The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has named Charles R. Scriver, M.D., Alva Professor Emeritus of Human Genetics, and Professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry (Associate), Biology (Honorary), and Human Genetics at McGill University; as the 2015 recipient of the annual Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award (http://www.ashg.org/pages/awards_overview.shtml#mckuskick). This award, named in honor of the late and legendary Victor A. McKusick, M.D., widely and quite legitimately regarded as the “father of medical genetics” for his seminal work establishing the field, recognizes individuals whose professional achievements have fostered and enriched the development of human genetics as well as its assimilation into the broader context of science, medicine, and health. The ASHG will present the McKusick Award, which will include a plaque and monetary prize, to Dr. Scriver on Friday, October 9, during the ASHG’s 65th Annual Meeting (http://www.ashg.org/2015meeting/) in Baltimore. There is not an award in all of genetics that is more prestigious than one that bears the name, and honors the memory, of the great Victor McKusick. Dr. Scriver has worked at McGill University in Montreal for more than 50 years, having founded the deBelle Laboratory for Biochemical Genetics in 1961. He has dedicated his career as a clinician-scientist to discovering, training, treating, and educating the public about inherited metabolic and other genetic diseases. After a year of clinical work at Children’s Medical Center, Harvard, followed by two years in the laboratory at University College Hospital Medical School, London, Dr. Scriver unexpectedly encountered a recurrent seasonal epidemic in Quebec, which affected thousands of infants and children with Vitamin D deficiency.Login Or Register To Read Full Story