I was trained in Pediatrics and genetics and have been on the Faculty since 1984. My clinical work was in caring for newborns and families with inherited disorders, I held appointments in the CCOM, CPH, COD, CON and CLAS and taught undergraduates, graduate students and medical students. I retain a very active research career and have been funded by NIH for over 30 years and directed the graduate PhD program in genetics for ten years. We played a substantial role in the development of the Human Genome Project, identified the first genes with defects causing cleft lip and palate, and am an author on over 530 peer-reviewed articles. I chaired two NIH study sections, was a member of the Scientific Council for the NHGRI and served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH. I was an elected president of the 8000+ member American Society of Human Genetics, is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and a Fellow of the AAAS.   Our research work is highly interdisciplinary and International. I took a leave of absence from 2014 to 2018 to serve as the Deputy Director for Family Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where my work focused on building programs to address maternal and child health disorders in Africa and South Asia.