Record

CollectionGB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections
LevelFile
Ref NoMS 3682/4/1/23
TitleDr Eric J. Simon, Department of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine [previously, Department of Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center]
Date1975 - 1990
Extent1 file
Administrative HistoryEric J. Simon, Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology. He received his Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1951 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemistry at Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York between 1951 and 1953.

In 1979, Simon took over from Dr Sydney Archer as chairperson, or secretary, of the INRC [International Narcotics Research Club, or Conference]. See Eric J. Simon's 'Founders' Lecture July 1999', page 2, http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:rxWBIMBr88UJ:www.inrcworld.org/pdf/inrc99founderslecture.pdf++%22Albert+Herz%22&hl=en
(2005).

See the New York University Medical Center web page, 'Eric J. Simon Ph.D', http://www.med.nyu.edu/people/E.Simon.html (2005) for further details on Simon's research and list of publications.
DescriptionCorrespondence begins in December 1975.

Letter, dated 17 December 1975, from Simon to Kosterlitz, thanking him for the preprint from Kosterlitz's 'Nature' paper and talking briefly about it. Simon writes, 'The planning of the Aberdeen meeting seems to be coming along nicely. I have worked closely with Sydney and have also done some modest fund - raising. I have suggested changing the name of our organization from "club" to "conference", since, believe it or not, the term club has been a hindrance in fund - raising ... '.

Correspondence, dated January - February 1976, relates to Kosterlitz's and Hanna's intended visit to the U.S., where Kosterlitz intended to, in part, discuss aspects of the Aberdeen meeting with Dr Sydney Archer. Kosterlitz also intended to 'discuss with various people the evidence of multiple opiate receptors and certain problems of structure - activity relationships'. Letter relates to Kosterlitz's intended visit to Simon's laboratory and the seminar he was to give in the Department of Pharmacology on 'Enkephalin and opiate receptors'.
Letter, dated 18 February 1976, from Kosterlitz to Simon, mentions that Kosterlitz has relatives who live in New York.

Correspondence relates to the respective work, research and results of Kosterlitz and Simon. Letters, dated December 1978 - April 1979; October 1980 & May 1986 mention other visits Kosterlitz made to Simon in the U.S. Correspondence mentions the sending of scientific papers.

Copy of a letter, dated 6 April 1987, from Simon to Dr. Herman M. Rhee, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, saying that Simon does not believe in having another meeting on opioids. Letter explains, 'The INRC is an excellent international meeting and so is the biannual Gordon Research Conference. More recently, the British Opioid Conference was formed and CPDD [College on Problems of Drug Dependence] also has many papers on Opioids, not to mention various congresses of Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Physiology'. Letter suggests that Rhee should try to cover certain areas that are not well represented in the meetings that already exist. Letter is annotated in pencil, 'Have we had any communcation from H. M. Rhee?' in ?Kosterlitz's hand.

There are a number of gaps in the correspondence: between February 1976 and February 1978; February - December 1978; December 1978 and April 1979; May 1979 and October 1980; October 1980 and December 1985; December 1985 and May 1986; June 1986 and April 1987; April 1987 and February 1990, and February - August 1990.
Access StatusOpen
Related MaterialSee Eric J. Simon's 'Founders' Lecture July 1999', pages 1 - 5, http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:rxWBIMBr88UJ:www.inrcworld.org/pdf/inrc99founderslecture.pdf++%22Albert+Herz%22&hl=en, which provides details on the history of the INRC [International Narcotics Research Club, then Conference], as well as other historical information relevant to the Hans W Kosterlitz collection. Includes a short tribute to Kosterlitz (page 4).
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