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In 1980 he turned his attention to human genetics and the genetics of natural populations. He developed the DNA Diagnostic Laboratory of Kingston General Hospital, which was the first in Ontario and the second in Canada. In 987 he was awarded a Killam Fellowship to continue his research on the Fragile X Syndrome. He also developed a research program in cancer and located a number of important genes. His laboratory was the first to use DNA markers to assess parentage in a natural population (snow geese). He initiated a long-term research program on endangered species such as the beluga whale, North Atlantic right whale and the Puerto Rican parrot. He also developed the Wildlife DNA Forensic Laboratory to perform analyses primarily for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. In 190 he returned to McMaster University as Chair of Biology. He served on the Board of the Royal Botanical Gardens and led a large interdisciplinary research initiative on the restoration of Hamilton Harbour with Dr. Mark Sproule-Jones. In 1996 he spent a sabbatical at the Durrell Institute of Conservation Ecology at the University of Kent at Canterbury. In 1997 he moved the Wildlife DNA Forensic Laboratory to Trent University where he was awarded the McLean Fellowship. In 2001 he was awarded a Canada Research Chair in Conservation Genetics and Biodiversity and formed the Natural resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre as a partnership between Trent and OMNR. He has published over 170 papers and trained over 30 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows during his research career.
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