Geneticist Wins Lifetime Achievement Award from Alzheimer’s Association

Margaret Pericak-Vance, the Dr. John T. MacDonald Foundation Professor of Human Genomics and Director of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami, received the 2011 Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alzheimer’s Association at the organization’s international conference in Paris.

Dr. Pericak-Vance was instrumental in finding the first genetic evidence for Alzheimer’s disease in the 1990s. Now, she co-leads the analysis team for the Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), which is creating a definitive map of the Alzheimer’s genetic landscape.

Dr. Pericak-Vance is a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics. She is a graduate of Wells College in Aurora, New York, and received her Ph.D. in medical genetics from Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis.