Jochen Buck
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Jochen Buck was born and grew up in Reutlingen, Germany, in the Swabian Alb. His father was a teacher of science in the Gymnasium. His mother, a housewife, came from a middle-class family of butchers, and Jochen might have been expected to follow in the family business. Instead, he became interested in politics early, as a result perhaps of the Vietnam War. Instead of performing his national service in the army, he became a conscientious objector, working with disabled youths. His early interest in mathematics waned, and he decided to become a doctor. But in medical school at the University of Tübingen, he discovered that he loved scientific research; and he added to his MD studies a PhD, with his dissertation dealing with interferon. He worked in Ulrich Hammerling’s lab, where he localized cell growth caused by autocrine growth factor. He accepted a postdoctoral position at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, working with Vitamin A and discovering retro-retinoids. He stayed at Sloan-Kettering for a few years until accepting an assistant professorship at Cornell University Medical College. He is now an associate at Cornell, where his lab and Lonny Levin’s share space and where he and Levin work together on adenylyl cyclase. He lives in New York City with his wife, Chantal Duteau-Buck, and two children. He has won several awards and continues to publish articles.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1984 | University of Tübingen | MD | |
1985 | University of Tübingen | PhD |
Professional Experience
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Weill Cornell Medical College
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1987 | Clinical Research Award, Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation |
1993 to 1997 | Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences |
1998 | Hirschl/Weill Caulier Medical Scholar |
Table of Contents
Growing up in Germany. Father's participation in World War II, teaching career, and marriage. Buck's early schooling and childhood interests. Politics in the family. During the Vietnam War becomes a conscientious objector, working with disabled youths.
Buck's political activism. Organizes anti-nuclear blockade of Grossengstingen. Enters Tübingen University Medical School and begins work at Children's Hospital, where he becomes interested in pediatric oncology. Joins several communes. Attempts to find treatment for neuroblastomas. Buck's PhD dissertation on interferon. Begins development of imaging techniques withmonoclonal antibodies in Ulrich Hämmerling's lab. Localizes cell growth caused by the autocrine growth factor. Discovers retro-retinoids. Research on adenylyl cyclase.
Accepts postdoc at Sloan-Kettering. Moves to Cornell University Medical College as Assistant Professor. Joins his lab to Lonny R. Levin lab; the sharing of money and facilities. Collaboration with Hämmerling. Funding. Maintaining a small lab and continuing hands-on research. Balancing science, family, and outside interests. Minorities and gender in science. Division of household choresin the Buck home.