Golder Wilson, MD, PhD
Dr. Golder N. Wilson is a pediatrician and medical geneticist who began with interests in research, combining his medical degree with a PhD in biochemistry and collaborating with his mentor Roy Schmickel to publish the first cloning of human DNA in 1978. His participation in weekly pediatric genetic clinics stimulated a switch from laboratory work to scholarship on children with malformation syndromes and birth defects. He was given new focus when he worked with mothers of
the Dallas Down Syndrome Guild to found a dedicated clinic at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. These women and attendance at national conferences made him aware of the gifts that children with disabilities can provide to family and
society, as well as the challenges faced by their parents. Dr. Wilson’s “special education” (as discussed in the book) was greatly accelerated when his fourth child had developmental delay, a crisis paralleled by his disillusionment with medical schools that value mouse research over clinical skills. He now has a private practice, in addition to academic work at Texas Tech University Health Science Centers, where his clinical activities have been graciously supported.
Dr. Wilson was born in Frederick, Oklahoma, and grew up in Champaign, Illinois. He received his MD-PhD degrees from the University of Chicago in 1972 and did residency/fellowship training at Boston Floating Hospital, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Michigan. Dr. Wilson has spent 33 years in academic medicine, including faculty positions at the University of Michigan, McGill University in Montreal, UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and his current position as Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Texas Tech University. He has published 150
articles and four books (with five new editions) for medical audiences, but this book on mothers’ experiences with disabilities is his first for the lay public. Dr. Wilson has evaluated over 20,000 patients in genetics and 35,000 in general
pediatrics, garnering awards, including NIH grants, an endowed professorship at UT Southwestern, and inclusion on local and national “Best Doctors” lists. His activities with the Society for Pediatric Research and Texas Pediatric Society include continued advocacy for children with special needs and those privileged families who care for them.
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