35 Quotes by Harold E. Varmus

I saw my friends in medical school seeming to be more engaged with the real world. That provoked a sort of jealousy, and I decided to go to medical school after all.

Just after graduation in 1966, like many of my contemporaries, I applied for research training at the National Institutes of Health. Perhaps because his wife was a poet, Ira Pastan agreed to take me into his laboratory, despite my lack of scientific credentials.

Some growths can be detected early, making for increased accuracy in diagnosis. Some can be cured and others controlled.

In general, all cancers have been traditionally characterized by the way they appear under the microscope and the organs in which they arise.

In the 1960s and '70s, there wasn't much evidence at all. We knew vaguely the causes of cancer, but methods like genomics were very new.

Our biggest single theme is trying to make the NIH work better with the same amount of money.

Science can improve lives in ways that are elegant in design and moving in practice.

When I was the NIH director, I often expressed envy of institute directors: they had the money and ran the scientific programmes.

All basic scientists who look to the NCI for funding should know that I will tolerate no retreat on the study of model systems and the pursuit of fundamental biological principles.