Wladimir Wertelecki is a Pediatrician and Medical Geneticist who in 1974 established one of the first free-standing Departments of Medical Genetics[1] at the new South Alabama University College of Medicine in Mobile, Alabama, U.S.A. Since 1996 and following his retirement as Chairman and Emeritus Professor of Medical Genetics, Pediatrics, and Pathology, he has continued his investigations of developmental anomalies and their prevention as a Project Scientist at the Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego. Since 1996, his research has focused mainly on alcohol and ionizing radiation impacts on congenital anomalies. He is the author over 135 scientific reports. In 2000, he established[2] the OMNI-Net Ukraine Programs to investigate reproductive risks posed by exposures to alcohol and Chornobyl ionizing radiation. He established a regional network of clinics across southern Alabama and West Florida and in 1978 organized the Southern Genetic Group, which expanded into the South-Eastern Regional Genetics Group, enhancing genetic services in six states.[3] Wertelecki also contributed to the efforts by local Native-Americans to gain Federal Recognition as Native-Americans in Alabama.[4][5] In 1992, he made a presentation to the US Senate regarding the reproductive risks posed by the Chornobyl radiation.[6] Following an initial sponsorship by USAID, he established OMNI-Net programs in Ukraine, a not-for-profit network to provide training and to engage Ukrainian professionals to conduct monitoring of the frequency of birth defects.
Wladimir Wertelecki | |
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Born | (1936) In Rivne, Volyn, Ukraine (at the time Poland) |
Residence | USA |
Fields | Clinical Teratology, Genetics and Pediatrics |
Postgraduate | Intern, Muniz Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1961 - 1962). Intern, Deaconess Hospital, St. Louis, MO, U.S. (1963). Resident in Pediatrics, St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO (1964 - 1966). Fellow in Clinical Genetics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (1966 - 1968) |
Institutions | Instructor, Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (1968-1969). Senior Surgeon, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps., Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD (1969-1972). Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC (1972). Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Pathology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC (1973-1974). Professor and Chairman, Department of Medical Genetics, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (1974-2010). Professor Emeritus, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (2010-). Director, OMNI-Net Ukraine, Birth Defects Monitoring Programs (1999-) |
Alma mater | Medical School, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina (1956-1961) |
Mentors | Taras Mykysha, Volodymyr Lasovskyi, Bernardo Houssay, Niсeto S. Loizaga, M.D., Alexis Hartmann, Harold Cummins, PhD., Josef Warkany, Daniel C. Gajdusek, John Gofman |
Currently known for | Population-based monitoring of developmental anomalies in Chornobyl-impacted regions |
Notable awards | Corresponding Member of the "Academia Nacional de Medicina" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences (Kyiv, Ukraine), Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Lviv Medical University (Lviv, Ukraine) |
Wertelecki initiated his medical education in 1955 at the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires. As a student of medical basics, he undertook additional studies to qualify as a teaching assistant in human anatomy (1957) and in physiology (1958). These extra-curricular engagements were formative. His engagement with anatomy led to the observation of an instance of an anatomic atavism (“maneus muscle”) which stimulated his interest in anatomical variants, anomalies, and evolution.[7] His interest in physiology opened an opportunity for him to join a research team headed by Dr. Virgilio G. Foglia, an expert in the experimental production of diabetes in the rat. This team, one of several, were coordinated by Dr. Bernardo Houssay, a Nobel Prize winner, and was dedicated to defining factors regulating blood sugar, pre-diabetes, diabetes, and their impacts on embryonal development. Wertelecki's first scientific reports concerned reproductive impacts and birth weights.[8] As a student of clinical medicine, Wertelecki was granted a University scholarship and became an assistant to Dr. Niceto S. Loizaga,[9] an expert in Semiology (skills to recognize signs as signals of syndromes and diagnoses) (1958-1961). Wertelecki's task, among other, was the coordination of a clinic caring for Down syndrome patients, then referred to as “Mongolism”. This experience added to his interest in Genetics and birth defects, which prompted him to seek further training in the United States (1991). After completing a rotating internship (1962-1963), he became a pediatric resident (1963-1965) at the Department of Pediatrics, St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University headed by Dr. Alexis F. Hartmann, one of the first to use insulin to treat diabetic children.[10] During his residency, his semiology skills led to his first scientific report in the U.S. - recognition of cantharidin poisoning of children.[11] Wertelecki's sought further training in Clinical Genetics as a fellow at the Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (1965-1968). His tasks included participation in the Phenylketonuria Treatment clinic[12] and the development of computer-aided programs to gather family reproductive histories. His publications include the recognition and significance of partial loss of a segment of chromosome 18 (contradicting the presumption that such events are lethal). Another report concerned computer-aided role of gathering family reproductive histories.[13][14] During 1968-1970, Wertelecki studied clinical epidemiology while serving as a Senior Surgeon (Commander) of the US Public Health Corp at the Epidemiology Branch of the National Cancer Institute) and consultant in Medical Genetics at the Naval National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Having access to computerized medical records and to the National Institutes of Health Clinics, he demonstrated that therapies prescribed to epileptic women had children with a higher frequency of facial clefts and that leukemia was unduly heavier at birth.[15] He also analyzed the fingertip ridged skin patterns of leukemic children.[16] The complexities of these investigations and analyses, led Wertelecki to incorporate perspectives of distinguished advisors and collaborators, including Mr. Nathan Mantel after whom a statistical test is named, Dr. Robert W. Miller who defined provocative associations of particular birth defects with particular cancers. Regarding dermal ridges, Wertelecki formed a life-long partnership with Dr. C.C. Plato, a pioneer of Dermatoglyphics, a discipline dedicated to the study of dermal (volar skin) ridges. The cited investigations also led Wertelecki toward another life-long association with Dr. Josef Warkany, considered the main pioneer and founder of the Teratology Society dedicated to studying birth defects.[17][18]
In 1971, Wertelecki became an Assistant Professor, and in 1972 an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology at the Medical University of South Carolina. A report of the characteristics of Triploidy syndrome[19] reflects his interest in Semiology and medical students - the medical student co-author is a recognized authority in Medical Genetics (JG). In 1974, Wertelecki joined the University of South Alabama Medical University, a newly established institution. His main task was establishing a free-standing Department of Medical Genetics, arguably among the country's first. He recruited as Distinguished Visiting Progressors, Drs. J. Warkany and H. Zellweger, both recognized as world leaders of pediatrics and advocates of preventive public health policies. In 1978, Wertelecki was the prime organizer of the Southeastern Regional Genetics Group (SERG) dedicated to coordinating regional resources and clinical services along with initiatives to promote computer-driven data collection of genetic services. His department became an accredited site for training physicians in Clinical Genetics and Clinical Cytogenetics. In addition to U.S. graduates, international trainees included those from Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Sri Lanka, China, India, among others.
In 1986, the impact of the Chornobyl disaster on Wertelecki was considerable. He noted that during the International Congress of Human Genetics of 1986 and 1991, the attention to potential Chornobyl ionizing radiation impacts on human embryos was modest. In 1992,[20] Wertelecki was invited to address a U.S. Senate Committee regarding Chernobyl and child health. In 1996, he received a small grant from Child Health to organize a Symposium during the Human Genetics International Congress of 1996 on the subject of Chornobyl radiation impacts on child development. The participating International experts, including those from Belarus and Ukraine, defined areas of concern and potential investigations. Wertelecki sought further advice from John William Gofman (Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology at University of California at Berkeley), Daniel Carleton Gajdusek (Pediatrician winner of the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the human prion disease), Jennifer L Howse (President of the March of Dimes Foundation), Mike Katz (Vice-President for Science, March of Dimes Foundation), Godfrey Oakley (Director of the Division of Birth Defects of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), among others. In 1999, a plan to establish a population based monitoring of birth defects upholding international standards in several regions of Ukraine was submitted and approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, Wertelecki accepted to be the director of the project now referred to as OMNI-Net Ukraine Programs. In 2000, with initial support from the USAID, population surveillance of birth defects monitoring was initiated. In 2002, OMNI-Net data documented a high frequency of spina bifida, which persists to the present.[21][22][23] Since then, OMNI-Net members advocate for the introduction of mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid to reduce spina bifida and related disorders by at least 50%.
In 2006, OMNI-Net qualified for full membership of the European birth defects monitoring network (EUROCAT) and became a participant in the Collaborative Initiative of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Consortium (CIFASD) In 2021, OMNI-Net restarted a Spina Bifida – Hydrocephalus prevention initiative by petitions to the President and Prime Minister to introduce folic acid mandatory fortification of flour in Ukraine. This narrative is further illustrated by an annotated bibliography of peer reviewed scientific reports and other creative publications by Wertelecki and OMNI-Net members, which by May 2021 approach 190 in number.
Amond others:
Among others, past and current:
(among others, for complete bibliography please see PubMed [25])
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Among others:
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