Pamela J. Fraker is professor emeritus at Michigan State University.[1] In 2007 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the first woman from MSU to be so honored.[2] She retired as distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in May 2012, after 39 years.[3]
She grew up in Williamsport, Indiana. Despite neither of her parents having high school diplomas, Fraker was encouraged to pursue her education.[4]
She attended Purdue University, starting in 1962, studying biology. She studied under microbiologist Samuel Kaplan at the University of Illinois, Champaign.[4] Fraker earned her PhD at the University of Illinois in 1971.[2][4]
Fraker was the lead scientist of two studies investigating the physiological factors that influence the immune system, in particular the discovery of an appetite-controlling hormone and the relationship between metabolism, the immune system and the neuroendocrine system.[5]