A pioneering scientist lived among us for decades. Carmen B. Lozzio, MD, FACMG, was born in Argentina in 1931, moved to Knoxville in the mid-1960s and died April 5, 2022. Her obituary includes information about her research. I just wish more of us had been aware of her work and dreams while we might have done something to help.
Dr. Lozzio joined UT in 1965 as a research associate. Her research work involved isolating cells from a leukemia patient and establishing the K-562 cell line. These cells have been used in scientific studies in laboratories around the world. These cultured cells continue to be used for the development of new treatments for cancer.
The obituary continues: Dr. Lozzio had a vision for a center that would provide services to the people of East Tennessee. She brought together a team of professionals at the UT Medical Center in Knoxville in one place first named The Birth Defects Center, and then renamed the Developmental and Genetic Center.
The multi-disciplinary approach provided much more than a diagnosis to families and patients. There were the laboratories that performed the high complexity tests for traditional cytogenetics, molecular and metabolic tests. Dr. Lozzio saw the need for so much more support and had staff that included a psychologist, a nutritionist, social workers, speech and hearing specialist and genetic counseling.
She wanted to provide resources to help families meet the challenges of serious health consequences with a genetic diagnosis. She was a medical doctor certified in medical genetics and cytogenetics. “It was a huge loss when the center closed.”
She led a pilot project in 2004 and 2005 in conjunction with centers at Vanderbilt University and UT Memphis to develop health information technology infrastructure in Tennessee to promote and improve health care for kids with special health care needs. Time was critical, she said, and a rapid response could mean relatively normal development versus mental retardation or even death in some cases.
She is survived by a daughter, Grace Lozzio, of California. Her church home was St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Farragut. A celebration of life is planned for a later date. Additional obituary information is here.