Although internationally recognized today as a premier facility for biomedical exploration, the Research Institute started small. Organized separately from the Palo Alto Medical Clinic as a not-for-profit operation, the Institute -– then known as the Palo Alto Medical Research Foundation –- originally had just two scientists and four support staff members. But it did not take long for the organization to make an impact.

The Research Foundation's first director was Marcus Krupp, M.D., an internal medicine physician with experience in laboratory work. Dr. Krupp, who served as head of the organization for 36 years, recalled the first few months of operations in 1950: "We had no facilities at all and only $90,000 in start-up money. The Clinic agreed to provide an old house on Channing Avenue for our use. Over the next two months, we remodeled –- the dining room became the library, the living room was the reception area. Sinks and counters were added to the two upstairs bedrooms and closets so that we could have laboratory space. The kitchen and small room near the front porch served as my lab and office," he said.

Though lacking a sophisticated set-up, the Research Foundation was able to recruit promising young scientists. Its first hire, Barend Hofstee, Ph.D., would go on to develop international fame with a mathematical method for charting enzyme reactions that is still used in biochemical research today. In 1956, after only six years of existence, the Research Foundation was awarded a National Institutes of Health grant for the construction of new research facilities -– an endorsement of the organization's early "plans, ambitions and achievements," Dr. Krupp said.

With a new building completed in 1958, the Research Foundation was able to expand its staff. Scientists studied a variety of topics, from the genetics of microorganisms to the genesis of schizophrenia. Among the standout researchers who joined the organization in those years were Jack Remington, M.D., now considered the world's leading expert on toxoplasmosis (see page 10), and Anne Scitovsky, whose research on medical costs was an early example of the Research Foundation's strength in health services research, winning her election to the prestigious Institute of Medicine.

Then as now, the Research Foundation also served as a home for Clinic doctors who wanted to explore therapeutic ideas. Ophthalmologist Christian Zweng, for example, worked with research staff to develop a breakthrough laser treatment for retinal disease, one of the first applications of that technology to medical care in the world. The organization also pursued ties with outside scientists, hosting weekly seminars and helping to found the national Association for Independent Research Institutes, which still exists today.

The Research Foundation's scientists excelled outside the laboratory too. "Members of the research staff joined the volleyball league in Palo Alto and served with great distinction in winning several championships," Dr. Krupp recalled. Another highly competitive contest was the Wednesday afternoon bake-off, which "convened at 3 p.m. and broke up around 3:30," Dr. Krupp said. "It was a tradition to offer a second-place trophy, because we never wanted to have a first-place winner."

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