Photo courtesy of UAB University Relations.
Dr. Bruce Korf, genetics professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Bruce Korf, a resident of Vestavia Hills for the past 22 years, recently was awarded the prestigious David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Medical Genetics’ Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.
Korf is a professor and associate dean for genomic medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The award he received is the foundation’s highest honor. It recognizes individuals whose careers have significantly contributed to the field of genetics and genomics and whose characteristics embody those of Dr. Rimoin, for whom the honor is named.
“I was exposed to genetics for the first time between my junior year and senior year of high school,” Korf said. “I worked in a medical research lab back in 1969, and medical genetics was a pretty young field at the time.
“I had a job at a local hospital during the summers while I was in college, and I did a genetics project while I was in college, so I actually became interested [in medical genetics] pretty early on, and that seemed to be the direction that I was going to be headed,” he said.
When asked to describe a medical geneticist in simple terms, Korf said, “I am involved in seeing patients with known or suspected genetic disorders, trying to find correct diagnoses, offering counseling to the families and, where possible, treatments [for these disorders].
“In a broader sense, I have been active in trying to help integrate genetics and genetic testing into routine medical practice because, increasingly, it’s important not only for the management of rare genetic disorders but also contributes to the management of common medical conditions,” he said.
Upon learning he was the 2024 recipient of the lifetime achievement award, Korf said he was honored and moved, particularly because he knew Rimoin as a friend and colleague.
“To have an award named for someone who I worked with and admired made it extra special,” he said.
Dr. Nancy Mendelsohn, president of the American College of Medical Genetics Foundation, said Korf demonstrates true leadership in defining the medical discipline of genomics.
“He is a dedicated teacher, championing genetics education and training, and an inspiring and devoted educator,” Mendelsohn said. “He is an international leading authority as a clinician and scientist on the underlying pathophysiology, diagnosis and clinical care of patients with neurofibromatosis.”
Though the award is for leadership in medical genetics and genomics, Korf said education has been, and continues to be, a large part of his work.
“I wrote the first edition of a textbook [about medical genetics] close to 30 years ago when I was the co-director of a genetics course at Harvard Medical School and wrote a textbook based on that course, and we’re now working on the fifth edition,” he said.
As an encouragement to the next generation of medical professionals, Korf said that, despite concerns about obstacles like paperwork and bureaucracy, there’s never been a more exciting time to be involved in medicine and watch these developments take place that can transform the ability to provide health care.
“I think anybody who has aspirations of going into the field should be encouraged to find their niche and realize the huge opportunity that they have before them,” he said.
When he is not in the lab, seeing patients or teaching a class, Korf enjoys traveling, photography and astronomy. His work travels have taken him to every continent except Antarctica, which he crossed off his list during a tourist trip shortly after moving to the Birmingham area and beginning his work at UAB. He recently retired and moved back to Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
