{"id":6479,"date":"2026-05-07T21:43:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/?p=6479"},"modified":"2026-05-07T22:24:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:24:01","slug":"renowned-scientist-nancy-s-wexler-shares-extraordinary-personal-and-scientific-journey-in-new-memoir-my-life-my-science-pursuing-a-cure-for-huntingtons-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/renowned-scientist-nancy-s-wexler-shares-extraordinary-personal-and-scientific-journey-in-new-memoir-my-life-my-science-pursuing-a-cure-for-huntingtons-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Renowned Scientist Nancy S. Wexler Shares Extraordinary Personal and Scientific Journey in New Memoir, My Life, My Science: Pursuing a Cure for Huntington\u2019s Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEW YORK (May 6, 2026)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 One of the most influential figures in modern genetic research, Nancy S. Wexler, PhD, led the pioneering fieldwork that\u00a0helped make possible the discovery of the gene responsible for Huntington\u2019s disease<\/strong>, a fatal, hereditary neurodegenerative disorder. Now she brings her personal journey to a wide audience in her memoir,\u00a0My Life, My Science: Pursuing a Cure for Huntington\u2019s Disease<\/i><\/strong>, available nationwide.<\/p>\n

For decades, Wexler has stood on the frontlines of the genetic revolution, engaging with such hot-button issues as the ethical use of genetic information and the promise and peril of predictive gene testing. During the search for the Huntington\u2019s disease gene, she helped create new forms of collaboration while encouraging and mentoring several generations of researchers, especially women.<\/p>\n

But her scientific mission began with a personal revelation. At age 23, she learned that her mother Leonore\u2019s jerky movements and gradual withdrawal into depression and anxiety were due to a hereditary illness, the same disease that had killed Leonore\u2019s father and all three of her brothers. Wexler also learned that she and her sister each faced a 50\u201350 chance of developing it themselves. Rather than retreat, she embarked on a lifelong quest to understand and ultimately defeat the disease.<\/p>\n

Wexler draws readers into her experiences moving among the halls of government, university labs, lecture halls, and the impoverished barrios and stilt villages around Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela\u2014home to the largest concentration of Huntington\u2019s disease in the world. She returned there with a team every year for 22 years to help unravel the mysteries of the disease. In her memoir, she shares both the rewards and the toll of that quest, including her private struggles over whether to have children and her gradual realization that she, too, was developing the disease she had spent her life trying to cure.<\/p>\n

Now living with Huntington\u2019s, Wexler offers an unflinching account of resilience, purpose, and hope.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThis book is the story of a life shaped by urgency\u2014the need to understand a disease that affects my family and that of so many others,\u201d said Nancy Wexler. \u201cScience gave me a way to fight back, but it was love\u2014for my mother, my family, and this community\u2014that sustained me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The memoir also highlights the role of family, including her father, psychoanalyst\u00a0Milton Wexler<\/strong>, who established what is now the\u00a0Huntington\u2019s Disease Foundation<\/a>, and her sister, historian\u00a0Alice R. Wexler<\/strong>, with whom she collaborated on this book, along with writer\u00a0Mark Hampton.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All author royalties from\u00a0My Life, My Science<\/em>\u00a0support the Huntington\u2019s Disease Foundation\u2019s ongoing efforts to fund research and improve the lives of those affected by the disease.<\/p>\n

Praised as \u201ca lesson in courage, fortitude, heroism, and above all\u2026love\u201d by Carol Burnett, the book offers a powerful window into both the scientific process and the human realities behind it.<\/p>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Nancy S. Wexler, PhD, is the Higgins Professor of Neuropsychology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and president of the Huntington\u2019s Disease Foundation. Her work identifying the genetic basis of Huntington\u2019s disease has earned numerous honors, including the Lasker Award for Public Service and the Cold Spring Harbor Double Helix Medal.<\/p>\n

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Book Details<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>My Life, My Science: Pursuing a Cure for Huntington\u2019s Disease<\/em>
\nBy Nancy S. Wexler, PhD,\u00a0in collaboration with Mark Hampton and Alice R. Wexler
\nPublication Date: March 10, 2026
\nPublisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
\nAvailable via\u00a0Amazon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (May 6, 2026)\u00a0\u2014 One of the most influential figures in modern genetic research, Nancy S. Wexler, PhD, led the pioneering fieldwork that\u00a0helped make possible the discovery of the gene responsible for Huntington\u2019s disease, a fatal, hereditary neurodegenerative disorder. Now she brings her personal journey to a wide audience in her memoir,\u00a0My Life, My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[9,8],"class_list":["post-6479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","tag-book","tag-nancy-wexler"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6479"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6489,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions\/6489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hdcoe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}