March 11, 2025

Mary-Claire King to Receive Prestigious NAS Public Welfare Medal

The is presenting its Public Welfare Medal to esteemed 91探花researcher , the American Cancer Society Professor of the Department of Genome Sciences and of Medical Genetics, for her pioneering genetic research and its transformative application to human rights. The medal is the Academy鈥檚 most prestigious award and is presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for the public good.

King鈥檚 genetics work was instrumental in helping to reunite families separated by Argentina鈥檚 鈥淒irty War鈥� in the 1970s and 80s, when the dictatorship would abduct infants from families to be placed in the households of military and political loyalists. King developed a new method to establish kinship using DNA and a new mathematical model which has identified and reunited 138 families to date. 鈥淭hrough her visionary application of genetics, Mary-Claire King has transformed the way science can be used to seek justice and reunite families,鈥� said National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt. 鈥淗er work stands as a testament to the profound ways in which scientific discovery can address some of the world鈥檚 most pressing humanitarian challenges.鈥�

Also significant among King鈥檚 numerous accomplishments in genetic research is the discovery of the BRCA1 – the 鈥渂reast cancer gene鈥�- mutations which significantly increase a woman鈥檚 risk of breast cancer. The model and technique developed by Dr. King to identify BRCA1 led to many advances in cancer prevention and treatment and made it possible for people to be informed of important genetic information that can impact their health.

King was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 1994 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2005. The Public Welfare Medal will be presented to King on April 27 during the Academy鈥檚 162nd annual meeting. More information, including a list of past recipients, is available at聽.