Ellen Clayton
Craig-Weaver Professor of Pediatrics; Professor of Law; Professor of Health Policy Vanderbilt University
- Nashville TN
World-renowned medical ethicist working at the intersection of law, medicine and public health, with a focus on genetics.
Multimedia
Biography
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
Frank H. Morriss, Jr. Leadership Award, University of Iowa Department of Pediatrics and University of Iowa Foundation
2015
David P. Rall Medal, Institute of Medicine
2013
Member, American Pediatric Society
2013
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2012
William G. Bartholome Award for Ethical Excellence, American Academy of Pediatrics
2010
Education
Harvard Medical School
M.D.
1985
Yale Law School
J.D.
1979
Stanford University
M.S.
Biology
1976
Duke University
B.S.
Zoology
1974
Links
Selected Media Appearances
College students may need power of attorney for healthcare decisions
WSMV tv
2022-09-14
Ellen Wright Clayton, a Vanderbilt University law and pediatrics professor, is advising students to sign a legal document to allow their parents, or someone they trust, to have a say in their medical care during an emergency.
“Most teenagers don’t do this. I mean, why would they be thinking that they could get hurt or really critically ill? But if they think about this, and if they decide they want to do this, there’s a form available for them on the web they can fill out and get witnessed, and this it is taken care of,” Clayton said.
Navigating birth control in Tennessee’s post-Roe world
WPLN radio
2022-08-31
In the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision, a lot of people were left wondering: What does this mean for access to birth control and emergency contraception?
We invited a panel of medical and legal experts to help break it down for us. Check out the highlights below to hear questions answered by Ashley Coffield, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi; Dr. Kimberly Looney, an OBGYN; and Ellen Clayton, a Vanderbilt law professor.
Their DNA Hides a Warning, but They Don’t Want to Know What It Says
The New York Times online
2022-01-21
But Dr. Ellen Clayton, professor of law and genetics at Vanderbilt, worries about the true impact of returning genetic findings to research participants. She cautioned that when researchers call a participant to say they’ve found a variant, “you are getting information that is not standard of care in medicine.” And, she added, it’s not clear that there will be any outcome other than worrying people.
Opinion | The Dangerous Legal Illusion of ‘Parental Rights’
Politico online
2021-09-03
Mask mandates by schools have quickly become one of the most politically charged aspects of the pandemic. At least six states in the South and Southwest have banned or undercut school mask mandates. Incensed anti-mask parents are speaking out at school board meetings and public protests. On the first day of school in Amador County, Calif., one parent became so irate when he saw his daughter walking out of school in a mask that he began arguing with the principal and ended up in a bloody fight with a teacher.
Tennessee under federal investigation for Gov. Lee’s mask ‘opt out’ order
WKRN tv
2021-08-31
“Schools, in fact, have a real obligation to keep children safe,” said Ellen Wright Clayton, a Vanderbilt professor of pediatrics, law and health policy.
Mask debate moves from school boards to courtrooms
AP News online
2021-08-28
“This idea of parental freedom to decide what’s best for their child is not unlimited. It has never been unlimited in our system,” said Ellen Clayton, a pediatrician and law professor at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tennessee.
The South is leading the fight against Roe v. Wade. Texas' new abortion law could speed up the legal battles
Tennessean
2021-09-12
"It's really clear that this is not about helping women make good decisions about what to do," said Ellen Clayton, a Vanderbilt University professor of law and health policy. "This is about getting in the way of their decision about what to do."
DNA Data Shared in Ways Patients May Find Surprising
The Wall Street Journal online
2019-08-12
“The data about them might not be as readily available for research as it might be otherwise,” said Vanderbilt University Professor Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton, who studies genetic-research ethics. “We have to look seriously about whether the yield is as high as they hope it is.”
Would You Want a Computer to Judge Your Risk of H.I.V. Infection?
The New York Times online
2019-07-30
Clearly, doctors should not spring such a result on patients, said Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton, a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University. Instead, she said, they should ask patients first if they want their records reviewed by the software.
The US Urgently Needs New Genetic Privacy Laws
WIRED online
2019-05-01
To close this loophole, US policymakers could reclassify DNA as a piece of personally identifying information in its own right. But Ellen Wright Clayton, cofounder of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt and one of the leaders of LawSeq, was quick to point out that it won’t stop people from putting their personal genetic records on the internet. “It’s the greatest threat to privacy there is right now,” she said. It’s not enough to opt out of genetic testing yourself, because of the way DNA ties families together across geographies and generations. “The law has nothing to say about whether I can prevent my sisters or cousins or my kids from putting their genomic sequence out there.”
Selected Articles
Improving recommendations for genomic medicine: building an evolutionary process from clinical practice advisory documents to guidelines
Genetics in MedicineWylie Burke, Ellen Wright Clayton, Susan M Wolf, Susan A Berry, Barbara J Evans, James P Evans, Ralph Hall, Diane Korngiebel, Anne-Marie Laberge, Bonnie S LeRoy, Amy L McGuire
2019
Genomic sequencing and multigene panel tests are moving rapidly into clinical practice for a range of indications, but the evidence to guide appropriate use is currently limited. Well-crafted advice is needed to reduce unjustified practice variation, minimize risk of error and harm to patients, and encourage best practices.
In support of mitochondrial replacement therapy
Nature MedicineEli Y Adashi, Arthur L Caplan, Alexander Capron, Audrey R Chapman, Mildred Cho, Ellen Wright Clayton, I Glenn Cohen, Robert Cook-Deegan, Ruth R Faden, Theodore Friedmann, Lawrence O Gostin, Henry T Greely, Josephine Johnston, Eric Juengst, Patricia A King, Lori P Knowles, Anne Drapkin Lyerly, Amy L McGuire, Jonathan D Moreno, Karen Rothenberg, Robert D Truog, LeRoy Walters
2019
A US law aimed at preventing the gene editing of human embryos has had the broader effect of banning an intervention that seeks to prevent mitochondrial diseases. Each year, 700–1,000 children are born in the United States with mitochondrial DNA mutations that cause neuromuscular and developmental diseases for which no fully effective treatments exist.
The law of genetic privacy: applications, implications, and limitations
Journal of Law and the BiosciencesEllen Wright Clayton, Barbara J Evans, James W Hazel, Mark A Rothstein
2019
Recent advances in technology have significantly improved the accuracy of genetic testing and analysis, and substantially reduced its cost, resulting in a dramatic increase in the amount of genetic information generated, analysed, shared, and stored by diverse individuals and entities.
