Robert Cook-Deegan, MD

Cook-Deegan recounts his childhood in Denver as the son of a physician. He discusses his early academic career, his undergraduate years at Harvard, his time at the University of Colorado Medical School, and his decision to pursue medical research. He also talks about becoming a father and maintaining a work-life balance with his two children and wife, Kathryn. Cook-Deegan shares his experience researching Alzheimer’s disease, as well as his rotation at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Cook-Deegan details his work at the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), including reports on aging, biotech, and the Human Genome Project, and offers an account of its eventual demise due to political changes. Other topics include the history of the Bermuda Principles, the role of political administrations on health policy, the current turn to Open Science, and Cook-Deegan’s own relationship to collecting oral histories. He concludes the conversation with a reflection on the Trump administration’s recent decision to cut funding for many science-funding agencies.