Joseph P. Dougherty
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Joseph P. Dougherty begins his oral history with a discussion of his youth in various parts of New York City and raises such topics as his family's religion and his father's experiences with the local unions. Dougherty received an education at a liberal Catholic high school where he became involved in the sciences. He attended New York University (NYU) for his undergraduate degree, which he felt was academically interesting because of the opportunity to pursue all manner of mathematics and science. Dougherty lived in and experienced Greenwich Village, a broad cultural education, though while at NYU, Dougherty became interested in genetic manipulations and gene therapy. (He also became a competitive street handball player in New York City during his undergraduate years. ) Before pursuing graduate research, Dougherty worked as a laboratory technician with Arnold M. Katz and Munekazu Shigekawa at Mount Sinai Hospital. He undertook his graduate work at Yale University with Peter Lengyel in the biophysics department; because of his laboratory experiences at Mount Sinai, he was an accomplished researcher when he began his PhD work at Yale. Following the completion of his PhD , Dougherty pursued post-doctoral research with Pierre Chambon in Strasbourg, France and subsequently with Howard Temin at the University of Wisconsin. The two very different post-doctoral experiences allowed Dougherty the opportunity to discuss funding and science in different countries and different types of academic institutions. Throughout the interview Dougherty talks openly about issues related to funding and his persistent interest in moving to France, and, additionally, the duty of the scientist to educate people.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1975 | New York University | BS | |
1982 | Yale University | PhD |
Professional Experience
Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
University of Wisconsin, Madison
The Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1975 | Founding Day Award, New York University |
1983 to 1985 | American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship |
1985 to 1987 | National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship |
1988 to 1992 | Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences |
1989 to 1994 | National Institutes of Health FIRST Award |
1989 to 1991 | March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Starter Research Award |
Table of Contents
Family background. Father's employment and association with unions. Growing up in New York City. Experiencing racism around him. High school education. Relationship with younger twin siblings.
Possibility of moving to France. Funding sources in France and the United States.
Science courses at New York University. Interest in genetic manipulations. Ethical responses to gene therapy. Health insurance and gene therapy. Competitive street handball player. Relationship between competition and sports.
Teaching load. Staying current with the literature. Opportunities to teach about HIV transmission. Debunking myths about HIV. Future of HIV therapies. Slowing rate of infection in murine systems.
Pew Biomedical Scholars money. In press papers. Applying new technologies to HIV issues.
PhD research at Yale University. Pre-graduate school technician work with Arnold M. Katz and Munekazu Shigekawa. Conflicts with a post-doc near end of PhD.
Interest in Howard Temin's laboratory. Job offer at new Yale Howard Hughes Medical Institute with Dick Gershon. Research with Pierre Chambon. Research with Temin. Dislike of the University of Wisconsin.