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Dr. Mary Styles Harris, Ph.D. (born June 26, 1949, Nashville, Tennessee) is an American Biologist and Geneticist. Harris earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1971. She went onto pursue her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1975 where she received a Ford Foundation doctoral fellowship in Molecular Genetics. She received her Ph.D. in 1975 and worked her way up from a postdoctoral position to being the president and genetics consultant of her own company, Harris & Associates, Ltd in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1987, Harris is the founder and owner of BioTechnical Communications, which produced an award-winning 40 minute television documentary special “To My Sister…A Gift for Life.”

Harris's focus for her media productions both on television and radio has been around the health issues of African Americans. These include campaigning for the need of early detection in Breast Cancer, the genetics of Sickle-Cell Anemia and understanding diabetes related concerns. Other topics she has explored are AIDS, cervical cancer, colon cancer, hypertension and prostate cancer.

Harris has been a strong advocate for bridging the gap in transparency in public health education between Government officials and Scientists so that important health information can be available to the public to help them benefit from it.

Early life
Harris was born in Nashville, Tennessee on June 26, 1949, to George and Margaret Styles. George was still pursuing his medical degree from Meharry Medical College and just before he became a doctor, Harris was born. Her mother, Margaret, completed a degree in business administration at Tennessee State University. Soon after Harris was born the family shifted to Miami, Florida. Growing up Harris was encouraged to read a variety of topics and soon she developed an interest in Science. It was her father's career that sparked Harris's early interest in medicine and research. George died when Harris was nine years old. When Harris entered Miami Jackson High School she was one of the first African Americans to enroll. In 1967 she graduated twelfth in her class of 350. She was involved in activities outside of school which included participating in annual science fairs and volunteering at the first Black-owned medical laboratory in Miami. The laboratory staff showed Mary how to perform routine biological tests such as counting red blood cells in a patient sample.

Education
At Lincoln University in Pennsylvania Harris was one of the first women to enroll. Men in her advanced algebra and organic chemistry classes were surprised to see Harris there. She spent most of her time with pre-med students, with the goal of attending medical school. Her father's colleagues reserved Harris a place at the University of Miami Medical School, but she did not accept it. She did not want to treat people, she wanted to do research.

Harris graduated from Lincoln University in 1971, and then enrolled at Cornell University where she studied molecular genetics and was supported by a Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship. Shew graduated with her doctorate in 1975 and was a Research Associate studying the virology of tumors in the medical school at Rutgers University from 1975-77.

Career
After graduating from Cornell, Harris was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship by the National Cancer Institute. She went to the New Jersey University of Medicine and Dentistry where she researched on the genetic composition of viruses. Her goal during this time was to understand the most basic virus structures and discover materials that could slow down viruses that could be used to improve people's health. This project had the potential to attract large funding opportunities to the university. Despite having success in research, she did not want to continue grant-supported basic research. This led Harris to become the executive director of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia in 1977. In this role, she was responsible for raising money for sickle cell research, a condition mainly affecting people of African descent and, educating the public on the disease. For this role she received a National Science Foundation Science Residency Award in 1979. This award gave her the chance to produce and host a series of documentaries on science and medicine. She won the Glamour Magazine's Outstanding Working Woman Award right after in 1980. The award ceremonies were handed personally by Jimmy Carter at the White House.

Harris later became the Director of Genetic Services for the Georgia Department of Human Services. Her role here was to influence Public Health Policies in the state of Georgia as well as across the Nation. She was in this role for three years following which she worked for two years as a project-coordinator of genetic screening of newborn infants. During this time Harris also served as an Assistant Professor at Morehouse College (1978) and Atlanta College (1980-1981).

In 1987 Harris founded BioTechnical Communications which creates audiovisual educational materials on health topics.

Harris has dedicated her professional life to researching and providing health care information and education for the minority population. She has spent most of her professional career involved in the application and transfer of basic research to the health care field.

Harris has experience as a graduate and medical school teacher and she has had articles published in scientific and medical journals. She has directed a statewide screening program, been on grant review committees, and has provided private consulting for private laboratories and health organizations. Harris has produced television and radio shows, and she hosts a call-in radio show, Journey To Wellness: African American Health Radio and developed a documentary, To My Sisters... A Gift For Life, focusing on breast cancer in African American Women.

Harris' interest in preventive health care led her to get involved in newborn screening of Sickle-cell disease and sitting on the Atlanta board of the March of Dimes.

Personal Life
After having received her Doctoral degree, Mary married Sidney Harris who had just graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. They both were admitted to Cornell University and moved to Ithaca, New York. While Sidney got accepted in a graduate engineering program, she followed her passion for research at the renowned molecular genetics research center at the university.

Mary and Sidney Harris had a daughter when she was serving as the Director of Genetic Services for the Georgia Department of Human Services. Being involved in several roles and finding it hectic to balance home and work-life, Harris took a brief break after which she started her own Consulting Company in California focusing on products in genetic engineering and companies that needed help in explaining their activities to the general public, to prospective customers, and to various government officials.

Contributions and Awards

 * 1979-80: Governor’s Advisory Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
 * 1979-80: Women's Forum of Georgia
 * 1979-80: Georgia Human Genetics Task Force
 * 1979-80: Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust; Georgia Board of Regents, University of Georgia
 * 1979-80: board member, CDC Foundation
 * 1979-80: Scientist in Residence for WGTV Channel 8
 * 1980: Glamour Magazine's Outstanding Working Woman Award
 * 1979: National Science Foundation Science Residency Award
 * 1977: Public health Association, American Society for Human Genetics
 * 1971: Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship