Arthur Falek

FALEK-Dr. Arthur. 81, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavorial Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine. Arthur Falek born March 23, 1924 in Brooklyn, NY died on November 7, 2005 from congestive heart failure. Dr. Falek was well loved for his humor and grace and will be missed by family and friends. He completed his Masters Degree in Education and a doctorate in Human Genetics in 1956 from Columbia University. In 1965 he became Director of the Human Genetics Laboratory in the Psychiatry Department of Emory University, which led to his interest in the developing field of behavior genetics. In 1967, Dr. Falek started working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP), which has made major contributions to understanding the incidence and causes of birth defects and is the foundation upon which the current National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at CDC was built. In 1979, he was awarded Georgia Mental Health Institute's Individual of the Year Award for his research into the causes of behavorial differences. At that time, he also became a national board member of the Committee on the Problems of Drug Dependency-a group devoted to understanding and combating drug abuse. Dr. Falek established the Georgia Huntington's Disease registry to track families in which HD occurred and to provide genetic counseling for those families. In the late 60's, Dr. Falek and Marjorie Guthrie, the wife of folksinger Woody Guthrie, co-founded the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease-a support group for HD families and a lobbying agency for HD research. Dr. Falek served on the boards of both the Georgia HDSA chapter and of the national organization as science advisor. For this service he won the HDSA Mason Thompson Award. In the mid-70s, Dr. Falek received the first National Institute on Drug Abuse grant to study how drugs affect the health of AIDS addicts based on their ability to fight disease both from HIV and from other opportunistic infections. This field has expanded greatly over the last two decades and led directly to a dozen international conferences on drugs and AIDS, the formation of a scientific society (Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology) and recently a Journal of NeuroImmune Pharmacology-all of which Dr. Falek was involved in starting. For his work on the effects of illicit drugs on AIDS progression, Arthur Falek received The Medal of the City of Paris, awarded in May 1990 by Mayor Jacques Chirac. In 1980, Dr. Falek initiated the Fetal Alcohol Surveillance project in Georgia. This project was one of the first to identify the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and to describe the behavioral characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and has contributed to the prevention of this common disorder. While at Emory, Arthur Falek taught several generations of medical students and was mentor to a large number of doctoral students and faculty members who went on to carve out their own distinguished careers in human genetic research, psychiatry and substance abuse. In addition to his academic excellence, Dr. Falek was well known for his community contributions including his service on numerous boards including the Jewish Family and Career Services in Atlanta; the Georgia Fetal Alcohol Task Force; Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies; the Robischer Society, and a myriad of other community service organizations in Atlanta. Dr. Falek was active in many local, national and international Jewish organizations including the Jewish Educational Loan Fund, where he was President and Chairman of the Board; Jewish Family and Career Services of Atlanta; and at Hebrew University where he helped to establish The Sheinfeld Center for Behavior Genetics. Dr. Falek was also an advisor to Hillel on the Emory campus. Dr. Falek is survived by his wife Rhoda, his children Linda and husband Andrew Aymes; James Falek and wife Wendy Tanson; six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, his sister Nina Epstein and his caregivers Juanita ``Christy'' Bowen and Rosa Parpolov. For information please call: Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care (770 451 4999). The funeral will be held at 11 A.M. Wednesday, November 9 at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree Street, Atlanta. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Educational Loan Fund (770396-3080) or Jewish Family & Career Services of Atlanta (770-677-9329) both at the following address: 4549 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA 30338.