Gary A. Chase, Ph.D.

          Gary A. Chase, a native of New York City, attended Harvard College (AB magna cum laude, 1966) as a National Merit Scholar. He received an NIH graduate fellowship at Johns Hopkins and completed his PhD in 1970 with a major in genetic statistics. Following graduate school he served as a post-doctoral fellow and subsequently on the faculty at Johns Hopkins from 1970 to 1994, attaining the rank of professor in 1985. His research concentrated on genetic factors in complex diseases, especially mental disorders of middle and late life. He is co-author of the frequently cited text "Principles of Genetic Counseling" with Edmond A. Murphy.

          Dr. Chase's experience with vital statistics and public health data sets is extensive and provides his background for work on the COE projects. He was a co-investigator on several studies of infant mortality in West Virginia and Mississippi during the 1978-82 period. In addition he has been a member of several Federal advisory panels in both military and civilian sectors, dealing with a wide range of public health issues.

          Dr. Chase was appointed professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Penn State in 2003 and heads the Division of Biostatistics. Previously he served as chief statistician both at Georgetown University Medical Center and Henry Ford Hospital and was a department chair at both of those institutions. At Penn State he is principal statistician of the Cancer Institute and also a member of the Institutional Review Board. He is a founding member of the International Genetic Epidemiology Society and also a member of the American Society of Human Genetics and the American Statistical Association.