Patricia Anastastia Martin DeLeon (born 13 July 1944) is a Jamaican reproductive geneticist who is specialists in the male reproductive system. She is the Trustees Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. In 2010 she was awarded the

Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) is a Presidential award established by the United States White House in 1995. The program is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Early life and education

DeLeon was born in

Port Maria Port Maria is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary. Originally named "Puerto Santa Maria", it was the second town established by Spanish settlers in Jamaica. The ruins of Fort Haldane, built 1759, overlook the town. It has a p ...

. She was one of nine children, and had to lobby the principal of her high school, Excelsior High School, to waive the fees to allow her family to attend. She became interested in botany as a child and learnt the Latin names of all the plants that she collected. The principal agreed based on DeLeon's academic performance. She attended the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

for her undergraduate studies, where she focussed on zoology and chemistry. After earning her undergraduate degree DeLeon moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where she joined the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

for her doctoral degree in microscopic anatomy. She was subsequently a postdoc at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Research and career

In 1976 DeLeon joined the faculty at the

. DeLeon has extensively studied the Sperm adhesion molecule 1 (SPAM1), a

glycosylphosphatidylinositol Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (), or glycophosphatidylinositol, or GPI in short, is a phosphoglyceride that can be attached to the C-terminus of a protein during posttranslational modification. The resulting GPI-anchored proteins play key roles in ...

linked membrane protein. The mechanisms that underpin the expression of these proteins are poorly understood, but are crucial for the development of

assisted reproductive technology Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation of gametes o ...

. The over-expression of SPAM1 can give rise to cancer. In 2009 she was named the Trustees Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences. Alongside her work on male fertility, DeLeon has studied particles in the

fallopian tube The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (singular salpinx), are paired tubes in the human female that stretch from the uterus to the ovaries. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproductive system. In ot ...

, the understanding of which may improve the outcomes of ''in vitro'' fertilisation. She is working on non-invasive diagnostic methods to identify embryos that are most likely to result in successful IVF. Throughout her career DeLeon has worked to support undergraduates gain research experience.

Awards and honours

* 2006 Elected to the Executive Council of the American Society of Andrology * 2007

* 2010 William G. Demas Memorial Lecture * 2011 Caribbean Women in Science Medalist * 2012 50 Most Outstanding Jamaican Women * 2017 Francis Alison Faculty Award

Selected publications

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeLeon, Patricia Jamaican women academics American people of Jamaican descent University of Delaware faculty University of the West Indies alumni University of Western Ontario alumni 1944 births Living people