Polygenic Embryo ELSI Research
The "PEER" Group
Our Research Team
Todd Lencz, Ph.D is a Professor of Psychiatry and Molecular Medicine in the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and he leads the Laboratory of Neurogenomic Biomarkers within the Institute of Behavioral Science at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Dr. Lencz leads the Ashkenazi Genome Consortium, as well as COGENT, the cognitive genomics consortium and is co-chair of the Ethics, Positions, and Policy committee of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics.
Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, PhD, JD
Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, PhD, JD is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Lázaro-Muñoz combines his background in neuroscience, law, and bioethics to examine the implications of emerging biomedical technologies in neuroscience and genomics. He is principal investigator of studies funded by the BRAIN Initiative-National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Human Genome Research Institute. Dr. Lázaro-Muñoz received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from New York University; his J.D. and Master of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania; and his BA in Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico.
Shai Carmi is an associate professor at the School of Public Health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, leading a computational and statistical genetics research group. His research spans genome-wide association studies, genetic risk prediction, reproductive genetic testing, genetic genealogy, ancient DNA, and theoretical population genetics. Shai’s work on embryo screening has focused on statistical models for risk reduction estimates.
Stacey Pereira, PhD
Stacey Pereira, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. She researches social and ethical issues in genomics, with particular emphasis on the impact of integrating genomics into various contexts and populations. Her work on embryo screening focuses on exploring patients’ and clinicians’ perspectives. She holds a PhD in sociocultural anthropology with a focus on medical anthropology and anthropology of science from Rice University.
Liraz Klausner
Liraz is a PhD student at the Carmi group at the Hebrew University. He holds BA and MA degrees in statistics. He is interested in statistical genetic modeling of embryo selection and risk reduction estimation.
Meghna Mukherjee
Meghna Mukherjee is a predoctoral fellow on the PES team. Currently, Meghna is a Sociology Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California Berkeley. Her research focuses on the social and ethical dimensions of emerging fertility and genetic technologies. Meghna holds an MA in Sociology from UC Berkeley and a BA in Sociology and Human Rights from Columbia University.
Kristin Kostick-Quenet, PhD is a medical anthropologist and Assistant Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. Her research focuses on social, cultural and ethical issues related to emerging technologies, including machine learning based risk prediction tools and body- and brain-computer/machine interfaces, and computer perception and digital phenotyping. Her interests in embryo screening relate to identifying stakeholder perspectives and considering ethical, legal and policy concerns related to stratifying desirability of human traits.
Dorit Barlevy, PhD
Dorit Barlevy, PhD is a Senior Research Assistant at the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. Informed by a background in disability studies and qualitative research, her work focuses on reproductive ethics.
Rémy Furrer, PhD
Rémy Furrer, PhD is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School. He received his PhD in social psychology from the University of Virginia. As part of the center for Bioethics, his current research focuses on the public perception and understanding of information acquired through genomic and neuro-technologies. He is particularly interested in exploring the ways people’s (oftentimes misconstrued) theories about their genes and brains shape their understanding of themselves and others, as well as their decisions and attitudes regarding the ethical use and application of genetic and neuroscientific information.
