Clarke Fraser

Frank Clarke Fraser, OC, FRSC (born 29 March 1920) is a Canadian medical geneticist. He was Canada's first medical geneticist.

Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he returned with his family to Canada when he was an infant. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1940 from Acadia University, a Master of Science degree in 1941, a Ph.D. in 1945, and a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1950 from McGill University. During World War II, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

In 1950, he joined McGill University as an Assistant Professor of Genetics. In 1955, he was appointed an Associate and in 1960 was made a full professor. From 1970 to 1982, he was the Molson Professor of Genetics in the Department of Biology. From 1973 to 1982, he was also a Professor of Paediatrics. From 1979 to 1982, he was a Professor in the McGill Centre for Human Genetics. From 1952 to 1982, he was the founder and Director of the Department of Medical Genetics at the Montreal Children's Hospital, the first Canadian medical genetics department in a pediatric hospital. From 1982 to 1985, he was a Professor of Clinical Genetics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. From 1990 to 1993, he was the Director of the Genetics Working Group of the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies.

In 1966, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1984, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1999, he was awarded the Government of Quebec's Prix Wilder-Penfield, awarded for achievement in the biomedical sciences.

Fraser made contributions in three areas. He collected data on recurrence risks for a number of pediatric conditions, to answer the questions of the parents of affected children. He helped develop the principles of genetic counseling. He showed that cortisone, injected into pregnant mice, caused cleft palates in the offspring, and that the frequency of induced clefts varied with the genotype, thus bringing genetics into teratology. From this he developed the multifactorial threshold model that underlies many common familial conditions.

References

• "Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry". University of Toronto Press. http://utpress.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=fowlis&t=68546&d=4142. Retrieved October 13, 2006. 
• "Prix du Québec". McGill Reporter. http://www.reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/Rep/r3207/prix.html. Retrieved October 13, 2006. 

External links

• Frank Clarke Fraser at The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Name	Fraser, Clarke
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Date of birth	29 March 1920
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