Bartha Maria Knoppers

Born in Hilversum, Netherlands on May 26, 1951, Bartha Maria Knoppers completed a Master of Arts degree in comparative literature at the University of Alberta before furthering her studies in law at McGill University. She also holds a doctorate of laws from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1985.

Bartha Maria Knoppers has led an impressive university career in the fields of medical law and biomedical ethics. For several years now, she has focused on such emerging topics as bio-banks, stem cell research, cloning, population genetic studies, assisted reproduction, neonatal screening, pharmacogenomics and public health.

In the 1990s, she was the Chair of the International Ethics Committee of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO), and was a member of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee, which drafted the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights.

In 2007, Bartha Maria Knoppers established the Population Project in Genomics (P3G) and the Quebec bio-bank CARTaGENE, which has collected biological samples from more than 20,000 people. From 2006 to 2008, she was the holder of the Chaire d’excellence Pierre de Fermat in Paris.

Since 2005, Bartha Maria Knoppers has been the Chair of the Ethics Working Party of the International Stem Cell Forum and, since 2007, she has been the Co-Chair of the Sampling/ELSI Committee (1000 Genomes Project). More recently, she became the Chair of the Regulatory and Ethics Working Group, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health.

An eminent figure, Bartha Maria Knoppers plays a leading role in the fight for the social appropriation of genetics and genomics. She holds the Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine, and has made exceptional contributions in the field of genomics.

Bartha Maria Knoppers has received numerous distinctions and honorary doctorates. Her remarkable career has earned her the title of Officer of the Ordre national du Québec (2012). She has also received the Montréal InVivo Prize for the life sciences and health technologies sector and she was named Champion of Genetics by the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation (2013).

Bartha Maria Knoppers was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Scientific category in 2014 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.