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  • BioNews: Fall 2016
  • Huntington’s disease pioneer Nancy Wexler delivers inaugural Muller award lecture

Huntington’s disease pioneer Nancy Wexler delivers inaugural Muller award lecture

Monday, October 10, 2016

Wexler traveled to Venezuela to collect genetic information from the world’s largest family with Huntington’s disease.
Wexler traveled to Venezuela to collect genetic information from the world’s largest family with Huntington’s disease.

Professor Nancy S. Wexler from Columbia University and the Hereditary Disease Foundation, accepted her award and presented a lecture, “Mendel, Muller, Morgan, Mom, and me: an ever expanding voyage of discovery” during a ceremony on April 25, 2016.

Wexler, whose mother was a biologist and died of Huntington’s disease, became known as a gene hunter. Starting in 1979, she led research teams to Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, home to the world’s largest family with Huntington’s disease, to identify the HD genetic marker. In 1983 they found a DNA marker associated with the neighborhood of the HD gene. An international collaboration of more than 100 scientists began a search to find the HD gene itself, and a decade later, it was found. Wexler is now a self-proclaimed cure hunter on a quest to find treatments and cures for Huntington’s disease and related neurological disorders.

Dr. Helen Muller (left, daughter of Hermann Muller), Dr. Nancy Wexler (center), and Dr. Mike Lynch (Distinguished Professor of Biology)
Dr. Helen Muller (left, daughter of Hermann Muller), Dr. Nancy Wexler (center), and Dr. Mike Lynch (Distinguished Professor of Biology) share a laugh after the ceremony and lecture. Muller assisted IU Provost Lauren Robel in presenting the award to Wexler. Photo by Terri Greene, IU Biology.

The annual Hermann J. Muller Award for Contributions to Our Understanding of Genes and Society was established in 2016 to honor Muller and to recognize luminary international geneticists whose discoveries, like Muller’s, have or are making a significant impact on the field of genetics and society. “Nancy Wexler’s work is a perfect example of high caliber genetic research that has an enormous impact on human lives,” noted Clay Fuqua, IU Biology chair.

Watch the video of the award ceremony and Wexler’s presentation
Learn more about Hermann J. Muller Award for Contributions to Our Understanding of Genes and Society award and lecture series
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