Origins & Early Life

Victor Almon McKusick (October 21, 1921 – July 22, 2008) was an American internist and medical geneticist, and Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He was a proponent of the mapping of the human genome due to its utility for studying congenital diseases. He is well known for his studies of the Amish. He was the original author and, until his death, remained chief editor of Mendelian Inheritance in Man (MIM) and its online counterpart Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM).

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He is widely known as the "father of medical genetics". Victor McKusick and his identical twin Vincent L. McKusick were born on October 21, 1921. Victor was one of five children. His father was a graduate of Bates College.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Before deciding to work as a dairy farmer, Victor's father served as a high school principal in Chester, Vermont. Victor's mother had been an elementary school teacher before marrying. Victor and his siblings were raised on a dairy farm in Parkman, Maine. During the summer of 1937, Victor suffered a severe microaerophilic Streptococcus infection in his axilla. As a result, Victor spent time in two hospitals, one of which was Massachusetts General...

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