Dr. Jonathan L. Hartwell (1906-1991) worked at the National Cancer Institute from 1938 until his retirement from the NCI's Natural Products Section in 1975. He studied botanical sources for cancer treatment for most of his career. Hartwell's book, Plants Used Against Cancer, was published in 1981 by Quarterman Publications in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and although it is Hartwell's most quoted work, it still was one of only a hundred or more papers and books which Hartwell authored. (1)
He was personally responsible for the initiation and early development of the research programs for natural products at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and gave impetus to the creation of a systematic search for plants and marine animals with anticancer activity, an ongoing project for over 30 years. (2)
His influence in organizing the natural products research programs at the NCI led to the initial and continuing funding of major research groups around the United States, including those of pioneers such as Jack Cole, Norman Farnsworth, S. Morris Kupchan, G. Robert Pettit, and Monroe Wall. The discovery and development of a wide variety of structurally and mechanistically diverse compounds by these investigators have provided invaluable tools for many researchers in biochemistry, molecular pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry. (2)
The impact of the NCI program in demonstrating that plants and animals were, indeed, useful sources of exciting structural leads, led to screening programs in other pharmacological areas. There would certainly be much less support for plant and marine biomedical research today if not for Dr. Hartwell's trailblazing efforts. His many contributions to pharmacognosy led to his being chosen as an Honorary Member of the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) in 1973. (2)
Dr. Hartwell was a native of Boston and studied at Harvard University where he received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in 1927, 1929, and 1935, respectively. After completing his doctoral work, and holding industrial positions at duPont and Interchemical Corporation, he was a research fellow in Preventive Medicine & Hygiene at Harvard in 1938, a position which led to his interest in cancer and carcinogenesis. (2)
He joined NCI in 1939 shortly after its formation and served for 36 years until his retirement in 1975. His positions included: Head of the Organic Chemistry Section, Laboratory of Chemistry and Pharmacology; Assistant Chief of the Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center (CCNSC); Head, Natural Products Section, Drug Research and Development Branch; and Chief of the Research Communications Branch. In addition to the ASP, Dr. Hartwell was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Society for Economic Botany, and the Phytochemical Society of North America. (2)
His interest in plants as a source of anticancer agents led him to compile a thorough work on traditional and folkloric uses of plants for treatment of cancer which covered references to literature from ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman eras through the period of European discovery in the Americas and Africa to the 1900s. This was originally published in 11 installments in Lloydia from 1967-1971 and has since been reprinted in a single volume, Plants Used Against Cancer: A Survey. This monumental work incorporates many references to rare original materials. (2)
He was employed by both DuPont and Interchemical Corporation before his association with the National Cancer Institute in 1938. As head of the National Products Section, Hartwell devoted himself to the reserach and administration of cancer research. He was honored with a seat on the editorial board of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology as well as membership in the professional societies: the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Pharmacognosy, the Society for Economic Botany, and the Phytochemical Society of North America. Hartwell died on March 22, 1991 in Washington, D.C., where he resided with his wife, Ann. (1)
1. http://www.altcancer.com/hartwell.htm
2. http://www.encognitive.com/node/4384
Projects, TTD/QTBA/FU:
1. Find the papers and correspondence of Dr. Jonathan Hartwell. They could be at NCI, the NIH Library, National Library of Medicine, NARA, or elsewhere;
2. Find the 3,000 pamphlets and books that Richard Lucas, on page 230 of Nature's Medicines (1966) said that Hartwell had collected in relation to anti-cancer remedies. This is the quote from Lucas: "Dr. Jonathan Hartwell .... has spent many years gathering material on folk medicine as it pertains to cancer. He (Hartwell) estimates that he has collected over 3,000 pamplets and books on the subject for handy reference when the merits of folk medicine are tested by scientists." On p. 230, Lucas also quotes Harwell as saying that he (Hartwell) had received a letter from a Michigan farmer telling that the farmer had used "the violet plant" as a skin cancer remedy. So people must have written letters to Hartwell on this subject, and that correspondence must be somewhere too.
Notes and Observations:
1. January 10, 2014: John H. Reed, M.D., searched ArchivGrid for Hartwell's papers, but they were not found to be in that database. In fact, Jonathan Hartwell was not mentioned in any other collection either, which seemed very unusual.
2. January 10, 2014: The webpage for NCI's Natural Products Branch (NPB), which Hartwell helped found early in NCI's history is at: http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/branches/npb/index.html . The NPB staff directory is at: http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/branches/npb/staff.html