Vivian Ota Wang, PhD
Program Director
Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Program
National Human Genome Research Institute
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland

Vivian Ota Wang is a Program Director of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the National Institutes of Health.  She is responsible for the complex traits, behavioral and community research portfolio.

Prior to joining NHGRI, she held faculty positions at Rutgers, Arizona State, and Vanderbilt Universities where she maintained a research program focused on race and racial attitudes related to genetics research, clinical issues, and education.  Her work has been published in genetics, counseling, and psychology venues.  She has been on the editorial boards of the Journal of Genetic Counseling and the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development.   

Dr. Ota Wang has served on national committees including the: Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) Research Advisory Group; International Haplotype Map Project Steering Committee and ELSI Group (NIH-National Human Genome Research Institute), and the Cancer Genetics Network Behavioral Sciences Research Advisory Board (NIH-National Cancer Institute).  She was on theBoard of Directors and Executive Committee of The Genetic Alliance and was a member of the Minority Women’s Health Panel of Experts (DHHS-Office on Women’s Health) where she was Chair of the Policy/Implementation Subcommittee. Internationally, she was active in United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Asia-Pacific Regional education initiatives.

Dr. Ota Wang received a BA from Colorado College, an MS in Genetic Counseling from the University of Colorado and an MPhil and PhD in Psychology from Columbia University.  She is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Genetic Counseling, and a Clinical Laboratory Specialist in Cytogenetics CLSP(CG).