Kathleen Rao

Dr. Kathleen Rao

Mebane

Dr. Kathleen Rao, 67, of Mebane passed away Thursday, March 24th at the Hospice Home in Burlington, North Carolina following a brief battle with cancer. She is survived by her mother, Joan Waldron; her brothers, Pete and Matt Waldron and their families; and her cousins the Steffen family. Kathleen was predeceased by her husband, Dr. R. D. Rao.

Kathleen graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and received her PhD in Genetics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her first faculty position was at East Carolina University where she directed the Cytogenetics Laboratory from 1980-1984. She returned to UNC-CH in 1984 where she remained on the faculty until the time of her death. During this time, she rose through the ranks to become a tenured professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and a research professor in the Department of Genetics while also serving as Director of the Cytogenetics Laboratory at UNC Hospitals. She made numerous contributions to the field of Cytogenetics and was a Founding Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics for which she also served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President for Laboratory Affairs. She was elected to serve on many national and international committees including the International Standing Committee on Cytogenetic Nomenclature, the Children's Oncology Group Cytogenetics Committee and the Cancer and Leukemia Group B Cytogenetics Review Committee. She also served as President of the North Carolina Medical Genetics Association. In her role as an educator, she was a great advocate for medical education at all levels. She was a leader in medical student education and curriculum design at UNC, and both founded and co-directed the UNC School of Medicine's Academy of Educators which supports and enhances the careers of teaching faculty. In recognition of these contributions, a grant program for innovative teaching projects was named in her honor. As Director of the Cytogenetics Laboratory Fellowship Training Program at UNC, she taught and mentored numerous students who now work in the field throughout the U.S. She is the recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Cytogeneticist Award, one of the highest honors in her field.

She will be remembered for her collegiality, dedication to her field, and sense of humor and will be greatly missed by her many former students, colleagues, friends and family.

A memorial service and reception will be held at University Presbyterian Church, 209 East Franklin St., Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Monday, April 4th at 3:30pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Medical Foundation of NC, Inc., 880 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514. Checks should be made payable to the Medical Foundation of NC. Please note on the check that it is a memorial for Dr. Kathleen Rao to the Medical Education Excellence Fund.

Gifts can also be made online to the Medical Education Excellence Fund with memorial tribute at http://giving.unc.edu/gift/medf

Rich & Thompson Funeral Home and Crematory in Graham is assisting the family.

Condolences may be offered at www.richandthompson.com