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Trainees

Michele Easter is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill. Since 2000, she has worked on ELSI-funded research into the perception of benefit in gene transfer research with Gail Henderson, Arlene Davis, Nancy King, and others in the UNC Department of Social Medicine. Currently she is involved in two ELSI-relevant projects: a study of a genetic registry (led by Arlene Davis) and a study of the framing of genetics in the media (led by Andrew Perrin). She recently completed a master’s thesis on American political culture and language (“Freedom in Speech: Freedom and Liberty in U.S. Presidential Campaign Discourse, 1952-2004”) and her comprehensive exams focus on Social Psychology and the Sociology of Culture.   Return to Top

Freda Halls is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill. She joined the CFX team in August 2004 as a research assistant. Prior to this project she worked as an ethnographic interviewer on the Durham Child Health and Development study.  Currently she is a doctoral student in the school psychology program at UNC-CH. She received her B.A. in psychology from North Carolina State University in 1999. Her research interests include minority families of children with disabilities, particularly their interactions in the educational process and implications of genetic diagnoses for minority populations. Return to Top

Hedwig Lee, M.A. is an NICHD-funded Predoctoral Trainee at the Carolina Population Center and a fourth year graduate student in the Sociology Department at UNC. Her dissertation research will examine the relationships between social disadvantage and obesity and physical inactivity trajectories in adolescence and the transition to adulthood, with a particular focus on racial and ethnic health disparities. She is currently working with her preceptor, Kathleen Mullan Harris, and other faculty at UNC, on a variety of interdisciplinary research projects exploring the relationships between social context and health, educational and family formation outcomes in adolescence and the transition to young adulthood using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Her other ongoing research explores developing ways to conceptualize social context in behavioral genetics research conducted by social scientists.   Return to Top

Marsha Michie is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at UNC-CH. Her background includes work on a number of ethnographic research projects, designing protocols, interviewing research participants, analyzing interview and survey data, and writing results papers. She has worked for several years as a graduate research assistant on the “Culture and Family Interpretations of Genetic Disorders” and “Parent and Family Well-Being in FXS” projects at FPG Child Development Institute (under Debra Skinner). Return to Top

Clair Morrissey is a doctoral student in the Department of Philosophy at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is working with Rebecca Walker on the Examining the 'E' in 'ELSI' Project. Clair works in ethics (both normative and practical) as well as political philosophy. She is currently working on a dissertation about the nature of crime against humanity. Return to Top

Ashton Powell received his Ph.D. in the Department of Neurobiology at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2007. His main ELSI interest is in policy and ethics debates surrounding scientific advancement. While a student, he was awarded a fellowship at the Duke Genome Ethics, Law and Policy (GELP) Center. Under Dr. Robert Cook-Deegan, he independently researched topics regarding intellectual property law and how it impacts the advancement of clinical research and health care. In particular, he provided a case study to the Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS) on the effects of gene patents on patient access to genetic testing. The SACGHS, which reports directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services is trying to discern what affect the “Genome Revolution” will have on the rights, heath, and well-being of the American public. Ashton is currently working with Barbra Rothschild on developing the CGS policy forum scheduled for spring 2008.) Return to Top

Kelly Raspberry received her Ph.D. in the Department of Anthropology at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2007. She received her M.A. in medical anthropology in 2002 from UNC-Chapel Hill. She has been working with Debra Skinner since 2000 on an ELSI-funded project, Culture and Family Interpretations of Genetic Disorders, as a research ethnographer and co-author on several articles examining genetic identity and the notion of a genetic body. Her dissertation focuses on assisted reproductive technologies in Argentina, specifically examining how reproductive and genetic technologies change according to their place of practice, and how they are also transforming the societies they travel to. Her research contributes a nuanced ethnographic analysis to academic and policy debates on the ethical, legal and social consequences of global reproductive and genetic technologies. Ongoing research interests include the cultural meanings and value of genetic material, such as stem cells and embryos.   Return to Top

Meghan Shanahan is a graduate student in the Maternal and Child Health department in the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. She joined the Carolina Fragile X Project in 2002 and is currently working with Arlene Davis, Debra Skinner, and Don Bailey on ELSI issues related to expanded newborn screening. Meghan’s interests include children with special health care needs and child maltreatment. Return to Top

Sondra Smolek is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she received her MA in Sociology in 2005. She received a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Her past research has explored connections between culture and family dynamics, particularly with regard to conflicts between adolescents and parents, using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion. Other work has included research with Andrew Perrin using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine adolescents’ trust in government before and after 9/11. Her current ELSI-related research interests include parenting strategies and resources of families with children who have genetic conditions and, more broadly, the implications of genetic diagnoses for family life. Return to Top

Rene Sterling, M.H.A is an AHRQ/NRSA Predoctoral Fellow at the UNC Sheps Center for Health Services Research and a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Health Policy and Administration at UNC. Her dissertation research is focused on the direct-to-consumer marketing and sale of genetic tests on the Internet, with a focus on nutrigenomic tests for diet-related chronic health conditions with multiple causes. She completed a systematic
search and archival of commercial websites for nutrigenomic tests, and is conducting a quantitative content analysis of the types of vendors, tests, marketing messages, and purchase options appearing on archived websites. Rene also is working with other faculty at UNC (Felicia Mebane, Andrew Perrin) and trainee Michele Easter on a study examining the portrayal of ethicists in the news media and the types of ethical-issues covered by journalists in their reporting of 10 pivotal events in genetics occurring over the last 15 years. Rene recently published (Sterling, Henderson, Corbie-Smith AJPH 2006) a systematic review of studies identifying public opinions about and willingness to participate in genetic variation research. Return to Top

Louise Winstanly received her law degree (LLB (Hons) Business Law) from the London Guildhall University in the United Kingdom. She is admitted to the New York Bar. She is currently a Masters student in Bioethics at Union College/Mt. Sinai Hospital, NY. She is working on clinical and research ethics projects with Arlene Davis and serve as an intern on the UNC Hospital Ethics Committee. Her area of research interest is in law and policy issues pertaining to stem cell research, informed consent – pediatric research and reproductive technology. She is further interested in the protection of patient privacy related to genetic research. Return to Top

The Center for Genomics and Society is supported by the ELSI Research Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health, Grant Number P50HG004488.