350:, the study of chromosomes in cells, focuses on the identification and behavior of chromosomes, and Dr. Uchida was the first scientist to bring this technique to Canada. During ward rounds in the nursery to discuss cytogenetics of Down syndrome as well as a birth-defect syndrome found to be caused by trisomy 18, Dr. Uchida investigated the possibility of a newborn with this birth defect. She persuaded her lab, then studying chromosomes of fruit flies, to study the chromosomes from the blood sample taken from the nursery, found trisomy, and started Canada's first clinical cytogenetics program.
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Canada before the attack on Pearl Harbor that year, her mother and sisters remaining in Japan. Because of the war and the fear it created that the
Japanese minority in Canada were a security threat, Irene and her family members who were still in Canada were forced to leave their home and live in an internment camp at Christina Lake, British Columbia.
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In 1960, Dr. Uchida was appointed
Director of the Department of Medical Genetics at the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba and began teaching at University of Manitoba. After scientists in France discovered that people with Down syndrome had 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46, she decided
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The support and encouragement of one of her professors, Norma Ford Walker, head of the
Department of Zoology but soon to become the director of a newly formed Department of Genetics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, however, influenced Uchida to instead pursue the field of human genetics.
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Irene's parents owned two bookstores, so it is fitting that after high school she went on to study
English literature at the University of British Columbia. Her education was interrupted, however, after she travelled with her mother and sisters to Japan in 1941. She returned on the last ship back to
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In her career as a professor at
University of Manitoba, Dr. Uchida facilitated two studies to investigate a possible connection between extensive maternal radiation and Down syndrome births. The studies she conducted involved 972 children in each category studied, and she found strong evidence that
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During her childhood in
Vancouver, Irene experienced the tragic loss of her best friend in a traffic accident. Around this same time, she also lost her sister Sachi who died of Tuberculosis. These losses instilled in Irene the desire to help people, which is something she worked toward for the rest
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Irene Uchida, the daughter of
Japanese immigrants, was born in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. She has been described as feisty, fun-loving, and opinionated. Though originally named "Ayako," which means "Splendid" in Japanese, Irene's piano teacher found it too difficult to pronounce and so gave her the
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In 1970, Dr. Uchida founded the
Cytogenetics Laboratory at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Her expertise in genetics led to her become the President of the American Society of Human Genetics in 1960, a member of the Science Council of Canada from 1970 to 1973, a member of the Advisory
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While in this internment camp, Irene was asked to be the principal of a school for children of internees because of her university education. After her father chose to return to his wife in Japan as an exchange for Allied prisoners of war, Irene accepted the support of the United Church, which
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Dr. Uchida was the director of the
Cytogenetics Laboratory in Oshawa, Ontario, and was responsible for diagnosing chromosome differences in patients with abnormalities and developmental disabilities as well as diagnosed irregularities in the chromosomes of fetuses.
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in their subsequent pregnancies. She was also amongst those researchers in the 1960s who showed that the extra chromosome associated with Down
Syndrome is not always from the mother, but the father may be responsible for 25 per cent of the births.
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After she finished her PhD, Uchida went to work at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and began studying twins and children with Down syndrome, which was the most common severe birth abnormality at the time. She spent a year working on
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offered her a place to stay and encouraged her to finish her degree at University of Toronto. Uchida earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1946, intending to continue her education by getting a master's degree in social work.
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Committee on Genetic Services for Ontario in 1979, a consultant to the American Board of Medical Genetics in 1980, and a member of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists from 1980 to 1984, among other things.
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Dr. Uchida published more than 95 scientific papers and received numerous awards for her research including Woman of the Century 1867-1967 for Manitoba and the Order of Canada in 1993.
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After suffering from Alzheimer's disease for over a decade, Irene died in a nursing home in Toronto on July 30, 2013, at the age of 96.
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and became a professor at the University of Manitoba (National Library of Canada and National Archives of Canada, 1997). She moved to
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in 1969, founding the cytogenetics laboratory. She became a professor in the pediatrics and pathology departments until leaving for
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name "Irene." Irene was an accomplished musician and played violin and organ in addition to the piano.
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In 1960 she became the director of the Department of Medical Genetics at the Children's Hospital in
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abdominal x-ray exposure led to nondisjunction in their pregnancies and risk of birth defects.
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at the time, and was able to catch a ship out of Japan prior to the Japanese attack on
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at the University of Wisconsin, who later discovered trisomy 13, initially dubbed
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Uchida, IreneA.; Holunga, Roberta; Lawler, Carolyn (16 November 1968).
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654:"Passages: Renowned geneticist began from scratch after internment"
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197:(April 8, 1917 – July 30, 2013) was a Canadian scientist and
417:"Irene Uchida, world-renowned leader in genetics research"
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242:. Her professors encouraged her to pursue a career in
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346:to investigate the cause of the extra chromosome.
607:"Maternal Radiation and Chromosomal Aberrations"
282:to direct the cytogenetics laboratory in 1991.
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227:In Canada, she and her family were sent to an
238:where she wanted to get a master's degree in
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51:introducing citations to additional sources
723:"Irene Uchida: Seeing the Truly Wonderful"
319:In 1951 she completed her PhD in zoology.
231:in the Slocan Valley during World War II.
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234:In 1944 she continued her studies at the
285:In 1993, she was made an Officer of the
41:Relevant discussion may be found on the
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781:21st-century Canadian women scientists
771:20th-century Canadian women scientists
508:The American Journal of Human Genetics
821:University of British Columbia alumni
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686:"Editorial | Dr. Irene Ayako Uchida"
801:Canadian people of Japanese descent
464:Dickson, Kathleen; Bergeron, John.
502:Davidson, Ronald G. (2013-10-03).
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776:21st-century Canadian biologists
766:20th-century Canadian biologists
34:relies largely or entirely on a
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811:Officers of the Order of Canada
415:Plokhii O (13 September 2013).
334:chromosomes, training with Dr.
214:University of British Columbia
169:University of British Columbia
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623:10.1016/s0140-6736(68)91525-0
836:University of Toronto alumni
831:Canadian medical researchers
652:Nolan, Daniel (2013-09-08).
504:"Irene A. Uchida, 1917–2013"
806:Japanese-Canadian internees
739:Library and Archives Canada
721:Watada T (30 August 2013).
138:Vancouver, British Columbia
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796:Canadian women geneticists
574:10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.09.005
520:10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.09.005
816:Scientists from Vancouver
786:Canadian women biologists
556:Rosen R (December 1986).
470:The Canadian Encyclopedia
562:Cancer Treatment Reports
491:Order of Canada citation
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280:Oshawa General Hospital
690:The Hamilton Spectator
658:The Hamilton Spectator
395:Canadian Encyclopedia
236:University of Toronto
173:University of Toronto
791:Canadian geneticists
735:"Irene Ayako Uchida"
441:"Irene Ayako Uchida"
47:improve this article
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276:McMaster University
472:. Historica Canada
421:The Globe and Mail
250:and children with
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761:2013 deaths
756:1917 births
336:Klaus Patau
240:social work
103:August 2013
750:Categories
703:2022-10-15
671:2019-02-05
611:The Lancet
476:8 February
450:2018-04-07
445:Science.ca
426:2018-03-26
377:References
331:Drosophila
293:Early life
182:Geneticist
179:Occupation
130:1917-04-08
73:newspapers
698:1189-9417
666:1189-9417
631:0140-6736
528:0002-9297
306:Education
206:Vancouver
165:Education
43:talk page
400:26 March
272:Winnipeg
262:such as
244:genetics
204:Born in
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140:, Canada
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524:ISSN
478:2024
402:2020
146:Died
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