Sterling K. Clarren – 50th Reunion Essay

Sterling K. Clarren

8601 Paisley Dr. NE

Seattle, Washington 98115

skclarren@gmail.com

(206) 898-9608

Spouse(s): Sandra Bernstein Clarren (1970)

Child(ren): Rebecca Clarren (Esmer) (1975), Jonathan Clarren (1980)

Grandchild(ren): Jude Esmer (2011); Louis Esmer October 18, 2014, Livian Clarren January 15, 2016

Education: Yale University, BA, 1969, University of Minnesota, MD, 1973

Career: University of Washington, School of Medicine, Robert A. Aldrich Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Genetics and Development 1978 to 2004, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and CEO and Scientific Director, Canadian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research Network, 2005 to 2015

Avocations: Environmental education, skiing, fishing, hiking, writing poetry for fun, playing with grandkids

College: Davenport

I decided I wanted to be a medical researcher in tenth grade. I was introduced to the young woman with whom I would spend my life the same year. I left Minneapolis for Yale. I left Yale for medical school and then to propose to Sandra Bernstein (Smith, 69), that girl I loved. Yale did not change my dreams, but it informed every aspect of my life; I learned how to appreciate history, religious thought, literature, music and art, how to write, and how to work hard.

We came to Seattle, Washington, in 1973 so that I could spend a year as a pediatric intern. I loved the University of Washington Department of Pediatrics, the Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the colleagues. It was a time of great advances and great medical excitement. We thought we could solve all kinds of problems. And we loved the city, the mountains, the ocean and Puget Sound, the ease of playing when time allowed, and the wonderful friends that we found along the way. We stayed. I finished the residency and a fellowship and joined the faculty. I advanced quickly to become the Robert A. Aldrich Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Genetics and Development and later the head of Inpatient Medicine. I became an expert in environmental causes of birth defects (teratology) and worked primarily in the area of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), doing early basic studies in the mechanisms of alcohol’s actions as it altered the embryo and later in helping to establish FAS diagnostic clinics in 14 states and Canada. In this later work, my wife, who had become a Ph.D. in educational psychology, worked with me to establish and train these far-flung clinical teams.

We somehow managed to raise two great children during all of that. A daughter, who grew to become an investigative journalist, a wife and mother of two boys; and a son, an artist and designer, a husband and father of a little girl.

In 2004, we drove up to Vancouver, British Columbia, for a sabbatical year at the University of British Columbia. I was offered an opportunity to start a trans-provincial research network (CanFASD) that would develop data on the problems faced by those with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and their families to inform improvements in medical, educational, mental health and social interventions. We stayed. It was an amazing adventure in learning about systematic approaches to care, working directly with governments, meeting great people, traveling to far-off spots and maybe even helping folks.

I retired in 2015. We have homes in Vancouver and Seattle. We see our kids who live in Portland and Seattle a lot. We are busy on boards and working with favored organizations. We still get into the mountains when we can. We are people of the I-5 corridor. It wasn’t all easy or happy, of course. Deaths and illnesses posed their challenges. But mostly I am so grateful for the wondrous life that we have had.