OBITUARY
Chris C. Plato, 66; researcher of neurological disorders

By Jeff Ristine
STAFF WRITER

March 4, 2008

Dr. Chris C. Plato intended to make animal genetics his life's work.

Instead, he redirected himself to human genetics, eventually delving into a pioneering study of the genetic basis for such neurological disorders as Lou Gehrig's disease and Parkinson's disease.

He was lured to the University of California San Diego to help the university continue his research, which he began in Guam.

“Much of the progress that we've made in implicating genetic factors that may underlie these disorders come from his input and from the original data he collected,” said Dr. Douglas R. Galasko, who worked with Dr. Plato in the Neurosciences Department of the UCSD School of Medicine.

Dr. Plato died of liver failure Feb. 23 at his San Diego home. He was 66.

Dr. Plato came to the United States in 1950 from Cyprus for an education, settling in New York. He worked odd jobs to earn money before enrolling at the State University of New York in 1953.

“He started out in animal husbandry with the idea of going in agriculture,” said his daughter, Meropi Plato. But in 1956, when he had enrolled at Iowa State University, “he was encouraged to pursue this other study in human genetics.”

That led him to the University of Michigan and a master's degree in human genetics in 1960. That is where he launched his study of two neurodegenerative disorders in Guam – Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS) and Parkinson's disease coupled with dementia.

As part of his work, he constructed a genealogy of an entire village where high incidences of the the two diseases had been seen after World War II.

Dr. Plato's massive database has been used “by many other investigators, and suggested there may be many unusual and important genetic risk factors that explain these disorders,” Galasko said.

Later in his career, Dr. Plato became a pioneer in a field called dermatoglyphics, which studies fingerprints and palm prints for their possible relationships with genetic disorders. He founded a professional association for the science in 1975 and was its first president.

Dr. Plato conducted most of his professional research at the national Institutes of Health in Maryland.

“He chose to continue to work for the federal government . . . instead of going to work for a for-profit organization – he had many offers,” said his daughter. “He thought it was so important to keep research in the public domain. He was very big on sharing research with other doctors and scientists.”

About 10 years ago, after retiring, Dr. Plato was invited to join the Neurosciences Department at the UCSD School of Medicine to follow up on his work in Guam. The university's researchers had been delving into the subject, developing newer studies on the same Guam population.

He left UCSD in the summer, too ill to continue working.

Survivors include his wife, Chrysso Plato; daughter, Meropi Plato of San Diego; sons, Chris Plato Jr. of San Diego and Constantine Plato of Denver; and sisters, Chloe Antoniou, Maroula Christofides and Aliki Papadapoullos, all of Nicosia, Cyprus.

A memorial service and burial are scheduled for next week in Cyprus.

The family suggests donations to the Chris C. Plato Fund at the American Dermatoglyphics Association, P.O. Box 543, Monkton, MD 21111.

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