Julie Harris-Wai, PhD, MPH

Dr. Harris-Wai’s research focuses on examining the social and ethical factors influencing how and why genomic technologies are translated from the research setting into clinical care and the impact these technologies have on health disparities and underserved communities. The goal of her work is to identify methods for incorporating community and stakeholder perspectives into policy decision-making to improve the appropriate translation of research into clinical and public health programs. Dr. Harris-Wai is the Associate Director of the Kaiser Permanente/UCSF Center for Excellence in Research on Translational Genomics and Ethics (CT2G). She is currently working on an R21 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to use deliberative community engagement methods to inform policy decisions about the future of California’s Newborn Screening Program.

Awarded Grants:
1. Engaging Diverse Communities to Inform California’s Newborn Screening Policies, Principal Investigator; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), 2014-2016

2. Center for Transdisciplinary ELSI Research in Translational Genomics (CT2G), Co-Investigator; National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), 2013-2016

3. Alameda County Network Project to Reduce Cancer Disparities, Co-Investigator; National Cancer Institute (NCI), 2010-2015