ATTACHMENT 1 Letter from the Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) to the Executive Secretary of the OSRD, Dated October 30, 1942 OFFICE FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1530 P Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. Vannevar Bush Director October 30, 1942 MEMORANDUM TO: Irvin Stewart FROM: V. Bush I have approved the recommendations of the Committee on Medical Research contained in the attached copy of the October 29 minutes of the Committee with the exception of item 22. I am withholding my approval of that item pending receipt of additional information from the Chairman of the Committee on Medical Research. Please take the necessary steps to put those recommendations into effect. ___________________ Director Attachment COMMITTEE ON MEDICAL RESEARCH OF THE OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Minutes of Forty-second Meeting October 29, 1942 The Committee on Medical Research of the Office of Scientific Research and Development held its forty-second meeting in the Offices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington at 1530 P Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. at 10:00 A.M. The following members were present: Dr. A.N. Richards, Chairman Dr. A.R. Doches Dr. A. Baird Hastings Colonel James Stevens Simmons Rear Admiral Harold W. Smith Dr. L.R. Thompson Dr. L.H. Weed Dr. E. Cowles Andrus, Assistant to the Chairman, and Dr. R.E. Dyer, of the National Institute of Health, sat with the Committee. The Executive Secretary kept the minutes of the meeting. The minutes of the meeting held September 24, 1942 were approved. A copy of the approved minutes, with the exception of the annexes thereto, is attached thereto as Annex 1. The Chairman reported the actions which he had taken in carrying out the instructions given by the Committee at its meeting on September 24. He also noted that a report had been received from the Atabrin Committee. It was agreed that that Committee which had been appointed by the national research Council should now be discharged. The question having arisen as to whether publicity should be given to the presence in this country of plasmodium gallinaceum, the Chairman was authorized to call a conference of interested persons to arrive at a policy in this regard. The Chairman reported the receipt of a letter from Dr. W.M. Clark raising certain questions with regard to a possible program for the synthesis of quinine. The Chairman was directed to request Dr. Clark to call a conference to consider the desirability of a program in this field and to suggest the type of program if one was to be recommended. The Chairman reported that Dr, Kurt Richter of Johns Hopkins had met with considerable success in his work under an OSRD contract on rat poisons. Dr. Richter had been using compounds supplied by the duPont Company. That Company has reported the receipt of a request from the Bureau of Fisheries and Wild Life that it provide compounds to that Bureau for testing as rat poisons. It was agreed that the Chairman should ascertain the reasons for the interest of the Bureau in this subject and that in consultation with the Bureau and with Dr. Richter, he will endeavor to establish whether the work under the OSRD contract can be used within its OSRD classification to meet the problems of the Bureau. The Chairman shall have power to take such action as seems appropriate after ascertaining the facts. -2- The Chairman reported the receipt of a letter from Major _______ of the Quartermaster Corps, stating that the Office of War Information is preparing a motion picture on food built around the work of Dr. Ancel Keys at the University of Minnesota. Inasmuch as Dr. Keys is engaged in research in this general field under classified 03RD contracts, the Chairman was directed to remind the University of Minnesota that the work under the OSRD contract is classified and that the results of such work should not be given any publicity. The Chairman reported that he had authorized the low-pressure chamber operated under the direction of Dr. Barach to be used for the testing of three pilots prior to their departing for the battle front. His action was approved by the Committee. The Chairman reported to the Committee the development at Cornell University of an instrument which should be useful in the field of neurosurgery and neurophysiology which instrument the University is prepared to manufacture for the Armed Services. He was instructed to call the instrument to the attention of the Services through Admiral Smith and Colonel Simmons and also through the Office of Inventions of the Secretary of Navy and through the Office of the Secretary of War. The Chairman reported the receipt of a letter from Dr. J. E. Moore, Chairman of the National Research Council Committee on Venereal Diseases, in which Dr. Moore stated that he had received a - 3 - request from Dr. Carpenter of the University of Rochester for an expression of opinion as to the desirability of conducting experiments on human beings, The Chairman had replied to Dr. Moore stating that he would submit the matter to the Committee It was the opinion of the Committee that experiments in human beings were both desirable and necessary in certain types of medical research related to the war effort; that the subjects of such experiments should be volunteers whose attention had been called to the dangers of the experiment, and that no categorical answer could be given to the desirability of experiments on human beings in particular cases until after all the details of the proposed experiments are placed before the Committee. Dr. Weed expressed the opinion, in which other members concurred, that it was highly desirable for the Committee to appoint additional technical aides as speedily as they can be selected. After discussion of the various proposals which had been submitted to the Committee, it was VOTED to recommend to the Director of the office of Scientific Research and Development that contracts be entered into with the institutions and funds transferred to the government agencies named below, for the purposes indicated and in amounts not in excess of those stated: 1. University of Pennsylvania For an extension of the work under Contract ______-56. $5,857.00 (Note to Dr. Bush: Study of contaminated wounds and treatment) -4-