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Current Trainees

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

Tammy L. Root, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Eating Disorders in the School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Root received her PhD from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. She also has a Masters degree in Applied Statistics as well as a Masters degree in Psychology. Dr. Root's primary research interest focuses on understanding genetic and environmental influences on the comorbidity of eating disorders and substance use. She is currently involved with the Swedish Twin Registry Studies and the Price Foundation Studies. Her goal is to elucidate the current knowledge on this comorbidity in hopes of better informing prevention and treatment efforts, while simultaneously applying the most current and innovative methodology for best answering these research questions. 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., Ph.D., received her doctorate from the Department of Health Policy and Administration at UNC. Her dissertation research 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 conducted a quantitative content analysis of the types of vendors, tests, marketing messages, and purchase options appearing on archived websites. Rene also worked 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 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

Pamela Holtzclaw Williams, JD, Ph.D., RN, is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has a background in political science, law, nursing and public health genetics. Her most recent work includes a Ph.D. dissertation that merged public health genetics and nursing issues in an examination of DNA contributor perspectives in decisions whether to contribute DNA to biobanks for future genetic healthcare research. She is particularly interested in building a program of research that considers the perspectives of populations living with rare genetic diseases in the current era of personalized genomic healthcare development and genetic patient advocacy. She has worked and is working with populations with Huntington’s disease, Ataxias and other rare genetic conditions. Other research experience beyond the dissertation research include working with a genetic biobank, school of nursing research staff, and as a site coordinator for a survey study of perceptions of discrimination in Huntington’s disease. Additional research training experiences included a summer fellowship with the Summer Genetics Institute at the National Institute of Health through the National Institute of Nursing Research. Her employment experience in legal research, litigation and advocacy support her current research interests in patient activism and research advocacy. 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.