IMGS thanks Dr. Miriam Meisler!

IMGS would like to thank Dr. Miriam Meisler for her generous charitable donation to the society. Miriam was one of the founding members of IMGS and served on the original Secretariat, helping to write the first bylaws with Peter D’Eustachio and Joe Nadeau in consultation with Verne Chapman, Lee Silver, Peter Goodfellow and other members of the Secretariat (Phil Avner, Rudi Balling, Steve Brown, Verne Chapman, Jean-Louis Guenet, Mary Lyon, Joe Nadeau, Miriam Meisler, and Kazuo Moriwaki). She served as the first IMGS President from 1997-1999.  With Sally Camper, she organized the 9th IMGC in Ann Arbor, MI in 1995.

Miriam has warm memories of IMGC events.  "I have made a practice of sending my graduate students to the IMGS meetings, and they have always returned more literate geneticists, with a better appreciation of the history and breadth of the field. I sent students in the 90s, 2000s, 2010s and most recently my student, Quinn Doctrove to the meeting in Vancouver. An excellent investment!" She has fond memories of her time at the IMGC banquets, including being entertained by Jean Louis Guenet in Paris, the presentation of the haggis in Scotland, and Monica Justice and her cowboy outfit in Texas.

Miriam’s research focuses on using classical and molecular genetics to investigate neurological disorders related to phosphoinositol metabolism and sodium channel function, studying both human genetic disorders and mouse models relevant to human health. She has won many awards, including the Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award from the University of Michigan in 2017 and a Basic Science Research Award from the American Epilepsy Society in 2020.

IMGS is always happy for contributions and we hope we can help Miriam, and others, continue the scientific adventures!