Editing Irene Uchida (section)

==Career==

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 ''[[Drosophila]]'' chromosomes, training with Dr. [[Klaus Patau]] at the University of Wisconsin, who later discovered trisomy 13, initially dubbed [[Patau syndrome|Patau's syndrome]].<ref name = "Rosen_1986" />

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 the University of Manitoba. After scientists in France discovered that people with Down syndrome had 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46, she decided to investigate the cause of the extra chromosome. [[Cytogenetics]], 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 the 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.<ref name = "Rosen_1986" />

In her career as a professor at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Uchida facilitated two studies to investigate a possible connection between extensive maternal radiation and Down syndrome births.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Uchida |first1=IreneA. |last2=Holunga |first2=Roberta |last3=Lawler |first3=Carolyn |title=Maternal Radiation and Chromosomal Aberrations |date=16 November 1968 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(68)91525-0 |journal=The Lancet |volume=292 |issue=7577 |pages=1045–1049 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(68)91525-0 |pmid=4176862 |issn=0140-6736|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The studies she conducted involved 972 children in each category studied, and she found strong evidence that abdominal x-ray exposure led to nondisjunction in their pregnancies and risk of birth defects.

In 1970, Dr. Uchida founded the Cytogenetics Laboratory at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Her expertise in genetics led to her becoming 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 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.

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.

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thespec.com/news-story/4069849-passages-renowned-geneticist-began-from-scratch-after-internment/|title=Passages: Renowned geneticist began from scratch after internment|last=Nolan|first=Daniel|date=2013-09-08|work=The Hamilton Spectator|access-date=2019-02-05|language=en-CA|issn=1189-9417}}</ref>