In Memoriam: Athena Milatovich Cherry, 1959-2020

Athena Cherry, professor of pathology and of pediatrics at the Stanford School of Medicine, died last month at her home in Stanford. She was 60 years old and had suffered from lung cancer.

Dr. Cherry was the director of Stanford’s Cytogenetics Laboratory, where she oversaw, evaluated, and diagnosed thousands of patient cases each year. Cytogenetics is the study of the structure and function of chromosomes in normal and diseased cells.

“Dr. Cherry will be missed greatly, not just by those who worked closely with her for decades, but by the greater cytogenetics community,” said Lloyd Minor, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine. “Her influence in her field was widespread.”

A native of Indianapolis, Dr. Cherry received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in medical genetics from the Indiana University School of Medicine. She joined the Stanford faculty in 1995 as the director of the cytogenetics laboratory and an assistant professor of pediatrics. Professor Cherry also served as president of the American Board of Medical Genetics.