MICHAEL TRANFAGLIA
Medical Director FRAXA Research Foundation
Degrees: A.B. Harvard ’82; M.D. UNC at Chapel Hill ‘87.
Harvard–related activities: We were honored that our organization, FRAXA Research Foundation ( www.fraxa.org ), was a featured charity at the 15th reunion of the Class of 1982. That occasion afforded us the opportunity to increase awareness of this important autism spectrum disorder among our influential classmates. We are also delighted that Dr. Steven Hyman, Provost of Harvard University and former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, is actively assisting our efforts as a member of FRAXA’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Achievements and Honors: Starting a charity isn’t very hard, and fundraising isn’t all that difficult, once you get past the natural reluctance to ask people for money. So, even though FRAXA is by far the largest and most successful non-profit in the fragile X field, it’s the scientific success of FRAXA that we see as our greatest achievement. FRAXA has developed the first rational therapeutics for fragile X syndrome, and we believe that these treatments will revolutionize the treatment of autism, too. What we’ve done has already helped our son, and that’s the greatest reward imaginable.
Major Charitable or Other Activities: Together with my wife, Katherine Clapp, also Class of 1982, I founded FRAXA Research Foundation in 1994, then served for 10 years as an unpaid volunteer Medical Director, recruiting scientists and organizing our efforts to find a cure for fragile X, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation and autism ( see www.fraxa.org for more details.) Two years ago I accepted a paid position as the medical director, and now I’m working full-time for the cure.
Greatest Personal Rewards and/or Reflections on Harvard: When I think of my time at Harvard, I realize that so much of my life was set on its present course way back then. I was a pre-med right from the start, with a strong interest in psychology and neurobiology. My wife and I met at North (I know...Pforzheimer) House. I became a psychiatrist, specializing in Anxiety Disorders. When our son was diagnosed with fragile X in 1992, we knew that we were uniquely positioned to do something to help him. Perhaps Harvard instilled some sense of duty, or simply the confidence to tackle an impossible challenge (“They can because they think they can”). In any event, it’s clear that we have been primed by the formative experience we shared at Harvard, and it is impressive how well this has prepared us to respond to the kind of adversity we must all face in life. I’d like to thank my dear friend and former North House roommate, Jeff Wu, for honoring me with this nomination. Thanks also to all of my classmates for your help and support through the years. Don’t forget to visit www.fraxa.org and learn about fragile X!