Rebecca Anderson, JD MS

Associate Professor

University of Nebraska Medical Center
College of Public Health

Professional Summary

Anderson is an attorney and genetic counselor. She has served as a legislative staff member, practiced intellectual property law, and worked as a genetic counselor at Munroe Meyer Institute (UNMC) and Nebraska Methodist Hospital.

Anderson chairs the medical center’s clinical Ethics Consultation Service and co-chairs the medical center’s Pandemic Triage and Altered Standards of Care working group. She serves on the Institutional Review Board, the Medical Ethics Committee, and the State Genetics Planning Grant Advisory Committee. Her research interests include legal and ethical issues in clinical genetics; religious traditions and medical care; and medical jurisprudence curricula. 

Courses Taught

• ICE (integrated clinical experience) lectures in law and ethics for first and second year medical students.
• ICE small group facilitator.
• M4 Selective, Current Issues in Law and Medicine.
• Public Health Law (beginning fall 2009)
• Multiple guest lectures 

Education

• M.S. (Genetics) University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1986)
• J.D. (Law) University of Nebraska (1978)
• B.A. (Political Science, English), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1975) 

Selected Publications

• Anderson R. Religious traditions and prenatal genetic counseling. Am J Med Genet (accepted 2008)
• Anderson R, Haidle JL. Legal considerations in clinical cancer genetics. Community Oncology 3(2):100-104 (2006) Social, Ethical and Legal Issues Committee. Guidelines for expert witness testimony for the specialty of medical genetics. Genet Med 2(6):367-8 (2000)
  Mahowald M, Verp M, Anderson R. Genetic counseling: clinical and ethical challenges. Ann Rev Genet 1998 32:547-59
• Anderson R, Buehler B, Schaefer GB. Sotos Syndrome: A Handbook for Families, third edition Munroe Meyer Institute for Rehabilitative and Genetic Medicine, UNMC (2005) [French edition 2005; Spanish edition 2007]
• Anderson R. Religious Traditions and Prenatal Genetic Counseling 32 denominational responses to survey. Notebook format, Munroe Meyer Institute / UNMC , 196 p (2002)*
  *To order Anderson’s publication, Religious Traditions and Prenatal Genetic Counseling (196pp), contact Munroe Meyer Institute’s Karin Carlson at 1-800-656-3937 ext 97467, 402-559-7467, or mmimedia@unmc.edu. Cost: $15 for notebook with cover; $12 for notebook pages only; $12 for disc. 

Professional Affiliations

• American College of Medical Genetics
• National Society of Genetic Counselors
• Nebraska State Bar Association