Interview with Yusuf Abul-Hajj

Yusuf Abul-Hajj was born in Jerusalem, Palestine. He earned his bachelor’s in 1962 and his master’s in 1964, both from American University of Beirut. He moved to the United States and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin’s College of Pharmacy in 1968. He was recruited to the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota by Dean Lawrence Weaver in 1968. His research has primarily concerned the relationships between estrogen and cancer. More specifically, he has investigated how tumors can transform cholesterol into estrogen, the development of alternative treatments for breast cancer, specifically aromatase inhibitors, and how estrogens are involved in carcinogenesis. He served as head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry from 1984 to 2005. Dr. Abul-Hajj continues to serve as a professor in the College of Pharmacy.