy in Cincinnati, Ohio (1957) and continued in the Graduate School of Arts to receive his Master’s in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (1959). He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the
University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine in 1961 and stayed at the institution for his Clinical and Research Fellowships (1/1959-1/1959 and 1/1960-1/1961, respectively). Dr. Arlinghaus then received two Research Fellowships to support his work at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (1/1962-1/1963 and 1/1964-1/1965). He next took a position as a research biochemist at the Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory, Greenport, NY (1965 – 1969), at which point a family tragedy compelled him to redirect his career, and he took a position as a biochemist at MD Anderson with the intent of focusing on chronic myeloid leukemia. In 1986 he was tasked with establishing the new Department of Molecular Pathology, and built a small but strong department of faculty with independent laboratories and funding. He stepped down from that role in 2012. Over the course of his career, Dr. Arlinghaus has made several key discoveries unraveling the genetic and molecular complexities of proteins that support and maintain leukemia. In 2005, for example, he discovered that leukemia cells induce healthy cells to secrete lipocalin 24p3, killing other healthy cells in order to make room for tumor growth; he thereby overturned the commonly held idea that leukemia merely crowds out normal cells. His work on the pathways of the BCR-ABL protein has identified markers for leukemia; based on his work on the Janus kinase 2, Dr. Arlinghaus has been able to propose improvements to leukemia treatment, and these are now in clinical trials.
In this interview, Dr. Arlinghaus talks at length about his research discoveries, often going into technical detail about genetic and molecular processes. He not only demonstrates the complexities of the research questions he takes on, but in the process also shows the creative approach to research that he feels has characterized his career and his mark on the field. He talks about his humble beginnings and career challenges and discusses the death of his young wife from chronic myeloid leukemia, a key event that focused him on the mission of curing that disease. He sketches his role in building the Department of Molecular Pathology and comments on tensions in MD Anderson that influenced his career at the institution.