Ellen Wright Clayton is the 2010 recipient of the William G. Bartholeme Award for Ethical Excellence, through which the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Bioethics recognizes an individual each year who has had a significant impact on public discussion of ethical issues in pediatric medicine.
Dr. Clayton is an internationally respected leader in the field of law and genetics. She is the Rosalind E. Franklin Professor of Genetics and Health Policy and a professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt Medical School, where she also directs the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt Medical Center and practices as a general pediatrician. She is also a professor of law, and teaches bioethics and law.
An active participant in policy debates, Dr. Clayton’s work has focused on ethical and policy issues surrounding research and clinical care for children. She has advised the National Institutes of Health as well as other federal and international bodies on an array of topics ranging from children’s health to the ethical conduct of research involving human subjects.
Dr. Clayton has worked on a number of projects for the Institute of Medicine and serves as a member of its National Advisory Council. She currently chairs an IOM study evaluating vaccine safety. She is also coordinating the Consent and Community Consultation working group of a five-institution consortium exploring the use of electronic medical records for genome-wide association studies.
