Editing Irene Uchida (section)

==Early life==
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 name "Irene." Irene was an accomplished musician who played violin and organ, in addition to the piano.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Davidson|first=Ronald G.|date=2013-10-03|title=Irene A. Uchida, 1917–2013|url= |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|language=English|volume=93|issue=4|pages=591–594|doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.09.005|issn=0002-9297|pmc=3791260}}</ref>

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 of her life.