On Sept. 4, 1943, Dr. Carl Voegtlin resigned as director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Voegtlin became the first director of the National Cancer Institute in 1937.  The NCI was established by Congress with the National Cancer Institute Act of 1937 (Senate Bill 2067). Dr. Voegtlin was previously chief of the Division of Pharmacology at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Dr. Voegtlin is remembered for his work into the biochemical effects of cancer, the pharmacology of arsenicals, and the discovery of mapharsen with Homer Smith at New York University School of Medicine.  Mapharsen was the active agent in Paul Ehrlich’s Salvarsan used in the treatment of syphilis.