Robert M. Chanock Papers

Correspondence, lab notebooks, research reports and data, reprints, lectures, and conference notes document Dr. Robert M. Chanock's professional research career at NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Disease studying and developing therapies for respiratory viruses that are particularly common in children, notably human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the para-influenza viruses. Research strengths include a nearly comphrehnsive set of lab notebooks documenting the lab's work on Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Paramyxoviridae infections and the business of collaborating with various pharmaceutical companies to produce vaccines.

Series 1, Personal and Biographical (1933-2008), includes correspondence (1950-1957) from research positions Dr. Chanock held before joining NIAID, at the University of Cincinnati and Johns Hopkins, and in the Army in Korea. Dr. Chanock's personal and family life are reflected in correspondence and congratulatory exchanges from colleagues (1933-2008) along with photographs (circa 1950s-2005), oral history transcripts (2001-2003), and certificates and awards (1964-2008).

Series 2: NIH-NIAID-Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (LID) (1955-2008) contains incomplete sets of NIAID annual reports (1967-1983), LID annual reports (1966-1997), and LID Board of Scientific Counselor's Reviews (1978-2004). Correspondence (1955-2008) exists in varied orientations: a group arranged alphabetically by correspondent surname spans 1957 to 1979; chronological files are incomplete from 1968 to 1995 and are augmented by informally collected "chronological" files dated 1957-2008; there are also files, arranged alphabetically, by subject (1955-2007). Completing the series is a group of 35mm slide presentations (1961-2005), arranged chronologically, on LID research topics such as mycoplasma and respiratory syncytial virus.

Series 3, Research (1951-2008) is the largest portion of the collection and has many sections. Lab notebooks (1958-2000) are probably the most comprehensive and valuable part of this series. Arranged by surname of the LID researcher, they provide a day to day picture of research being conducted in the lab. The work of Dr. Chanock, Albert Kapikian, and Wallace P. Rowe are documented here, along with nine other researchers. A smaller set of lab notebooks designated by subject title, such as neuroaminidase, is arranged alphabetically. Research data, (1950-2008), is the least well described part of this series. Often these chronologically arranged folders bear brief titles, leaving only the material's date and context to aid in determining more specifically what studies they may pertain to. Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) (1972-2003) with several pharmaceutical companies, notably Lederle and Wyeth, are arranged alphabetically by company name. Research contract reports range in date from 1952 to 1998. All of them after 1957 are contracts with NIAID. Most are arranged by contract number, the bulk of whose numbers are prefaced by "N01" or "PH". Proposals for research contracts which don't correspond to known contracts (1955-2001) are arranged chronologically. Investigational New Drugs (IND) reports (1963-2001) record results, in the form of supplements, of experimental drug testing by NIAID in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. These are arranged by the Food and Drug Administration's assigned IND number. LID lab research reports (1960-2004) concern only documentation of studies undertaken in the NIAID lab without collaborators. These are arranged chronologically except in the few exceptions when contract numbers are evident.

Series 4, Patents (1966-2008) which Dr. Chanock co-invented, is arranged numerically by patent number. Related to each is material often in several folders documenting the patent submission and approval process, licensing to pharmaceutical companies, and applications for corresponding foreign patents.

Series 5, Writings/Reprints (1953-2007) contains an incomplete set of Dr. Chanock's scientific articles, which in their entirety total 653 (1953-2003). Smaller subsections of this series hold eight articles by Dr. Chanock which are not represented on his bibliography (1954-2007); drafts of articles not corresponding with his published work (circa 1960s-circa 2007); and untitled drafts and writing fragments (circa 1955-circa 2007). Reprints are arranged by number assigned in Dr. Chanock's bibliography. The other sections are chronological.

Series 6, Meetings (1954-2005) contains programs, proceedings, notes, and other related information collected by Dr. Chanock when he attended national and international health conferences focusing on virology. He regularly attended meetings held by the American Society for Clinical Investigation, World Health Organization, American Epidemiological Society, and American Society for Microbiology. The series is arranged chronologically.

Series 7, Lectures and Speeches (1951-2005) are arranged chronologically. While a number of the earlier speeches lack identification as to where or when they were delivered, most after 1970 were lectures given at conferences or on honorary occasions.

Series 8, Videocassettes (1985-1987) mostly cover two subjects: the February 12, 1985 Wallace P. Rowe Symposium, and the August 26, 1986 Scientific Symposium in Honor of Albert B. Sabin's 80th Birthday.