Ellen Wright Clayton, MD, JD

Ellen Wright Clayton was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine Committee on Human Gene Editing: Scientific, Medical, and Ethical Consideration, which produced the path-breaking report on Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance. She is the Craig-Weaver Professor of Pediatrics, professor of Health Policy, and co-founder of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt Medical Center (VUMC) and professor of Law in the Vanderbilt Law School. She has focused for many years on ethical, legal and social issues presented by conducting research in genetics and genomics and the impact of translating these advances in clinical care and the broader society. Her work is truly transdisciplinary, combining empirical, normative and legal analytic methods to address real-world challenges. She is currently co-principal investigator of VUMC’s highly transdisciplinary Centers of Excellence in Ethical, Legal and Social Implications Research on genomic privacy and identity, GetPreCiSe, and recently completed work as co-principal investigator of LawSeqSM, which created in-depth analyses and made recommendations regarding several issues confronting genomics, including privacy. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and currently serves as co-chair of Report Review for the National Academies.