Internationally recognized alumna to present 'Serendipity an

Skidmore alumna Felicia Axelrod '62, Carl Seaman Family Professor of Dysautonomia Treatment and Research and Professor of Neurology at New York University Medical Center, will be on campus to give a lecture at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. Titled "Serendipity and Science," her talk is part of the Skidmore Women in Science Lectures in Human Health, sponsored by the Lubin Family Professorship for Women in Science and Brain Awareness Month.

Axelrod says that serendipity and science have worked synergistically to shape her own personal journey?from her time at Skidmore to her present role at NYU Medical Center. She will also discuss the rewards and joys that come with a career dedicated to taking care of children with the rare genetic disease familial dysautonomia.

Axelrod completed her undergraduate training at Skidmore College and then entered New York University School of Medicine. Her training in pediatrics was at NYU-Bellevue and a yearlong genetics fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital. Since 1969, she has been the director of the Dysautonomia Treatment and Evaluation Center at NYU Medical Center, where she has concentrated on clinical research pertaining to the genetic disorder familial dysautonomia.

Through her clinical research and publications, Axelrod has achieved international recognition for her expertise in the treatment and care of FD patients and other developmental autonomic and sensory neuropathies. Largely through her efforts, FD is now better understood, and treatment programs have been devised which have greatly benefited FD patients and their parents. She is now president-elect of the American Autonomic Society, serves as a reviewer for various journals, and is an editorial board member of Clinical Autonomic Research.

In addition to the above commitments, Axelrod's involvement with the NYU School of Medicine remains very important; she participates on a number of committees and organizations related to medical school and hospital activities. She is chairperson of the Social Service Committee and head of the Child Abuse subcommittee. She is a member of the NYU Medical School Admission and Curriculum committees, and was a director of the faculty advisor group from 1992 to 1999. She is also active in the NYU Medical School Alumni Association and served as vice president in 1994-95 and president in 1995-96. Her honors include election to the Delta Chapter AOA as faculty-alumni member in 1990 and the 1998 NYU School of Medicine Solomon A. Berson Medical Alumni Achievement Award in Health Science.