Irmgard Nippert

Director, Womens' Health Research Unit, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Germany

Debate Dinner

He participated in the "Human Rights and Citizenship in the age of genetics" Debate Dinner.

Biography

Current position:  since 1997 full professorship (Chair for Women’s Health Research) and Head of the Research Group Women's Health Research, Universitaetsklinikum Muenster (UKM), Germany, affiliated with the Department of Human Genetics at the UKM.

Irmgard Nippert has been conducting national and international research on the quality of genetic services and on the social and ethical impact of genetic testing for more than 2 decades and has strong experience both on national and international levels on assessing genetic services provision.

Currently she is:

• Co-ordinator of the 3 year CAPABILITY project ("Capacity Building for the Transfer of Genetic Knowledge into Practice and Prevention: An International Collaborative Network") funded by the European Union, 2007-2009;
• Partner of the European Network of Excellence "Genetic Testing in Europe – Network for test development, harmonization, validation and standardization of services" (EuroGentest) funded by the European Union, 2006-2010;
• Partner in the European project "Patient Led Education and Development for Genetic Testing in Research and Medicine" (EuroGenGuide), funded by the European Union, 2007-2009

In addition she runs an international project on genetic risk communication in primary care (InCRisC), participating countries: France, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany and two national research projects on the clinical utility of predictive genetic testing, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2007-2009).

She holds numerous positions in scientific societies and international organisations among others

• President of the "World Alliance of Organizations for the prevention and treatment of genetic and congenital disorders";
• Member of the Ethics Committee of the Muenster Medical School (Ethikkommission des Universitaetsklinikums Muenster und der Aerztekammer Westfalen-Lippe);
• Member of the Ethics Committee of the Federal Board of Physicians of Germany (1998-2007).

More than 100 publications