Leading Ladies: ConTEXTualizing Genetics
Dr. Margaret W. Thompson
Born in Cheshire England, Dr. Margaret W. Thompson, had a long career devoted to human genetics and its relevance to childhood diseases, particularly muscular dystrophy.
She came to Canada with her family in 1926 when she was six-years-old and they settled in Saskatchewan. She completed teacher training and taught in rural Saskatchewan schools for two years. She then went to the University of Saskatchewan and graduated in 1943 with an honours degree in Biology. She received a PhD in Zoology, specializing in Metabolic Genetics from the University of Toronto in 1948.
Dr. Thompson spent two years in teaching positions at the University of Western Ontario before becoming an Assistant Professor of Zoology and a Scientific Associate of the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.
In 1963, Dr. Margaret Thompson came to SickKids as a Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Medical Genetics and Microbiology. While at SickKids she led the clinical genetics service that later evolved into the Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics. During that time Thompson, a respected educator, co-authored Genetics in Medicine, a textbook now in its seventh edition with her husband Dr. James Thompson.
Dr. Margaret Thompson is a founding member of the Genetics Society of Canada, the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists and the American Society of Human Genetics, and is an Honorary Fellow of the American Board of Medical Genetics.
She has received the Presidential Award of the Genetics Society of Canada and the Founders Award of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists and, in 1995, was the first recipient of an Award for Excellence in Education from the American Society of Human Genetics. In 1988 she was named a Member of the Order of Canada.
Dr. Margaret Thompson continues to be a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto and an Honourary Consultant at SickKids.