Clair A. Francomano is an American medical geneticist and academic specializing in

Ehlers–Danlos syndromes Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) are a group of 13 genetic connective-tissue disorders in the current classification, with the latest type discovered in 2018. Symptoms include loose joints, joint pain, stretchy velvety skin, and abnormal scar fo ...

. She is Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

Early life, education and training

Clair Ann Francomano was born to Mrs. and Charles J. Francomano, a general practitioner. She attended Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, New York and participated in programs at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

and the

Jackson Laboratory The Jackson Laboratory (often abbreviated as JAX) is an independent, non-profit biomedical research institution which was founded by a eugenicist. It employs more than 3,000 employees in Bar Harbor, Maine; Sacramento, California; Farmington, Co ...

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the wes ...

as a high school student. She earned her undergraduate degree from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1976, having returned as an undergraduate to the Jackson Laboratory to study cancer genetics on a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

grant in 1973. She then earned her M.D. from

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hosp ...

in 1980. She trained at Hopkins in internal medicine and medical genetics.

Career

Francomano joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University in 1984. In 1994, she moved to the

to become chief of the Medical Genetics Branch at the

National Human Genome Research Institute The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is an institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland. NHGRI began as the Office of Human Genome Research in The Office of the Director in 1988. This Office transi ...

; from 1996 to 2001 she was its clinical director. From 2001 to 2005 she was Chief of the Human Genetics and Integrative Medicine Section in the Laboratory of Genetics,

National Institute on Aging The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), located in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIA itself is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The NIA leads a broad scientific effort to understand the ...

. While at NIH, she launched a natural history study of

that lasted for more than two decades. She also worked on the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

. In 2005, Francomano became director of adult genetics for the Harvey Institute of Human Genetics of the

Greater Baltimore Medical Center Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) is a U.S. hospital located in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. It was opened in 1965. GBMC serves more than 20,455 inpatient cases and approximately 52,000 emergency department visits annually. GB ...

. She later became director of its Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation Center for Clinical Care and Research. Francomano has been a member of the Steering Committee for the International Consortium on the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and Related Conditions. Since 2016, she has chaired the Consortium’s Committee on Classical Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In 2019 she joined Indiana University as professor of medical and molecular genetics at the School of Medicine and director of the Residency Training Program in Genetics.

Notable publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francomano, Clair Scientists from Yonkers, New York Yale College alumni Johns Hopkins University faculty Johns Hopkins School of Medicine alumni Indiana University faculty American women geneticists American geneticists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American biologists