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Susannah Baruch

Law and Policy Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Genetics and Public Policy

Meeting of February 25, 2009 - on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Implementation of Title II of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008

Susannah Baruch is Law and Policy Director at the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University. Her work focuses on genetic discrimination laws and policy including the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and the use of genetic testing in the United States Military. She also leads the Center's work in legal and policy analysis related to reproductive technologies, including preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

Previously, Ms. Baruch served as the Director of Health Law Policy at the National Partnership for Women & Families (formerly the Women's Legal Defense Fund), where she testified before the United States Senate on genetic discrimination legislation and founded and created the Coalition for Genetic Fairness, which has worked for a decade to promote legislation to prevent genetic discrimination. She also spent several years on Capitol Hill working on a range of women's health and discrimination issues for Representative Nita M. Lowey (D-NY).

Ms. Baruch holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. in History from Yale College. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and two sons.

Recent Publications:

Baruch, S., and K. Hudson. 2008. Civilian and Military Genetics: Nondiscrimination Policy in a Post-GINA World. The American Journal of Human Genetics 83: 435-444.

Baruch, S., D. Kaufman, and K. Hudson. 2008. Genetic Testing of Embryos: Practices and Perspectives of U.S. IVF Clinics. Fertility and Sterility 89: 1053-1058.

Baruch, S., D.J. Kaufman, and K.L. Hudson. 2008. Preimplantation genetic screening: a survey of in vitro fertilization clinics. Genetics in Medicine 10: 685-690.

Baruch, S. Outlawing genetic discrimination, BioNews. May 21, 2007.

Baruch, S., D. Kaufman, and K. Hudson. U.S. Public Opinion on Uses of Genetic Information and Genetic Discrimination. Washington, DC: Genetics and Public Policy Center, 2007.