Obituary
Frank Clarke Fraser (1920–2014) Geneticist who pioneered the fields of Medical Genetics, Genetic Counseling and Teratogenetics F. Clarke Fraser OC, PhD, MDCM, FRSC, FRCPS, FCCMG, DSc.(Acadia), DSc. (N.Y. at Potsdam), DSc (McGill), LLD (Dalhousie) died on December 17, 2014, at Digby, Nova Scotia. Clarke was born in the United States, on March 29, 1920, and spent much of his childhood in Jamaica, but his cultural roots were in Nova Scotia. During his pre-medical course at Acadia he became hooked on genetics, and, after his B.Sc. (1940), he entered graduate school in the Genetics Department at McGill. After completing his MSc and PhD in 1943 he joined the RCAF and, thanks to Veterans’ Allowances, he was able to enter medical school, receiving his M.D. degree from McGill in 1950. In lieu of an internship he started the Division of Medical Genetics at The Children’s Memorial Hospital (now The Montreal Children’s Hospital), and thus became Canada’s first medical geneticist. He eventually became the Molson Professor of Human Genetics at McGill, and remained there until, at age 62, he accepted a challenge to develop a program in Medical Genetics at Memorial University in St John’s, Newfoundland. At 65 he returned to McGill as from https://teratology.org/newsl/v15n3.pdf (with permission) View this article online at (wileyonlinelibrary.com). Doi: 10.1002/bdra.23359
C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. V
Molson Professor Emeritus of Human Genetics, where he remained until 1999, when he returned, with his wife, Dr. Marilyn Preus, to his family home in Bear River, Nova Scotia. Fraser’s career followed three parallel and interacting courses. He stumbled onto the fact that cortisone, given to pregnant mice, caused cleft palate in the offspring (the first known teratogenic drug), and found that the frequency of induced cleft palate varied with the genotypes of both mother and offspring. Thus started the field of teratogenetics. His studies of cleft palate provide an experimental basis for the multifactorial threshold model for congenital malformations. He also analysed the familial patterns of a variety of (mostly) pediatric disorders and malformations, and the characteristics of dysmorphic syndromes. These studies were done mainly to answer the questions of parents about the chances that such disorders would happen again in the family, and in what form. Thirdly, he explored the perceptions and attitudes of parents to genetic risks, and helped to develop the principles of genetic counselling, a discipline then in its infancy. Clarke Fraser wrote numerous papers in Human Genetics and Teratology, co-edited a 4-volume Handbook of Teratology, and co-authored two text-books, on Human and Medical Genetics, respectively, that jointly ran through seven editions. In 2006 he published a “popular” book for genealogists and others, on the genetics of common familial disorders. His last research publication was in 2009, and he remained active in editorial and consulting work until late in his life. Many of his trainees went on to productive careers in Canada or other parts of the world He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1985, and received a number of awards, including the Blackader Award of the CMA (1968), the Allen award (1978) and the Award of Excellence in Education (2000) from the American Society of Human Genetics, and the Wilder Penfield Prix de Quebec (1999), as well as four honorary degrees, from Acadia (1967), New York at Potsdam (1995), Dalhousie (2003), and McGill University (2010). He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2012. He served on a number of national and international committees, including the MRC Committee on Genetics, the NIH Genetics Study Section, and the WHO Expert Advisory Committee on Human Genetics. He was President of the American Society of Human Genetics, the Teratology Society, and the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists. From 1990-93 he served as head of the working group on genetics and prenatal diagnosis of the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies.
BIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH (PART A) 103:64–65 (2015)
Clarke was a quiet man, with a gentle sense of humour, who loved music and athletics, his family, and a Scotch before dinner. He played rugger until the age of 40, and tennis until 81. He is survived by his former wife, Beryl DeBlois, his wife, Marilyn Preus, four children - Norah, Noel, Alan, and Scott - and seven grandchildren - Trevor, Emmett, Megan, Gillian, Masha, Alexander, and Ogden.
65
As his epitaph he suggested “He tried to be good.” For further reading please consult the following reference: Clarke Fraser. 1990. Of Mice and Children: Reminiscences of a Teratogeneticist. Issues and Reviews in Teratology 5. New York: Plenum Press. pp. 1–75.
Frank Clarke Fraser (1920–2014) Geneticist who pioneered the fields of Medical Genetics, Genetic Counseling and Teratogenetics F. Clarke Fraser OC, PhD, MDCM, FRSC, FRCPS, FCCMG, DSc.(Acadia), DSc. (N.Y. at Potsdam), DSc (McGill), LLD (Dalhousie) died on December 17, 2014, at Digby, Nova Scotia. Clarke was born in the United States, on March 29, 1920, and spent much of his childhood in Jamaica, but his cultural roots were in Nova Scotia. During his pre-medical course at Acadia he became hooked on genetics, and, after his B.Sc. (1940), he entered graduate school in the Genetics Department at McGill. After completing his MSc and PhD in 1943 he joined the RCAF and, thanks to Veterans’ Allowances, he was able to enter medical school, receiving his M.D. degree from McGill in 1950. In lieu of an internship he started the Division of Medical Genetics at The Children’s Memorial Hospital (now The Montreal Children’s Hospital), and thus became Canada’s first medical geneticist. He eventually became the Molson Professor of Human Genetics at McGill, and remained there until, at age 62, he accepted a challenge to develop a program in Medical Genetics at Memorial University in St John’s, Newfoundland. At 65 he returned to McGill as from https://teratology.org/newsl/v15n3.pdf (with permission) View this article online at (wileyonlinelibrary.com). Doi: 10.1002/bdra.23359
C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. V
Molson Professor Emeritus of Human Genetics, where he remained until 1999, when he returned, with his wife, Dr. Marilyn Preus, to his family home in Bear River, Nova Scotia. Fraser’s career followed three parallel and interacting courses. He stumbled onto the fact that cortisone, given to pregnant mice, caused cleft palate in the offspring (the first known teratogenic drug), and found that the frequency of induced cleft palate varied with the genotypes of both mother and offspring. Thus started the field of teratogenetics. His studies of cleft palate provide an experimental basis for the multifactorial threshold model for congenital malformations. He also analysed the familial patterns of a variety of (mostly) pediatric disorders and malformations, and the characteristics of dysmorphic syndromes. These studies were done mainly to answer the questions of parents about the chances that such disorders would happen again in the family, and in what form. Thirdly, he explored the perceptions and attitudes of parents to genetic risks, and helped to develop the principles of genetic counselling, a discipline then in its infancy. Clarke Fraser wrote numerous papers in Human Genetics and Teratology, co-edited a 4-volume Handbook of Teratology, and co-authored two text-books, on Human and Medical Genetics, respectively, that jointly ran through seven editions. In 2006 he published a “popular” book for genealogists and others, on the genetics of common familial disorders. His last research publication was in 2009, and he remained active in editorial and consulting work until late in his life. Many of his trainees went on to productive careers in Canada or other parts of the world He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1985, and received a number of awards, including the Blackader Award of the CMA (1968), the Allen award (1978) and the Award of Excellence in Education (2000) from the American Society of Human Genetics, and the Wilder Penfield Prix de Quebec (1999), as well as four honorary degrees, from Acadia (1967), New York at Potsdam (1995), Dalhousie (2003), and McGill University (2010). He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2012. He served on a number of national and international committees, including the MRC Committee on Genetics, the NIH Genetics Study Section, and the WHO Expert Advisory Committee on Human Genetics. He was President of the American Society of Human Genetics, the Teratology Society, and the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists. From 1990-93 he served as head of the working group on genetics and prenatal diagnosis of the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies.
BIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH (PART A) 103:64–65 (2015)
Clarke was a quiet man, with a gentle sense of humour, who loved music and athletics, his family, and a Scotch before dinner. He played rugger until the age of 40, and tennis until 81. He is survived by his former wife, Beryl DeBlois, his wife, Marilyn Preus, four children - Norah, Noel, Alan, and Scott - and seven grandchildren - Trevor, Emmett, Megan, Gillian, Masha, Alexander, and Ogden.
65
As his epitaph he suggested “He tried to be good.” For further reading please consult the following reference: Clarke Fraser. 1990. Of Mice and Children: Reminiscences of a Teratogeneticist. Issues and Reviews in Teratology 5. New York: Plenum Press. pp. 1–75.
