Dr. Hope Handler Punnett, a 97-year-old geneticist from West Mt. Airy, continues to challenge stereotypes about aging.

"The public should be aware that people my age are not old and decrepit," Punnett said. "Sometimes, I forget how old I am."

Punnett, a longtime resident of Northwest Philadelphia, was one of only two women in Yale University's graduate school Department of Botany and Microbiology in 1948. She is a professor emerita of genetics at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where she ran the genetics lab for over 30 years and returned to the lab as a volunteer after she retired.   

Researchers want to know her recipe for longevity. Punnett is currently participating in the "SuperAgers Family Study," a large-scale research project investigating cognitive health in individuals over 95.  When asked about the secret to a long life, Punnett cited luck and genetics. "I was lucky to get into the field I've been in," she said. "And the second reason is genetics. My dad lived to be 96, and he smoked cigars." Her mother lived to be 86.

The goal of the SuperAgers study by the American Federation for Aging Research and New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine is to recruit 10,000 participants over the age of 95 who do not have the cognitive impairment often associated with advanced age. The purpose is to find out what the study participants have in common and perhaps try to replicate it for others, perhaps even with new medications. It is said to be the largest study of its kind ever undertaken.

“I don't know what is happening with the study,” Punnett said. “Ever since I sent in my DNA swab, I have not heard from them … I was just on the phone with a college friend who is now 98, and she is in better shape than I am.”

 Punnett studied biology and chemistry at Smith College as an undergraduate. She earned a master’s degree at Yale University and a doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Illinois. At Yale, she met her husband-to-be, Dr. Thomas Punnett, Jr., who later earned a doctorate degree in biophysics from the University of Illinois. The couple married in 1950. Thomas Punnett joined the Temple University biology department in 1963 and retired for health reasons in 1999. He died in 2008 at age 81 of lymphoma.

Hope Punnett’s work at St. Christopher's Hospital was largely concerned with diagnosing and treating children with rare and complex genetic conditions, such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia. She also was engaged in significant research on chromosomal abnormalities and genetic defects. She published more than 100 papers in scientific journals and helped to mentor many young geneticists.

“St. Christopher's was a magnificent hospital,” she said, “but Children's Hospital of Philadelphia always got so much more attention. Whenever St. Chris had cutbacks, the first thing cut would be public relations people. I really think that is why we did not get the publicity that CHOP got. We certainly deserved it.”

Punnett, who was also on the faculties of Temple Medical School and Drexel Medical School, “has been an inspiration to all who know her and a role model for future generations of scientists,” according to an online tribute from Friends Life Care, a Blue Bell-based organization that provides home care to patients.

But she has not been all business. Punnett and her husband had three daughters — Laura, who is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts; Susan, who started a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that helps young people get adopted who had aged out of foster care; and Jill, an engineer and technology writer who lives in Israel. All three graduated from Philadelphia Girls High School. 

With her husband, Punnett traveled many times to Europe, even living in England. She used to go to Broadway shows regularly, has been an active gardener for many years and was a passionate fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers when she was growing up in Brooklyn. “We were at a game in 1951 at Ebbets Field when Gil Hodges hit four home runs,” she said, “but since they moved to the West Coast, I have not followed them.”

And Punnett proudly says that although her travel has been dramatically curtailed, she regularly uses Zoom and email to connect with family and friends and enjoys an occasional local restaurant visit. “On my 97th birthday,” she said, “I went to Jansen, and everyone was so nice to me.” 

Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com