The Boy Who Wasn’t Short

Human Stories from the Revolution in Genetic Medicine
Edwin Kirk

“Both an account of the human stories at the heart of Kirk’s practice and a beginner’s guide to genetic medicine, The Genes That Make Us tells of the significant progress that has been made in genetics over the past two decades, while also signalling how far there is left to travel.”

Diane Stubbings, Australian Book Review

“This new book sets out to share the experiences and anecdotes of a career in genetic medicine more than two-decades long, while narrating segments of the history of genetic pathology and exploring the world of genes today and to come…Kirk makes effective use of footnotes to deflate the academic style and maintain a sense of personality and fun.”

David Ferrell, Canberra Times

A geneticist tells the stories of men, women, and children whose genes have shaped their lives in unexpected ways.

It was while listening to a colleague tell the parents of a newborn girl that their daughter was going to die that a lifelong interest in genetic medicine was sparked in Dr. Edwin Kirk. Warmth and gentleness tempered a direct, sure manner—this was the medicine he wanted to practice, where the most advanced science and the most deeply humane care meet and merge. Twenty-five years later, Kirk works both with patients and in the lab, meanwhile spearheading a campaign that will change the way we think about having babies.

Written with insight and gentle humor, The Boy Who Wasn’t Short tells tales about his work, such as the moment the realization that a young boy wasn’t short ended up saving the life of his mother—and how Angelina Jolie has saved the lives of many more. Sit in the room with Kirk and his patients as they navigate the world of heartbreaking uncertainties, tantalizing possibilities, and thorny questions of morality. In genetics, it is the particularities of an individual’s history that matter, and here, in clear and considerate writing, those individual stories are given voice.

Diane Stubbings, Australian Book Review

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 9in × 6in

Extent:288pp

ISBN (13):9781950354726

RRP:$18.00

Pub date:6 Sep 2021

High-res cover:Download Image

AWARDS

2022 BMA Medical Book Award, Popular Medicine - Winner

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AUTHOR

Edwin Kirk

Professor Edwin Kirk is both a clinical geneticist and a genetic pathologist, a rare combination. As a clinician, he sees patients at Sydney Children’s Hospital, where he has worked for more than 20 years; his laboratory practice is in the New South Wales Health Pathology Genomics Laboratory at Randwick.Kirk is a conjoint appointee in the School of Women’s and Children’s Health at the University of New South Wales, an experienced medical educator, and currently Chief Examiner in Genetics for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. He is also a respected researcher, working in the fields of cardiac genetics, metabolic diseases, and intellectual disability, as well as studying reproductive carrier screening, and is a co-author of more than 100 publications in scientific journals, which have been cited by other researchers more than 4,000 times. He is one of the co-leads and public faces of the $20 million Mackenzie’s Mission carrier screening project.Kirk lives in Sydney with his wife and three children. In his spare time, he competes in ocean swimming races, slowly, and plays the saxophone, loudly.

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We publish books that matter — narrative and literary nonfiction on important topics, and the best of local, international, and translated fiction.

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