Dr. Mark Neal Prichard

Dr. Mark Neal Prichard, 54, of Birmingham, Alabama passed away on June 13, 2019. He was born on February 6, 1965 in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Mark was preceded in passing by his father, Neal Wayne Prichard. He is survived by his beloved wife of 31 years, Lynn Prichard of Birmingham; his sons, Joshua Prichard and Brian Prichard of Birmingham; his mother, Patricia Anne Barnes Prichard of Wisconsin; his sister, Linda P. Thompson (Ray) of Minnesota; his brother, Scot Prichard (Maria) of Texas; his nieces, Katie Thompson of Minnesota, Mandi Prichard of Washington, D.C., and Aria Prichard of Wisconsin; his nephews, Ryan Thompson of Minnesota, Austin Prichard of Idaho, and Allan Prichard of Iowa; and a host of colleagues and friends. Dr. Prichard earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Minnesota and his PhD from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He was Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he was also the Director of the Molecular Diagnostic Virology Laboratory. His research focused on the discovery of new drugs for DNA viruses. Dr. Prichard was the PI on contracts from the National Institutes of Health and helped investigators from academia and industry identify new inhibitors and understand their mechanism of action. He was author or coauthor of about 110 peer reviewed publications. In 2009 he received the William Prusoff Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Antiviral Research and served on the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Program Committee for Antiviral Research Birmingham. Dr. Prichard was active in community service. He was involved in Challenger baseball for about 10 years, and spent a lot of spare days and weekends helping at the Alabama School for the Deaf. He also had a variety of hobbies. He regularly hiked, cooked, gardened and worked in his woodshop, and enjoyed music, fly fishing, and time with friends and family. A celebration of Mark's life will be on Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at Ridout's Southern Heritage Funeral Home in Pelham, Alabama. Gathering of family and friends will begin at 2 p.m. followed by the service at 3 p.m.