Trainees 1


	The CGS is housed within the:

Also on this site:


	*Current Trainees*

Cheryl Brewer, R.N., MSN is a PhD student in the Department of Nursing. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from North Carolina Central University and a Master of Science Degree in Nursing Administration from Duke University. Her research interest areas are in prenatal and newborn screening in African Americans. Cheryl is also pursuing certification in Health Disparities through the UNC School of Public Health. She is presently working with Dr. Marcia Van Riper in the UNC school of Nursing and the UNC Center for Genome Sciences examining how families define and manage ethical issues that emerge during genetic testing for prenatal screening for Down Syndrome and BRCA 1 & 2 testing for breast cancer.

Katie Byerly, is an undergraduate Anthropology and Public Health Policy and Management double major at UNC Chapel Hill. Her interests include community health initiatives and the incorporation of cultural awareness in health programs. She is currently working with Lynn Dressler on an ELSI case study identifying common ELSI issues in genetic research and how these past examples can be used to inform policy development for future projects.

Summer Choudhury, MPH, received her Master’s degree from the Department of Public Health at East Carolina University in 2009. She received both her BS in Biology and BA in Philosophy in 2007 from East Carolina as well. Her past research focused on assessing parents’ and providers’ knowledge and awareness of the North Carolina’s Newborn Screening Program (NBS), and evaluating NBS information dissemination practices in eastern North Carolina. She completed an internship with Dr. Debra Skinner as part of her MPH program, and is currently working as a research assistant, collecting and analyzing data for the Fragile X Newborn Screening Study and co-authoring presentations and manuscripts with Dr. Skinner and Dr. Don Bailey based on these analyses. Her ELSI-related research interests include patient comprehension of concepts in genetics and genetic testing, and informed decision making processes related to medical screenings. Return to Top

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

Wendell Fortson, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral trainee in the Center for Genomics and Society. He received his B.S. in Biology from Tennessee State University in 2001 and attained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Cancer Biology) from Morehouse School of Medicine in 2009. His dissertation research focused on therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer based on the function of ERG (ets -related gene). He works with John Conley, Ph.D., J.D. and Arlene Davis, J.D. to investigate the emerging ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) relating to long-term storage of human specimen for genetic research. Wendell is currently a J.D. candidate at North Carolina Central University School of Law-Evening Program. With the patients’ best interest always at the forefront, Wendell endeavors to unite his scientific and legal knowledge to help influence policies that will advance biomedical research and improve the healthcare system on the state and federal levels. 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

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


	More trainees on the next page.

[Home] [About the Center] [People] [Research Activities] [Ethics and Policy] [Training] [Outreach] [Publications] [External Links]

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.