Alice Hawkins, MA (Oxon), MS, MPH  PhD Student, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program Doctoral Fellow, Ethics of Health Research and Policy Training Program Graduate Research Assistant, Centre for Applied Ethics The W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics The University of British Columbia 227 - 6356 Agricultural Road Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2 E-mail: alicehaw@interchange.ubc.ca

Research Interests:

Alice’s background and research interests lie in human genetics and public health. She graduated from Oxford University, England with a MA (Oxon) in Human Sciences before completing an MSc in Human Genetics at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She then practiced as a genetic counsellor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. During this time Alice developed an interest in the ethics and implications of genetic knowledge and gene-based healthcare and completed a Masters in Public Health at Columbia University focused on health policy and management.

Alice is a newly enrolled PhD student through the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program at UBC. Working closely with members of the Center for Applied Ethics, the Dept. of Political Science, and the Dept of Pathology, her research is around biobanks, public trust and engagement techniques such as deliberative democracy. The proposed research will examine how public trust and support of biobanks is influenced by economic and funding factors. The purpose of the research is to collect and analyze data from informed public engagement and other methodologies to assess how economic factors impact public distrust of biobanks. By exploring how such issues affect public trust it is hoped that the research will discover the basis for public trust as well as options to mitigate areas of distrust.

Professional memberships:

Canadian Bioethics Society, student representative
National Society of Genetic Counselors, US
American Society of Human Genetics

Oral and Poster Presentations:

§         Hawkins A, Are Genetic Counselors Fairly Compensated?, American College of Medical Genetics, Phoenix, March 2008

§         Fuchs K, Bonanno C, Hawkins A and Simpson, L, Major Fetal Congenital Anomalies: Impact of Scheduled Induction in Achieving Weekday Daytime Deliveries, Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine Meeting, Dallas, January 2008

§         Simpson L, Hawkins A and D’Alton M, Monoamniotic Twins Discordant for Major Fetal Anomaly: Is Expectant Management Still an Option?, Fetal Medicine Foundation Meeting, Aruba, April 2007

§         Hawkins, A, ‘Prenatal and Neonatal Genetics – Counseling and Medical Issues’, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, USA, December 2006

§         Hawkins, A, ‘Studying Autism using Early Intervention Records’, Westchester Institute for Human Development, Valhalla, USA, May 2005

§         Hawkins, A, ‘Genetic Counseling Training in the US versus the UK’, Genetic Communication workshop, Manchester University, Manchester, UK, July 2004

§         Hawkins, A, ‘Genetic Counseling as a Career’, Human Sciences Center, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, June 2004