Patricia Verne Kailis (19 August 1933 – 17 April 2020) was an Australian businesswoman, geneticist and neurologist noted for her work in

genetic counseling Genetic counseling is the process of investigating individuals and families affected by or at risk of genetic disorders to help them understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease. ...

for

neurological Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the s ...

and

neuromuscular A neuromuscular junction (or myoneural junction) is a chemical synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber. It allows the motor neuron to transmit a signal to the muscle fiber, causing muscle contraction. Muscles require innervation to ...

disorders.

Life and career

Kailis was born Patricia Verne Hurse in Castlemaine,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. She attended Presbyterian Ladies' College in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and then studied medicine at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

. In 1958, she moved to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to work at Royal Perth,

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

and King Edward Memorial hospitals.Hosking, Julie, 'Pearls & wisdom', West Weekend, November 16–17, 2013. In 1960, she married

Michael Kailis Michael George Kailis (14 February 1929 – 25 June 1999) was a Western Australian businessman who founded the MG Kailis Group of companies, whose head office is in Fremantle, Western Australia. In 1960 he and his wife Patricia Kailis started ...

and the couple moved to Dongara,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, in 1961 to establish a

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

factory. Here, Kailis became the local

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

. The couple also established themselves in ship building, the

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

ing industry in

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

, and the pearling industry in Broome. In 1969 Kailis, her husband, and their four children (Maria, George, Amanda and Alex) moved back to Perth. Between 1970 and 1995, Kailis held honorary positions in

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

Royal Perth Hospital Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) is a 450-bed adult and teaching hospital located on the northeastern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. History The hospital traces its history back to the first colonial hospital, whi ...

. During this time, Kailis introduced a program for predictive testing of

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly Genetic disorder#Autosomal dominant, inherited. It typically presents as a triad of progressive psychiatric, cognitive, and ...

and was involved in research into

motor neuron A motor neuron (or motoneuron), also known as efferent neuron is a neuron whose cell body is located in the motor cortex, brainstem or the spinal cord, and whose axon (fiber) projects to the spinal cord or outside of the spinal cord to directly o ...

disease and

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

. In 1978, Kailis successfully contained the spread of disease in the family's pearl farms by insisting on hygienic practices in the processing of the

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of Seawater, salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in Marine (ocean), marine or Brackish water, brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly Calcification, calcified, a ...

. In 1999, on the death of her husband Michael, Kailis became the Governing Director of MG Kailis Group of Companies. She died at home on 17 April 2020.

Awards and honours

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, Kailis was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for her contributions in the fields of carrier detection and the detection of

inherited disease A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosome abnormality. Although polygenic disorders are ...

s. In 1996 she was named a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for her service to medicine as a genetic counselor for neurological and neuromuscular disorders to the Human Genetics Societies of WA, the Royal Perth Hospital and to Rocky Bay Inc for over 20 years. That same year, Kailis became a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. History The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences was foun ...

. In 2001, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

awarded Kailis the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

for service to medicine and the community. In 2010, Rocky Bay Inc opened the Patricia Kailis Centre in

Cockburn Central Cockburn Central ( ) is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is south of Perth's central business district (CBD) along the Kwinana Freeway. Its local government area is the City of Cockburn, and it is intended by the ...

. The Centre is dedicated to Kailis for her support of Rocky Bay over four decades. It provides therapy and support for families living with disabilities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kailis, Patricia 1933 births 2020 deaths Australian geneticists Australian women in business Members of the Order of Australia Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Melbourne Medical School alumni People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne Australian neurologists People from Castlemaine, Victoria