Bartha Knoppers

Bartha Maria Knoppers (born May 26, 1951) is a Canadian lawyer and an expert on the ethical aspects of genetics, genomics and biotechnology.

Born in Hilversum, Netherlands, she received a Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University, a Diploma of Legal Studies from Cambridge University, a master's degree in comparative literature from the University of Alberta in 1972, a law degree from McGill University in 1981, a Doctorate of Laws from the in 1985.

She has been the Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine at the Université de Montréal since 2001 (see HumGen website [http://www.humgen.umontreal.ca] ). She is also a counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

In 2002, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2001, she received an honorary Doctor of Law from University of Waterloo and an honorary Doctor from McMaster University, Ontario, in 2007. She is the chairman of the International Ethics Committee of the Human Genome Project. In 2002, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.