Dennis T. Drayna (born 1952) is an American human geneticist known for his contributions to

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

, human haemochromatosis, pitch, and

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

. He is currently the Section Chief of Genetics of Communication Disorders at the U.S. National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Biography

Drayna graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1976, and obtained a Ph.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1981. He performed his post-doctoral training at the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fi ...

in the lab of Raymond White, where he created the first full length genetic linkage map of the human X chromosome. After completing his post-doctoral training, Drayna joined the scientific staff of

Genentech Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within ...

in 1985, where, most notably, he cloned and sequenced cholesteryl ester transfer protein among other contributions. In 1992, Drayna left Genentech to co-found Mercator Genetics, a bio-technology company focused on commercializing human genomic discoveries. Here, Drayna discovered the genetic basis of

hereditary haemochromatosis Hereditary haemochromatosis type 1 (HFE-related Hemochromatosis) is a genetic disorder characterized by excessive intestinal absorption of dietary iron, resulting in a pathological increase in total body iron stores. Humans, like most animals, ...

. After Mercator Genetics was acquired by Progenitor in 1997, Drayna joined the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health. Since moving to the NIH, his research has focused across broad areas of human genetics, including pitch, taste, and stuttering. In 2010, Drayna uncovered the first genetic basis of stuttering in humans. Since the initial discovery, he has expanded the understanding of genetic and neurological causes of human stuttering, including discovering additional genetic correlates of stuttering and creating 'knock-out' stuttering mice. Drayna has also investigated the genetic underpinnings of complex taste traits, including PTC, and also menthol cigarettes. After 22 years of research at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Drayna retired in June 201

He is currently a member of the board of directors of Stuttering Foundation of America, The Stuttering Foundation of America, and a member of the faculty of the program in neuroscience and cognitive science at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

References

External links

* Drayna's NIH research pag

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drayna, Dennis University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Harvard University alumni 1952 births Living people American geneticists Human geneticists