The social life of DNA

Wednesday, January 16, 2019 | 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET

Alondra Nelson, Ph.D., M.Phil.

President of the Social Science Research Council

Professor of Sociology

Columbia University

Website

Summary

Dr. Nelson is president of the Social Science Research Council and professor of sociology at Columbia University. An award-winning scholar of science, medicine, and social inequality, her recent books include The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome, Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The Collision of DNA, Race, and History, and Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination. Dr. Nelson has contributed to national policy discussions on inequality, and about the social implications of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, big data, direct-to-consumer genetics, and human gene-editing. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Data and Society Research Institute. Dr. Nelson is chair of the American Sociological Association Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology and is an elected member of the Sociological Research Association.