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The
Alumnae Association will honor genetic pioneer Peggy Pericak-Vance ’73
in Aurora during the convocation ceremony on the morning of June 7, 2003.
Margaret (Peggy) Pericak-Vance
’73 will receive the 2003 Wells College Alumnae Award for her groundbreaking
work, international recognition, and leadership in the field of genetics.
Her research centers on dissecting the underlying causes of a wide variety
of genetic disorders. She has designed and developed software to
discern genetic inheritance patterns in families from data previously considered
too limited to support such analysis. Peggy’s insight led to the
recognition of the major gene responsible for late onset Alzheimer’s Disease,
and she is today one of the world’s leading human geneticists. Currently,
her efforts are focused on studies in autism, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Alzheimer’s
disease, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, macular degeneration, Parkinson’s
disease, and muscular dystrophy. In addition to leading the ongoing
searches for genes that influence an individual’s risk of developing these
disorders, Peggy is also an innovator in the search for genes that control
the age at which symptoms first appear. By identifying the genes
that control the genesis of age-related diseases, it may become possible
to delay their onset beyond the human life span. This will make the
impact of Peggy’s work even more far reaching, shifting the focus of medicine
from treatment to prevention.
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It was in a genetics class at
Wells College that Peggy first realized that the process of unraveling
the hereditary aspects of DNA sequences involved the ultimate combination
of math and science, heritage and history. After graduating from
Wells with a degree in biology, she went on to Indiana University where
she received a Ph.D. in Medical Genetics and studied with Dr. P. Michael
Conneally, the current President of the American Society for Human Genetics.
She moved on to do a postdoctoral fellowship in biostatistics at the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with Dr. Robert Elston, the father of modern
statistical genetics. Peggy has always been at the forefront of the
field of human genetics and was a founding member of the American College
of Medical Genetics of the American Medical Association.
Today, Dr. Pericak-Vance
is director of the Duke Center for Human Genetics, James B. Duke Professor
of Medicine, and Chief, Section of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine,
at Duke University. Peggy and her Duke team have constructed one
of the largest DNA data banks in the world and have successfully mapped
susceptibility genes for more than a dozen neurological disorders, profoundly
advancing the field of neurogenetics. Last year, the Center expanded
its mission in an important way with a $1.5 million grant from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services to develop and implement a genetics
education program for educators who teach physician assistants, nurse practitioners
and nurse midwives. Peggy and her team have also provided a framework
for other researchers to use her techniques to further the understanding
of human genetics. Peggy has trained hundreds of researchers in this
critically important field, and her work will influence medical science
for years to come.
The awards and prizes bestowed
upon Peggy are astounding and too numerous to note in full, but several
are particularly worthy of mention here. In 1997, Newsweek magazine
included her in “The Century Club: 100 People to Watch as We Move to the
Next Millennium”. In 2001, she and her husband received a $100,000
research grant from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience for its
first Memory and Brain Disorders Awards. That same year, Peggy was
the recipient of the Louis-D. prize, an annual award from the Institut
de France, a world-renowned scientific academy comparable to our National
Academy of Sciences. Peggy was selected from 11 outstanding scientists
nominated from the U.S., Europe and Japan to receive this nearly three-quarter
million dollar prize to supplement her Alzheimer’s research. In 2002,
Peggy was inducted into the Western New York Women’s Hall of Fame.
Peggy is described by colleagues
as a remarkable leader of people, and a dedicated mentor to young women
scientists. Over half of her faculty in the Center for Human Genetics
are women. Over the past years, Peggy has continued her connection
to Wells, providing an internship, returning as a visiting leader-in-residence,
and delivering a Commencement address.
Peggy and her husband Jeffery
somehow find time to be active in their community, as well. They
have taught science in the local public schools and they established the
J.J. Vance Memorial Foundation in memory of their son to fund college scholarships
for outstanding male and female high school seniors who exemplify the qualities
of student-athlete-leader. The foundation also sponsors summer internships
in biological and computational sciences and is working to establish soccer
fields in the community.
Peggy will be presented the
2003 Wells College Alumnae Award in Aurora during Reunion Weekend. All
alumnae and friends are invited to join the Alumnae Association in honoring
Peggy during the convocation ceremony on the morning of June 7, 2003.
The Alumnae
Award Committee is actively seeking nominees for the Wells College Alumnae
Award. The Award honors Wells women of high achievement in professions
and careers, in volunteer and community work, in service to their alma
mater, or in some combination of these endeavors. Only living alumnae are
eligible, and no alumna may nominate herself. Both graduates and non-graduates
are considered alumnae. Points to be considered in making a nomination
are as follows: quality of performance in her field of creativity, continuity
of effort, leadership skills, willingness to accept responsibility, recognition
by her community, and loyalty to Wells. Please bear in mind that the research
process is lengthy and not all candidates who are reviewed will receive
the award. Hence, your nomination must remain confidential. The Alumnae
Award is a significant honor. Its meaning lies in selecting those who have
been uniquely empowered by their undergraduate experience – those who see
their Wells education as providing a special foundation or sense of direction
and whose subsequent contributions reflect distinction on them as well
as the college.
See last year's
2002 Award recipient
DOWNLOAD
INSTRUCTIONS
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following document is available so that you may print and return it to
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