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Distinguished Achievement Award
FELICIA AXELROD-PORGES ’62
Honors an alumna/alumnus, graduated at least 10 years, who has translated her or his Skidmore experience into distinguished achievement through professional work and/or community service.
Retired physician Felicia Axelrod-Porges is an internationally recognized expert on Familial Dysautonomia (FD), a rare genetic neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Founder of NYU’s Dysautonomia Treatment and Evaluation Center, she has revolutionized the care of FD patients and transformed medical outcomes through her pioneering approach to treating this life-threatening illness.
Felicia traces the roots of her extraordinary achievement to the intersection of “science and serendipity.” But she is quick to add, “As Pasteur reminds us, ‘Fortune favors the prepared mind’ — and Skidmore prepared me.”
The Skidmore biology-chemistry major was serving as chief resident at New York University Medical Center when she was asked to coordinate the care of several FD patients. By the time she had completed her residency, Felicia had committed herself to decoding the mysteries of this heredity disease and treating FD patients. In 1969, she founded the Dysautonomia Treatment and Evaluation Center.
She established an international registry of patients, which allowed for the centralization of care, routine evaluation of programs, and long-term neurophysiologic studies. The facility was recognized as a center of excellence for the FD population and remains unsurpassed in the depth and breadth of resources offered to patients and their families. It is also a critical resource for physicians worldwide.
A highly complex disease, FD effects virtually every system in the human body. It disturbs cells in the autonomic nervous system, it interferes with digestion, breathing, and the regulation of blood pressure. The sensory nervous system is also impacted, altering the perception of pain, heat, and cold. In the 1980s, Felicia created software to track research data. She was instrumental in performing many clinical research studies that have led to dramatic improvement in quality of life and longevity for afflicted patients. For example, she discovered that many FD patients had trouble swallowing. At the time, it was believed children were reacting to a milk allergy. Her swallowing studies revealed the real culprit: Milk was being misdirected to their lungs. Felicia devised a bypass system by inserting feeding tubes directly into their stomachs, ensuring healthy fluid and caloric intake. Prior to her intervention, the leading cause of death among FD patients had been lung disease, caused by improper swallowing.
For this devoted healer, the challenges faced by patients and their families extended beyond the clinical. She saw the need to empower parents to care for their children with the disorder: “They needed to know that someone understood what they were going through and could teach them how to do it.”
Felicia integrated clinical science, hands-on education, and compassionate support that elevated quality of life for FD patients and caregivers. Her work has extended their lives: In 1970, children with FD had a 50% chance of surviving to the age of five; today, this population reaches age 40 and beyond and is even having children of its own. “They are like family — and I’ve gone to many of their weddings and other celebrations.”
She has also been on the front lines of genetic research. In 2001, Felicia and other researchers collaborated with Dr. Susan Slaugenhaupt at Harvard Medical School to identify the gene that causes FD. Felicia believes that “genetic therapy is just around the corner.”
— Felicia Axelrod-Porges ’62
