John J. Mulvihill, M.D., '65
As a student on Mount St. James, John J. Mulvihill '65 could often be found behind a microphone in the WCHC studio.
Today, as one of the leading experts in the field of medical genetics, John broadcasts crucial, pioneering scholarship regarding the genetics of human cancer.
Following graduation from Holy Cross, John received his M.D. from the University of Washington Medical School. After completing an internship in medicine and pediatrics at the University of Washington Hospital, he spent two years as a research associate at the National Cancer Institute; in 1972, he completed his residency training in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
From 1974-1990, John served as the chief of the clinical genetics section of the National Cancer Institute. Concurrently, from 1983-1989, he served as the director of the National Institutes of Health's Inter-institute Medical Genetics Training Program and as the director of the National Board Review Courses for Medical Genetics.
In 1990, John founded the department of human genetics in the graduate school of public health at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1998, he became the Kimberly V. Talley/Children's Medical Research Institute Chair in Genetics and professor of pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center.
The recipient of the United States Public Health Service's Distinguished Service Medal, John is the author of over 270 papers and 150 scientific abstracts. The co-founder and second president of the International Genetic Epidemiology Society, John also edits the society's journal, Genetic Epidemiology. Considered by his peers to be one of the preeminent authorities on the genetic component in the areas of birth defects, neurofibromatosis and familial cancer, John was selected to revise and re-edit The Catalog of Human Cancer Genes.
For his tireless scholarship grounded in unrelenting compassion, for his selfless dedication to the advancement of the healing arts, for his impassioned desire to solve the puzzle of human disease, the College of the Holy Cross presents to John J. Mulvihill the Sanctae Crucis Award.