Rafael D. Camerini-Otero

Rafael (Dan) Camerini-Otero is a physician-scientist recognized for his work in meiosis and meiotic recombination. He is best known for defining the landscape of meiotic recombination and replication in mice and humans. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and spent his childhood in Buenos Aires; Boston, USA; and Hamburg, Germany. He received his bachelor’s degree in Biology from MIT in 1966 with highest honors and completed the MD/PhD program at NYU in 1973, also with highest honors. After one year of pediatrics residency at Bellevue Hospital, he pursued postdoctoral training as a Research Associate in the U.S. Public Health Service under Dr. Gary Felsenfeld. In 1977, he became a Senior Investigator at the NIH, where he currently serves as Chief of the Genetics and Biochemistry Branch at NIDDK. After completing a clinical genetics fellowship with Dr. Victor McKusick in 1979 he became a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics. He was involved in establishing the inter-institute Medical Genetics Clinic at NIH, where he served as an attending physician until 1997. Dr. Camerini-Otero was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He received the Gerald D. Aurbach Lecture Award from the Endocrine Society and the Solomon A. Berson (NYU) Medical Alumni Achievement Award in Basic Science. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences.