Merilyn Sleigh, 2003-01-17

Item — Box: AV08, Hi8: CSHL1304

Staff Only

Oral History - Merilyn Sleigh

Scope and Contents

Merilyn Sleigh, molecular biologist and biotechnology entrepreneur, is interviewed by Mila Pollock on January 17, 2003, at EvoGenix Limited, in Sydney, Australia.

Merilyn Sleigh discusses the following in her interview: Scene 1. Coming to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory -- Scene 2. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: Science-- Scene 3. Great research moment: Discovering RNA splicing -- Scene 4. Great research moment: SV40 cancer research -- Scene 5. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: science and competition -- Scene 6. International science: differences between US and Australia -- Scene 7. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: James Lab -- Scene 8. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory James Lab: independent science -- Scene 9. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists -- Scene 10. Mike Botchan -- Scene 11. Joe Sambrook -- Scene 12. Bob Tjian -- Scene 13. Terri Grodzicker -- Scene 14. Bob Hanish -- Scene 15. Denise Galloway -- Scene 16. Ashley Dunn -- Scene 17. Rich Roberts -- Scene 18. Tom Maniatis -- Scene 19. Barbara McClintock -- Scene 20. Jim Watson -- Scene 21. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Director: Bruce Stillman -- Scene 22. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory memories -- Scene 23. Women in science -- Scene 24. Building confidence -- Scene 25. Importance of a mentor -- Scene 26. Balancing a family and career -- Scene 27. Maintaining a successful reputation -- Scene 28. Advice for young scientists.

Dates

Creation: 2003-01-17

Creator

Sleigh, Merilyn Joy, 1948- (Interviewee, Person)
Pollock, Ludmila (Interviewer, Person)
Clark, Clare (Transcriber, Person)
Viteri, Carlos (Videographer, Person)
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Library and Archives (Publisher, Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online: https://library.cshl.edu/oralhistory/. Select tapes have been digitized thanks to support from CLIR Recordings at Risk Grant awarded in 2021, these tapes are available for research online via our Oral History Website and in person at CSHL Archives. Please contact CSHL Archives archives@cshl.edu with any questions regarding availability.

Biographical / Historical

Merilyn Sleigh is a pharmacologist, molecular biologist and dean in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of New South Wales. After completing her Ph.D. at the University of Sydney in pharmacology and another PhD in molecular biology at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), she came to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to work under Joe Sambrook as a postdoctoral fellow researching the protein production of SV40. She returned to CSIRO, establishing one of the first laboratories in Australia using genetic engineering approaches to study influenza virus structure, evolution and gene regulation. She has become involved in developing the biotechnological industry in Australia. Sleigh is founding director of the Australian Biotechnology Association and is the former Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Evogenix, a start-up biotechnology company located in Australia.