DENISE AVARD is the Research Director for the Centre of Genomics and Policy and associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics at McGill University. Her research interests are in the areas of genetic testing and screening relevant to newborn, children, adolescents and persons with disabilities. She has an added interest in knowledge transfer and genetic epidemiology. She obtained her doctorate in social epidemiology from the University of Cambridge, England, and a Master's degree in sociology and a Bachelor's degree in Nursing from the University of Ottawa. Prior to joining the Centre of Genomics and Policy she was researcher in the Centre de la recherche en droit public at the Université de Montreal, Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Child Health and assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary.