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A Legacy of Innovation: Highlights from the history of the UAB Medical Genetics Program

1 UABArchives4 webPictures highlight UAB's history in genetics.The first Medical Genetics Program in the Southeast, and one of the first in the U.S., was established at UAB in 1962. Since then, UAB has remained at the forefront of genetics as the field has advanced. This selection of photos from the UAB Archives illustrates the development of medical genetics at the School of Medicine and showcases some of the seminal figures from our school’s history.


Sara Crews Finley, M.D., (center foreground) and assistants at work in the genetics laboratory, circa 1970.

James D. Watson, Ph.D., (right) co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA, accompanied by James A. Pittman Jr., M.D., (left) dean of the School of Medicine. Watson made an unannounced visit to the Medical Genetics Laboratory during a graduate student conference in 1988.

Wayne Finley (right) and William Novick (left) with laboratory equipment, circa 1978.

Wayne H. Finley, Ph.D., M.D., advises a couple referred to the UAB Laboratory of Medical Genetics, circa 1970.

By Tim L. Pennycuff
Images courtesy of UAB Archives