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Sharon Diane Perry

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[July 30, 2015]  Palo Alto, CA - Sharon Diane Perry passed away on July 10, 2015 of complications from a recent surgery. She was sixty-six years old.

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Sharon Diane Perry passed away on July 10, 2015 of complications from a recent surgery. She was sixty-six years old. Sharon was a woman of uncommon intellect, sharp wit, and deep humility whose passions for science and public service found their perfect outlet in her work as an epidemiologist in underserved communities throughout the world.

Sharon was born on March 7, 1949 in Pasadena, California to Jerolane (Jere) Matteson and James Miller. When James died tragically as a result of injuries sustained in the Second World War, Jere moved east to Lincoln, Illinois, where she met and married Tom Perry. Tom adopted Sharon and her younger brother, Jim (Jupie), and brothers; Ted and Robert (Boe) soon followed.

Sharon graduated from Lincoln High School in 1967 and married her high school boyfriend, Scott Moriearty, the following year. They settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and their daughter, Perry, was born in 1969. Sharon earned an A.B. from Boston University in 1973 and a Master’s in Education and Public Policy from Harvard in 1974. Over the next sixteen years, Sharon channeled an emerging commitment to human service work into research and health policy positions with the Massachusetts Association for Retarded Citizens and the Massachusetts Office of Handicapped Affairs. She also found time to watch numerous soccer and lacrosse games, tromp through the forests of Maine and Vermont, experiment with all forms of gourmet cuisine, type English papers and history reports, play countless games of Scrabble, and bird-watch on the shores of Plum Island.

Sharon’s career took a critical turn in 1990 when she relocated to Southern California to pursue a graduate degree in science. She obtained her PhD in epidemiology from the University of California-Sand Diego in 1999 and a post-doctorate degree in infectious diseases from Stanford in 2006.

In every sense, Sharon found her calling as an epidemiologist. Shortly after obtaining her PhD, Sharon became the principal investigator on a project to quantify and help alleviate HIV transmission within the homeless community in San Francisco, and in 2002, accepted a position as a senior research assistant at Stanford to help develop research on emerging diagnostics for tuberculosis.  In 2007, Sharon became involved in one of the projects of which she was proudest; the Stanford-North Korea Tuberculosis Diagnostics Project.  Through this project, a joint effort between Stanford Medical School and the Department of Political Science, Sharon worked with the North Korean Ministry of Health to create the country’s first modern tuberculosis lab. Sharon’s “vison and passion helped make an impossible project a reality,” her friend and collaborator writes, “and build trust and strong relationships between sworn enemies along the way.” Sharon also found great personal and professional joy in her work as director and scientific coordinator for the Step Forward Initiative, a foundation that undertakes projects throughout the world to address the unmet medical needs of underserved populations.

In 2012, Sharon joined Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) as a Mission Epidemiologist in Lilongwe, Malawi. There began her love affair with the African continent, which lasted until her death. In Malawi, and during her subsequent mission in Cape Town, South Africa, Sharon combined operational research with field support in numerous African countries. Sharon was utterly devoted to her work. Clad in cargo pants, florescent socks, sandals and her ever-present fanny pack, Sharon would spend countless hours at her laptop, her foot bouncing to the rhythm of her thoughts. She “would describe herself as an epidemiologist by necessity,” her colleagues as MSF in South Africa write, “dedicated to the process of supporting the evidence-basis of humanitarian endeavors.”

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One of Sharon’s greatest gifts was her rapport with young children. She “had a natural ability to talk with children rather than down to them,” a friend and MSF colleague observed in the days after her death. Her nieces, nephews and grandchildren will sorely miss her munificence, indulgence and colorful stories. Sharon’s quirky sense of humor was also well-know, as was her love of the piano, any form of chocolate, horror movies, People magazine, facial lotions, crossword puzzles and closing her day with a single Amstel Light.

Sharon was preceded in death by her parents, Jere and Tom Perry, and her brother Boe Perry. She is survived by her daughter, Perry Moriearty, son-in-law, Kyle Hofmann, and grandchildren, Mia and Rowan, who will do all they can to carry forward her legacy of virtuosity and service; her brother and lifelong best friend, Jupie, whose love and care for her throughout her life, and especially during her final years, were truly boundless; her brother, Ted, in whom Sharon saw her father’s gentle and loving spirit live on; her former husband, Scott Moriearty, whose friendship and support during her final years were invaluable, Jupie’s partner and Sharon’s friend, Colleen Bush; nieces Katelin, Amanda and Sarah, nephews Matteson, Tyler, Robbie, Patrick, Chris and Steven; and many dear friends and colleagues.

A memorial service will be held in Palo Alto, California in November.

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