Elizabeth M. Petty, M.D.
Associate Dean for Student Programs
Medical Director of the Genetic Counseling Program
Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics
Elizabeth Marie Petty, M.D., is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Prior to joining the faculty at Michigan in 1994, she went to medical school and completed Pediatric residency training at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, and did postdoctoral training in genetics at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. She is board certified in both Clinical Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics by the American College of Medical Genetics.
Dr. Petty is the Medical Director of the Genetic Counseling Training Graduate Program and a member of the executive faculty for that program in the Department of Human Genetics. She serves on advisory committees for the Life Sciences Values and Society Program, the School of Public Health’s Interderpartmental Graduate Concentration Program in Genetics, and the Center for Genetics in Health and Medicine. Prior to becoming Associate Dean in the Office of Student Programs she also served as the Director of the Adult Medical Genetics Clinic and Service Chief for the Division of Molecular Medicine and Genetics. She cares for individuals in the Adult Medical Genetics and Cancer Genetics clinics, providing diagnostic evaluations, management, and genetic counseling and education to her clients. She is passionate about teaching human genetics to both medical and graduate students. She teaches genetics in the first year medical genetics curriculum and directs an elective in Medical Genetics for fourth year medical students.
In addition to caring for individuals and families with or at risk for various genetic conditions and teaching genetics to students across the campus and community groups, Dr. Petty conducts research that reflects both her curiosity about basic genetic mechanisms that contribute to health and disease and her interest in understanding how advances in genetics may impact individuals and societies. The primary efforts of her molecular genetics and cancer biology research laboratory are focused on characterizing novel molecular mechanisms that regulate cell cycle progression and genomic stability that are functionally relevant to the development of breast cancer and other solid tumor malignancies. Her goal is to better understand how specific alterations in genes that regulate chromosome segregation and cell division cause the transformation of normal cells into frankly malignant cells in hopes that this will allow the development of highly sensitive and specific prognostic biomarkers of disease as well as future molecularly targeted cancer therapies. In addition, as a clinical geneticist, Dr. Petty is involved in characterizing newly recognized human genetic syndromes and working with collaborators worldwide to understand the genetic mechanisms that underlie these conditions. Outside of the laboratory she remains actively engaged in social science research to explore how people understand and use information about genetics in their lives and how advances in genetics impacts their perceptions about health, disease, and human behavior. Specifically, she is interested in understanding how individuals use and think about genetic information and technology - not only as related to health care and reproductive choices, but also as related to the way it may shape their perceptions about other individuals and groups of people. She is interested in learning more about how their genetic beliefs might influence their thoughts on various social issues and public policy agendas – from health care disparities to prejudices and negative stereotyping.
Dr. Petty also remains keenly interested in improving the delivery of clinical genetic services, especially as related to the development and application of ethical and cost-effective genetic technology and diagnostic testing to clinical medicine across all specialties. She has taught forensic genetics at the undergraduate level and provided expert opinions on DNA evidence in forensic cases in Michigan and Ohio. She has served on the Michigan Commission of Genetic Privacy and Progress and has delivered lectures worldwide addressing ethical, social, and legal issues that stem from advances in genetics and related technology. She brings her commitment to and experience in research, education, clinical care, administration, and community service to her role in the Office of Student Programs.
Contact Information
Elizabeth Petty, M.D.
5102 Med Sci I, SPC 5611
1301 Catherine St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5611
734-763-3772
734- 936-3510 FAX
Email: epetty@med.umich.edu