Vazken Der Kaloustian

OCCUPATIION

Professor of Pediatrics and Human Genetics, McGill University. Director, "The F. Clarke Fraser Clinical Genetics Unit," Montreal Children's Hospital.

RELEVANT ACTIVITIES IN APPLIED HUMAN GENETICS

Research, teaching and clinical service in medical genetics since 1968, first at the American University of Beirut (American University Medical Center from 1968 to 1986) and then at McGill University in Montreal (Montreal Children's Hospital, from 1986 to present).

Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics (1967), the American Board of Medical Genetics (Clinical Genetics - 1987) and Fellow of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists (Clinical Genetics - 1989).

Member of the American Society of Human Genetics (1989 - ), founding member of the American College of Medical Genetics (1993), member of the scientific advisory board of the Canadian Angelman Syndrome Society ( CASS, 1996 - ), member of the scientific advisory board of the Canadian Organization of Rare Disorders (CORD, 1996 - ).

Member of committees of experts of international organizations as UNESCO (Varna, Bulgaria, 1975) and WHO (member of the Working Group for the Community Control of Hereditary Anemias, Geneva, 1981, member of the Working Group on Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency as Related to Health Strategies, Geneva, 1985; president of the Working Group for the Standardization of Research Methodologies for the Control of Hereditary Diseases, Alexandria, Egypt, 1995). Consultant of WHO in Kuwait in 1980 for Hereditary Diseases; in Oman in 1981 for the Study of Congenital Malformations of the heart; in Kuwait in 1993 to organize a service for applied molecular genetics.

Member of the editorial boards of the American Journal of Medical Genetics (1981 - ), Birth Defects Encyclopedia and Dysmorphology and Clinical Genetic.

PRINCIPAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Founder of the National Unit of Human Genetics, American University of Beirut, 1981.

Author of more than 120 articles and chapters in scientific journals and specialized publications in Pediatrics and, especially, Medical Genetics.

Author of three books:

Genetic Diseases of the Skin - Springer - 1979. The Kidney in Genetic Disease - Churchill Livingstone - 1986.

PUBLICATIONS

Der Kaloustian MV, Kleijer W, Booth A, Auerbach AD, Mazer B, Elliott AM, Abish S, Usher R, Watters G, Vekemans M, Eydoux P: A possible new variant of the Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome. Am J Med Genet 65:21-26, 1996. Treacy E, Vekemans M, Polychronakos C, Blaichman S, Xu Y, Der Kaloustian VM: Translocation between chromosomes 6 and 15 [45,XX,t(6;15)(q25;q11.20] and detailed mapping of insulin-like growth factor II/mannose-6-phosphate receptor. J Med Genet Kibar Z, Der Kaloustian VM, Brais B, Hani V, Fraser FCF, Rouleau G: The gene responsible for Clouston hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia maps to the pericentromeric region of chromosome 13q. Hum Mol Genet 5:543-547, 1996. Gerber S, Larget-Piet D, Rozet J-M, Bormeau D, Mathieu M, Der Kaloustian V, Munnich A, Kaplan J: Evidence for a fourth locus in Usher syndrome type I. J Med Genet 33:77-79, Wayne S, Der Kaloustian VM, Schloss M, Polomeno R, Scott DA, Sheffield VC, Smith RJH: Localization of the Usher Syndrome Type 1D Gene (Ush 1D) to chromosome 10. Hum Mol Genet 5:1689-1692, 1996.

ADDED BY SEVAG Y. BELIAN