Mukherjee, as a physician–scientist, has seen these breakthroughs and recognizes their great and terrible potential. The biggest hope of the project was to create a forum in which diverse members of the NIH community could weigh in on The Gene and its discussion of the latest technologies in human genetics and their inevitable social, ethical, and moral implications.Īnyone who follows the latest in biomedical research knows that the past few years have seen an explosion of potential in genome editing-led by the speeding bullet that is the Crispr/Cas9 gene-editing technique. One of the core pillars of the Library is to “foster collaboration and community across NIH,” said Kathleen McGlaughlin, the librarian who oversaw the planning and preparation for the entire Big Read event. This visit and the successful turnout were thanks to the tireless efforts of the NIH Library, who partnered with the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, and its drive to bring literature and discussion to the NIH through this Big Read program. Given his extensive curriculum vitae and contributions to science, medicine, and scientific communication, it is not surprising that Mukherjee returned to the NIH to a packed auditorium. Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee visited NIH to discuss his new book, The Gene: An Intimate History, which was featured in NIH’s inaugural Big Read event.

Now an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University in New York, he splits his time among being an oncologist, a researcher, and a science writer. at Oxford University (Oxford, England) as a Rhodes scholar, Mukherjee matriculated to Harvard Medical School (Boston), where he received his M.D. He had undergraduate research experience in the lab of Nobel Prize winner Paul Berg. In 1992, he graduated from Stanford University (Stanford, California) with a B.S. It was his second book visit to NIH, the first being in 2011 to talk about The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, the bestseller that won him the Pulitzer Prize and was the basis of a PBS film on cancer.Īlthough he carries obvious credentials within literary circles, Mukherjee’s background is rooted firmly in the biomedical sciences.

Then, on April 17, the Big Read culminated with an appearance by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author himself to discuss his book and meet his fans. The NIH Big Read A Review of Inaugural Event with Writer Siddhartha MukherjeeĮxcitement built throughout NIH this spring when NIH’s inaugural Big Read program had dozens of people reading and discussing Siddhartha Mukherjee’s new book, The Gene: An Intimate History.

Oxford big read