This collection documents Dr. Harold Varmus's activities as a professor in the UCSF Department of Microbiology and as head of the Virology Research Group before he moved to Washington, D.C. to become director of the National Institutes of Health. During this time he was a leading scientist in the study of cancer-causing genes called oncogenes. His collaboration with J. Michael Bishop on the Rous Sarcoma Virus led to their receipt of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1989. The lectures, research, and grant proposal files capture a very productive period of research in the molecular biology of retroviruses and illustrate the multiple roles of a research scientist within a university setting.

The collection includes: correspondence, appointment calendars, financial records relating to grants awarded to UCSF by the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, departmental budgets from 1980-1988, teaching and research materials. There are also minutes of professional meetings, correspondence and materials from workshops and papers, and documentation of participation in organizations or advisory boards.

The Collection is divided into 6 Series. I. Correspondence; II. Financial Records; III. Lecture Notes; IV. Research; V. Professional Activities; and VI. Appointment Calendars and Directories.