Joel Erik Myres was born on May 21, 1969, and passed away
on March 7, 2001 following a courageous and prolonged battle
with melanoma. During his lifetime, Joel’s intelligence,
goodness, integrity, and remarkable accomplishments inspired
the lives and earned the admiration of all who knew him.
Joel was born and raised in San Diego, California; he loved
the outdoors and became an Eagle Scout at age thirteen. At age
16, he was first diagnosed with melanoma, after his mother recognized
a changing mole on his neck. The melanoma was removed completely,
and it did not appear to have spread outside the skin.
Joel went on to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Spain Las Palmas mission of the
Canary Islands. He then earned a degree with honors in archaeology
and biological anthropology from Brigham Young University. During
that time, he also served as the Spanish-Speaking translator
on archaeological expeditions to South America. Joel worked on
numerous genetic studies of modern and ancient Peruvian populations,
including work on the genetic basis for obesity as well as for
infant mortality in high altitude areas. Among his work was a
genetic analysis of burials at the Royal Tombs of Sipan on the
northern coast of Peru, as well as work at the oldest known Christian
burial site in Egypt. Joel recorded his academic findings in
both English and Spanish. His work was well-recognized and was
featured on two documentaries.
In 1997, Joel married the former Natalie Mincek from Florida;
the two met during their time at BYU. In 1998, they came to Irvine,
where Joel began his time as a medical student at the University
of California, Irvine College of Medicine. Here he continued
to excel and to touch the hearts and lives of those around him.
He completed over two years here and had begun a Fellowship of
Pathology when he noticed a lump on his abdomen. The same doctors
who were his teachers and role models were heartbroken to discover
that the lump represented a metastatic focus of the original
melanoma from so many years ago. Joel underwent a heroic battle
and aggressive treatment at John Wayne Cancer Center; between
treatments over his last year he and Natalie returned to BYU,
where Joel worked as a co-principle investigator and administrator
for the BYU Molecular Genealogy Research Group. He continued
to work passionately, and had earned a PhD in molecular biology
at the time of his death.
Joel loved to read, travel (visiting over twenty countries), fly-fish,
and listen to music. His brilliant mind never stopped learning,
and he was always eager to share his experiences with others, never
failing to impress and delight them with his knowledge, skill and
humor. His memory will continue to live on, not only in the hearts
of all those touched by him, but also through this project, as
his memory impacts countless young teens with the critical message
of melanoma prevention and early detection. |