May 21, 1945

Dr. A. L. Bloomfield

Stanford Medical School

Stanford University

San Francisco, California

Dear Dr. Bloomfield:

Dr. Arthur L. Cohen of the California Institute of Technology has communicated to me your request that I look into the matter of the work which he is carrying on on the rate of healing of experimental wounds, and its relation to the Committee on Medical Research. I have done this, and hereby render my report.

Dr. Cohen has developed a technique for wound-healing studies which seems to me to be admirable. This work has been done by Dr. Cohen as a Research Fellow in the department of Professor A. L. Haagen-Smit at the Division of Biology of this Institute. It is the opinion of Professor Haagen-Smit, as expressed to me, that Dr. Cohen’s work is of very high quality. The same opinion has been expressed by Dr. A. van Harrefeld, Associate Professor of Physiology.

In view of these facts, and the statements made by Dr. John F. Lockwood in his letter to Dr. Cohen, I judge that it would be wise for Dr. Cohen to be encouraged to continue his work, under the auspices of the Committee on Medical Research. I hereby so recommend.

Dr. Cohen’s appointment at the California Institute of Technology extends until June 30, 1945. I have found that Professor Haagen-Smit feels that work in wound-healing is so far out of the field of his training and interests, the organic chemistry of biological substances, that he does not wish to have the work continued under his auspices. In particular, he is not willing to make a proposal for an OSRD contract on which he would serve as Responsible Investigator. Moreover, Professor A. H. Sturtevant, Chairman of the Division of Biology, has informed me that the work is so unrelated to that being carried out by any member of the professorial staff in the Division of Biology that no staff member desires to serve as Responsible Investigator for such a contract. It is my understanding that under these circumstances the California Institute of Technology will not make the proposal to the Committee on Medical Research for an OSRD contract for work on wound-healing.

In view of the fact that the would-healing work which Dr. Cohen is carrying on is not closely related to the other activities of the California Institute of Technology, I wish to make the suggestion that consideration be given by the Committee on Medical Research and the other interested parties to the possibility that Dr. Arthur L. Cohen be given employment under one of the existing wound-healing contracts. In particular I would suggest that possibility of his transfer to the Columbia University contract under which Dr. Edward L. Howes is carrying on his work. It seems to me that this would be the most satisfactory way of getting the work that Dr. Cohen is doing continued, and correlating it with other wound-healing work being done under CHR auspices.

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling

Linus Pauling:gw

cc: Dr. H. C. Naffsiger, Dr. John F. Lockwood