CGREAL

Center For Genetic Research Ethics And Law

The Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law (CGREAL) at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) was established in 2004 with two missions: to conduct transdisciplinary research on ethical and policy issues in the design and conduct of human genetic research, and to recruit new scholars and trainees to work on these issues.

Funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Center for Excellence in Ethical, Legal and Social Implications Research, CGREAL addressed some of the most pressing ethical, legal and social questions raised by recent advances in genetic and genomic research.

CGREAL explored a range of ethical issues in the design and conduct of genetic family studies, genetic epidemiology, and genomic variation research. In the next five years, we will follow the trajectory of genomics into its “translational” phase, where expanded research needs and higher clinical aspirations are creating new ethical, legal, and social challenges for genomic researchers and society. 

Leadership

Eric Juengst was the founder of CGREAL and Director from 2004-2010.

Richard Sharp, Ph.D. and Patricia Marshall, Ph.D., were Co-Directors from 2010-2013.

Patricia Marshall was Director from 2013-2021.  

Other staff include:

Aaron Goldenberg, Ph.D., Associate Director

Barbara Juknialis, Budget Officer

Roselle Ponsaran, Project Manager

Laura Morello, Project Coordinator

Publications

A list of publications can be found on NIH RePORTER

Trainees

CGREAL included many trainees, at all levels, over the years.  

Some of these who have spent time at CGREAL as a postdoc, doctoral candidate, or junior faculty have included: