The award recognizes Prof. Palmour’s seminal contributions to genetic counselling education at McGill, including the establishment of the MSc in Genetic Counselling program 

 

Roberta Palmour, PhD, a renowned professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been given the Lifetime Academic Achievement Award by the Department of Human Genetics.  

 

The award was presented at a special event at the Department on November 22 and recognizes her seminal contribution to genetic counselling education at McGill.  

 

The Department of Human Genetics’ Lifetime Academic Achievement Award was created in 2013 to honour faculty members in the year of their retirement who have made an outstanding contribution to the Department’s educational mission. 

 

A Professor in the departments of human genetics and psychiatry, Prof. Palmour came to McGill from University of California, Berkeley, in 1982. In addition to establishing her own program of research at McGill, Roberta established the MSc in Genetic Counselling program – the first of its kind in Canada.  

 

“The McGill program has mentored and been the model for other university genetic counselling programs in development over the years and continues to provide support to our colleagues,” said Jennifer Fitzpatrick, MSc, CGC, Director of the MSc in Genetic Counselling Program and Assistant Professor, Department of Human Genetics.  

 

Since its establishment, the program has 168 graduates spread across the globe, in countries including Canada, the United States, Greece, Ireland, St. Kitts and Dubai. Many have become genetic counselling program directors at universities in Canada and abroad. Graduates also work in genetic clinics, research settings, commercial testing laboratories, public health units and in government departments such as Health Canada and l’Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS).  

 

The award also acknowledged Prof. Palmour’s role in running BIOL 370 Human Genetics Applied since the mid-1980s, following its creation by the late F. Clarke Fraser, MD, PhD. Attracting an average of 30 to 80 students each year, it was, for decades, the only undergraduate course that explicitly discussed the ways in which human genetics can be applied to healthcare. It has also sparked interest in many undergraduates to pursue careers in human genetics, medical genetics and genetic counselling.  

 

“The genetic counselling profession lives and breathes because of Prof. Palmour,” said Prof. Fitzpatrick. “We shall always remain grateful to her for her contribution to the global genetic counselling community.” 

 

Please join us in congratulating Prof. Palmour!