Wladimir Wertelecki Explained

Wladimir Wertelecki
Born (1936) In Rivne, Volyn, Ukraine (at the time Poland)
Residence USA
Fields Clinical Teratology, Genetics and Pediatrics
Postgraduate Intern, Muniz Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1961 - 1962). Intern, Deaconess Hospital, St. Louis, MO, U.S. (1963). Resident in Pediatrics, St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO (1964 - 1966). Fellow in Clinical Genetics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (1966 - 1968)
Institutions Instructor, Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (1968-1969). Senior Surgeon, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps., Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD (1969-1972). Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC (1972). Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Pathology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC (1973-1974). Professor and Chairman, Department of Medical Genetics, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (1974-2010). Professor Emeritus, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (2010-). Director, OMNI-Net Ukraine, Birth Defects Monitoring Programs (1999-)
Alma mater Medical School, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina (1956-1961)
Mentors Taras Mykysha, Volodymyr Lasovskyi, Bernardo Houssay, Niсeto S. Loizaga, M.D., Alexis Hartmann, Harold Cummins, PhD., Josef Warkany, Daniel C. Gajdusek, John Gofman
Currently known for Population-based monitoring of developmental anomalies in Chornobyl-impacted regions
Notable awards Corresponding Member of the "Academia Nacional de Medicina" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences (Kyiv, Ukraine), Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Lviv Medical University (Lviv, Ukraine)

Wladimir Wertelecki is a pediatrician and medical geneticist. In 1974, he established one of the first free-standing Departments of Medical Genetics[1] at the new South Alabama University College of Medicine in Mobile, Alabama, U.S.A. Following his retirement as Chairman and Emeritus Professor of Medical Genetics, Pediatrics, and Pathology, he continued his investigations into the prevention of developmental anomalies as a Project Scientist at the Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego. Since 1996, his research has focused mainly on alcohol and the impact of ionizing radiation on congenital anomalies. He is the author over 135 scientific reports.

He established a regional network of clinics across southern Alabama and West Florida, and in 1978 he organized the Southern Genetic Group. This group expanded into the South-Eastern Regional Genetics Group, which enhanced genetic services in six states.[2]  Wertelecki also helped local Native-Americans gain Federal Recognition in Alabama.[3] [4]

In 1992, he made a presentation to the US Senate regarding the reproductive risks posed by Chornobyl radiation.[5] In 2000, following an initial sponsorship by USAID, he established the OMNI-Net program, a not-for-profit network, to investigate the reproductive risks posed by exposure to alcohol and ionizing radiation from Chornobyl.[6] The program trained Ukrainian professionals to monitor the frequency of birth defects.

Career

Wertelecki began his medical education in 1955 at the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires. As a medical student, he took additional courses to qualify as a teaching assistant in human anatomy (1957) and in physiology (1958).

These extracurricular courses proved to be formative. In anatomy, he observed an instance of anatomic atavism (“maneus muscle”) which stimulated his interest in anatomical variants, anomalies, and evolution.[7] His interest in physiology enabled him to join a research team headed by Dr. Virgilio G. Foglia, an expert in the experimental production of diabetes in rats. This team, coordinated by Dr. Bernardo Houssay, a Nobel Prize winner, was dedicated to defining factors which regulated blood sugar, pre-diabetes, diabetes, and their impacts on embryonic development.

Wertelecki's first scientific reports concerned reproductive impacts and birth weights.[8] As a student of clinical medicine, Wertelecki was granted a university scholarship and became an assistant to Dr. Niceto S. Loizaga,[9] an expert in Semiology (skills to recognize signs as signals of syndromes and diagnoses) (1958-1961). Wertelecki's task, among others, was the coordination of a clinic caring for patients with Down syndrome, then referred to as “Mongolism”. This experience added to his interest in genetics and birth defects, which prompted him to seek further training in the United States (1991).

After completing a rotating internship (1962-1963), he became a pediatric resident (1963-1965) at the Department of Pediatrics, St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University headed by Dr. Alexis F. Hartmann, one of the first to use insulin to treat diabetic children.[10] During his residency, his semiology skills led to his first scientific report in the U.S. - recognition of cantharidin poisoning of children.[11] Wertelecki's sought further training in Clinical Genetics as a fellow at the Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (1965-1968). His tasks included participation in the Phenylketonuria Treatment clinic[12] and the development of computer-aided programs to gather family reproductive histories.

His publications include the recognition and significance of partial loss of a segment of chromosome 18 (contradicting the presumption that such events are lethal). Another report concerned computer-aided role of gathering family reproductive histories.[13] [14] During 1968-1970, Wertelecki studied clinical epidemiology while serving as a Senior Surgeon (Commander) of the US Public Health Corp at the Epidemiology Branch of the National Cancer Institute) and consultant in Medical Genetics at the Naval National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Having access to computerized medical records and to the National Institutes of Health Clinics, he demonstrated that therapies prescribed to epileptic women had children with a higher frequency of facial clefts and that leukemia was unduly heavier at birth.[15]

He also analyzed the fingertip ridged skin patterns of leukemic children.[16] The complexities of these investigations and analyses, led Wertelecki to incorporate perspectives of distinguished advisors and collaborators, including Mr. Nathan Mantel after whom a statistical test is named, Dr. Robert W. Miller who defined provocative associations of particular birth defects with particular cancers. Regarding dermal ridges, Wertelecki formed a life-long partnership with Dr. C.C. Plato, a pioneer of Dermatoglyphics, a discipline dedicated to the study of dermal (volar skin) ridges. The cited investigations also led Wertelecki toward another life-long association with Dr. Josef Warkany, considered the main pioneer and founder of the Teratology Society dedicated to studying birth defects.[17] [18]

In 1971, Wertelecki became an Assistant Professor, and in 1972 an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology at the Medical University of South Carolina. A report of the characteristics of Triploid syndrome[19] reflects his interest in Semiology and medical students - the medical student co-author is a recognized authority in Medical Genetics (JG). In 1974, Wertelecki joined the University of South Alabama Medical University, a newly established institution. His main task was establishing a free-standing Department of Medical Genetics, arguably among the country's first. He recruited as Distinguished Visiting Professors, Drs. J. Warkany and H. Zellweger, both recognized as world leaders of pediatrics and advocates of preventive public health policies.

In 1978, Wertelecki was the prime organizer of the Southeastern Regional Genetics Group (SERG) dedicated to coordinating regional resources and clinical services along with initiatives to promote computer-driven data collection of genetic services. His department became an accredited site for training physicians in Clinical Genetics and Clinical Cytogenetics. In addition to U.S. graduates, international trainees included those from Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Sri Lanka, China, India, among others.

In 1986, the impact of the Chornobyl disaster on Wertelecki was considerable. He noted that during the International Congress of Human Genetics of 1986 and 1991, the attention to potential Chornobyl ionizing radiation impacts on human embryos was modest. In 1992,[20] Wertelecki was invited to address a U.S. Senate Committee regarding Chernobyl and child health. In 1996, he received a small grant from Child Health to organize a Symposium during the Human Genetics International Congress of 1996 on the subject of Chornobyl radiation impacts on child development. The participating International experts, including those from Belarus and Ukraine, defined areas of concern and potential investigations. Wertelecki sought further advice from John William Gofman (Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology at University of California at Berkeley), Daniel Carleton Gajdusek (Pediatrician winner of the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the human prion disease), Jennifer L Howse (President of the March of Dimes Foundation), Mike Katz (Vice-President for Science, March of Dimes Foundation), Godfrey Oakley (Director of the Division of Birth Defects of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), among others.

In 1999, a plan to establish a population based monitoring of birth defects upholding international standards in several regions of Ukraine was submitted and approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, Wertelecki accepted to be the director of the project now referred to as OMNI-Net Ukraine Programs. In 2000, with initial support from the USAID, population surveillance of birth defects monitoring was initiated. In 2002, OMNI-Net data documented a high frequency of spina bifida, which persists to the present.[21] [22] [23] Since then, OMNI-Net members advocate for the introduction of mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid to reduce spina bifida and related disorders by at least 50%.

In 2006, OMNI-Net qualified for full membership of the European birth defects monitoring network (EUROCAT) and became a participant in the Collaborative Initiative of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Consortium (CIFASD) In 2021, OMNI-Net restarted a Spina Bifida – Hydrocephalus prevention initiative by petitions to the President and Prime Minister to introduce folic acid mandatory fortification of flour in Ukraine. This narrative is further illustrated by an annotated bibliography of peer reviewed scientific reports and other creative publications by Wertelecki and OMNI-Net members, which by May 2021 approach 190 in number.  

Honors and awards

Amond others:

Organizations

Among others, past and current:

Selected scientific publications

(among others, for complete bibliography please see PubMed)

Selected early publications

Most recent publications

Books, chapters and other publications (partial list)

  1. Wertelecki, W., Lawton, T., Gerald, P.S.:  Computer-Based Patient Interviewing.  In:  Computer-Assisted Instruction in the Health Professions.  Eds., Stolurow, L.M., Peterson, T.I., Cunningham, A.C., Entelek, Inc., Newburyport, MA (1970).
  2. Wertelecki, W., Peterson, R.D.A.: Primary Immunodeficiency Syndromes. In:  Surgical Immunology.  Ed., Munster, A.M., Grune Publishers, New York, NY (1976).
  3. Wertelecki, W.:  Regional Rural Genetics Program:  Educational Considerations.  In: The Management of Genetic Disorders. Eds., Bartsocas, C.S., Papadatos, C., Alan R. Liss Publishers, New York, NY (1979).
  4. Wertelecki, W., Plato, C., Editors:  Dermatoglyphics – 50 Years Later.  (Birth Defects Original Article Series Vol. XV, No. 6).  Alan R. Liss Publishers, New York, NY (1979).
  5. Wertelecki, W.: Tetraploidy.  In: Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Neurogenetic Directory.  Ed., Myrianthopoulas, N.C., Part II, North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam (1982).
  6. Castilla, E., Penchaszadeh, V., Wertelecki, W., Youlton, R.:  Prevention and Control of Genetic Diseases and Congenital Defects:  Report of an Advisory Group.  Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 525 Twenty-Third Street, Washington, D.C., Scientific Publication No. 460 (1984).
  7. Wertelecki, W.:  Roberts Syndrome.  Birth Defects Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition, Buyse, M.L., Editor. Blackwell/Year Book Medical Publishers, Inc.  pp. 1498-1499 (1990).
  8. Wertelecki, W.:  Chromosome 22.  Birth Defects Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition, Buyse, M.L., Editor. Blackwell/Year Book Medical Publishers, Inc.  pp. 395 (1990).
  9. Wertelecki, W.:  A Regional Genetics Program in Alabama with Emphasis on Education and Clinicians - Achievements and Experience.  In: Medical Genetics and Society. Eds., Fujiki, N., Bulyzhenkov, V., Bankowski, Z., Kugler Publications, Amsterdam/New York, (1991).
  10. Wertelecki, W.:  Diagnosis of NF-2.  In: Neurofibromatosis 2.  Eds., Cohen, B.R. Korf, B.H., Pugh, J.N., The National Neurofibromatosis Foundation, Inc., New York, NY (1992).
  11. Wertelecki, W.:  Clinical Dermatoglyphics.  In: Human Malformations and Related Anomalies, Eds., Stevenson, R.E., Editor.  Oxford University Press, Inc.  (1993).
  12. Wertelecki W.: Congenital Malformations in Rivne, Ukraine. 119-138. In: Crisis Without End: The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe. Helen Caldicott, editor. New Press, The, Oct 21, 304 pages (2014).

Further listing omitted.

Current special projects

Among others:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: University of South Alabama Press Release. 2021-05-20. www.southalabama.edu.
  2. Web site: About SERGG. 2021-05-20. sergg.org.
  3. Web site: - FEDERAL RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT PROCESS BY THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 2021-05-20. www.govinfo.gov.
  4. Web site: FEDERAL RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT PROCESS BY THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. House Hearing, 108 Congress. Second Session. Wednesday, March 31, 2004..
  5. Book: States. United. Effects of the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, Second Session, July 22, 1992. Regulation. United States Congress Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Nuclear. 1992. U.S. Government Printing Office. 978-0-16-039183-5. en.
  6. Wertelecki . Wladimir . 2006 . Birth defects surveillance in Ukraine: a process . Journal of Applied Genetics . 47 . 2 . 143–149 . 10.1007/BF03194614 . 1234-1983 . 16682756 . 27323393.
  7. Kim. Alexander Youngjoon. Bodurtha. Joann Norma. 2019-12-01. Dysmorphology. Pediatrics in Review. en. 40. 12. 609–618. 10.1542/pir.2018-0331. 0191-9601. 31792044. 219541461.
  8. Foglia. V. G.. Fernandez-Collazo. E. L.. Wesely. O. R.. Wertelecki. W.. Granillo. R.. August 1961. [Disorders of reproduction in the diabetic male rat]]. Revista de la Sociedad Argentina de Biologia. 37. 127–133. 0037-8380. 13893774.
  9. Loizaga. Niceto S.. December 1942. De la psitacosis, enfermedad humana producida por el virus de un morbo aviario. El Hornero. 008. 2. 232–246.
  10. HARTMANN. ALEXIS F.. Treatment of Severe Diabetic Acidosis. 1935-09-01. Archives of Internal Medicine. 56. 3. 413–434. 10.1001/archinte.1935.00170010001001. 0730-188X.
  11. Wertelecki. Wladimir. Vietti. Teresa J.. Kulapongs. Panja. 1967-02-01. Cantharidin Poisoning from Ingestion of a "Blister Beetle". Pediatrics. en. 39. 2. 287–289. 10.1542/peds.39.2.287 . 0031-4005. 6017965. 27041832 .
  12. KENNEDY. JOSEPH L., JR.. WERTELECKI. WLADIMIR. GATES. LORRAINE. SPERRY. BARBARA P.. CASS. VICTORIA M.. 1967-01-01. The Early Treatment of Phenylketonuria. American Journal of Diseases of Children. 113. 1. 16–21. 10.1001/archpedi.1967.02090160066004. 6016173. 0002-922X.
  13. Wertelecki. Wladimir. Schindler. Anne M.. Gerald. Park S.. May 1967. 26 Deletion of Chromosome No. 18 (Long Arm). A New Syndrome. Pediatric Research. en. 1. 3. 207. 10.1203/00006450-196705000-00033. 1530-0447. free.
  14. Wertelecki. W.. Schindler. A. M.. Gerald. P. S.. Partial Deletion of Chromosome 18. 1966-09-17. The Lancet. English. 288. 7464. 641. 10.1016/S0140-6736(66)91964-7. 0140-6736.
  15. Wertelecki. W.. Mantel. N.. March 1973. Increased Birth Weight in Leukemia. Pediatric Research. en. 7. 3. 132–138. 10.1203/00006450-197303000-00005. 4511339. 1530-0447. free.
  16. Wertelecki. W.. Plato. G. C.. Fraumeni. J. F.. Niswander. J. D.. July 1973. Dermatoglyphics in Leukemia. Pediatric Research. en. 7. 7. 620–626. 10.1203/00006450-197307000-00004. 4515720. 1530-0447. free.
  17. Wertelecki. W.. August 1989. Of dreaming on solid grounds and silent triumphs of one man: a story about Joseph Warkany. American Journal of Medical Genetics. 33. 4. 522–536. 10.1002/ajmg.1320330424. 0148-7299. 2688418.
  18. Wertelecki. Wladimir. 2020-07-15. Josef Warkany's gestation of the teratology society. Birth Defects Research. 112. 12. 885–889. 10.1002/bdr2.1684. 2472-1727. 32686352. 220655850.
  19. Wertelecki. Wladimir. Graham. JOHN M. Jr. Sergovich. Fred R.. January 1976. The Clinical Syndrome of Triploidy. Obstetrics & Gynecology. en-US. 47. 1. 69–76. 1246396. 0029-7844.
  20. Book: States. United. Effects of the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, Second Session, July 22, 1992. Regulation. United States Congress Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Nuclear. 1992. U.S. Government Printing Office. 978-0-16-039183-5. en.
  21. Wertelecki. Wladimir. 2010-04-01. Malformations in a Chornobyl-Impacted Region. Pediatrics. en. 125. 4. e836–e843. 10.1542/peds.2009-2219. 0031-4005. 20308207. 2814328.
  22. Chornobyl radiation—congenital anomalies: A persisting dilemma. 2021. 10.1111/cga.12388. Wertelecki. Wladimir. Congenital Anomalies. 61. 1. 9–13. 33405251.
  23. 2018-09-01. Chornobyl, radiation, neural tube defects, and microcephaly. European Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 61. 9. 556–563. 10.1016/j.ejmg.2018.06.005. 1769-7212. Wertelecki. Wladimir. Yevtushok. Lyubov. Kuznietsov. Illia. Komov. Oleksandr. Lapchenko. Serhii. Akhmedzanova. Diana. Ostapchuk. Lyubov. 29908351. 49271245 .

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