Dr. Regina Frayser, former faculty member, diesDr. Regina Frayser, 77, of Mount Pleasant, died Sunday, Feb. 1, after a short illness.She was born Feb. 18, 1926, in Lynchburg, Va., daughter of the late Drucilla and Edward Frayser. She was a graduate of the Randolph-Macon Women's College and Duke University. She was a professor at MUSC for more than 22 years and was very active in the community, especially some of the charitable organizations in the Charleston area. The Lowcountry has lost a truly great person—she will be missed. She is survived by her cousins, Almeria P. Jones of Norfolk, Va., David Jones of Ridgeland, and Ellen Thompkins of Newport News, Va. Condolences may be sent via e-mail at http://www.mcalister-smith.com. I had the privilege of collaborating with Regina
on several projects. She was an enthusiastic, expert investigator, a generous
colleague, and a true believer (in the importance of scientific discovery
and experimental accuracy). She told you exactly what she thought
and did not suffer fools gladly. She had a dry sense of humor and surprising
acts of friendship. My oldest son, John, worked with her one summer as
a student research assistant, and this positive experience influenced his
life-long career choices. I am sure there are many others whom she inspired
with her love and dedication to clinical research, and she lives on in
our memory.
When I was 14, Dr. Frayser agreed to have me work
with her technician dealing with the crunch of samples that she was collecting
from Army volunteers as they climbed Mount McKinley in Alaska. I
learned so many things from her of a technical nature—how to take pictures
of the retina, how to pipette, how to keep a data book. The most enduring
lesson for me came from observing the respect that she showed for the process
of doing clinical research and for her research volunteers. She saw it
as such a privilege to be paid to engage people in making physical sacrifices—climbing
a mountain, donating blood and tissue samples—so that she could understand
health and disease better. She expected us to be exacting in our analyses
because of the precious and irreplaceable nature of the funds, the time
and the sacrifice of the volunteers in making those samples available to
our research team. Those
Dr. Frayser was a good mentor to me when I first
arrived at MUSC. We attended the same college (Randolph-Macon Women's College)
and thus had that bond. She had a critical role in establishing
the research program in the Department of Ophthalmology. Being a well known
retinal researcher on her arrival at MUSC, her advice and guidance was
essential to the departmental chair and the college administration on the
construction of the original research floor of the Storm Eye Institute
and appointment of the research faculty.
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as
needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations
for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South
Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107
or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst
Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu
or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community
Press at 849-1778.
|
|