Charmaine DM Royal is a Jamaican-American

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

and is the Robert O. Keohane Professor of African & African American Studies, Biology, Global Health, and Family Medicine & Community Health at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. She studies the intersections of race, ethnicity, ancestry genetics, and health, especially as they pertain to historically marginalized and underrepresented groups in genetic and genomic research; and genomics and global health. Her major interest is in addressing root causes and implementing sustainable solutions regarding problems of race and racism in research, healthcare, and society. Royal is a

Human Heredity and Health in Africa Human Heredity and Health in Africa, or H3Africa, is an initiative to study the genomics and medical genetics of African people. Its goals are to build the continent's research infrastructure, train researchers and clinicians, and to study quest ...

(H3Africa) Independent Expert Committee (IEC) member appointed by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH) and is a 2020 Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

Early life and education

Royal earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

genetic counseling Genetic counseling is the process of investigating individuals and families affected by or at risk of genetic disorders to help them understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease. ...

in 1992, and doctorate in

human genetics Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in Human, human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, populatio ...

from

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in 1997. She completed her postgraduate training in

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...

and ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) research at the

National Human Genome Research Institute The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is an institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland. NHGRI began as the Office of Human Genome Research in The Office of the Director in 1988. This Office transi ...

(NHGRI) of the NIH, as well as training in

behavioral medicine Behavioral medicine is concerned with the integration of knowledge in the biological, behavioral, psychological, and social sciences relevant to health and illness. These sciences include epidemiology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, physio ...

and

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

at the Howard University Cancer Center.

Research and career

Royal investigates race, racism, genetics and

health disparities Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequit ...

, within the United States and globally. While at the National Human Genome Center at Howard University, Royal was a member of the

International HapMap Project The International HapMap Project was an organization that aimed to develop a haplotype map (HapMap) of the human genome, to describe the common patterns of human genetic variation. HapMap is used to find genetic variants affecting health, disease ...

and worked alongside

Charles Rotimi Charles Nohuoma Rotimi (born 1957) is the Scientific Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). He joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2008 as the inaugural Director of the Trans-NIH Center for Research in Ge ...

of H3Africa. Her research focused on the genetics and health of African Americans, and ethical implications of African American genealogical study.

Academic service

During her time at Duke University, Royal has served as an Associate Professor of African & African American Studies,

Family Medicine Family medicine is a medical specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is ...

Community Health Community health refers to non-treatment based health services that are delivered outside Hospital, hospitals and Clinic, clinics. Community health is a subset of public health that is taught to and practiced by Clinician, clinicians as part of th ...

, Global Health, and

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

. In addition, she is core faculty in the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, faculty in the Social Science Research Institute where she directs the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation, and the Center on Genomics, Race, Identity, Difference. Royal is also a senior fellow at the

Kenan Institute for Ethics The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University is an interdisciplinary "think and do" tank committed to understanding and addressing real-world ethical challenges facing individuals, organizations and societies worldwide. The Institute promot ...

, a 2020 Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at the

, an ad hoc member of the Jackson Heart Study Community Ethics Advisory Board, and a contributing member of the

1000 Genomes Project The 1000 Genomes Project (1KGP), taken place from January 2008 to 2015, was an international research effort to establish the most detailed catalogue of human genetic variation at the time. Scientists planned to sequence the genomes of at least o ...

Consortium. She also serves on the Ethics Advisory Board at

Illumina, Inc. Illumina, Inc. is an American biotechnology company, headquartered in San Diego, California. Incorporated on April 1, 1998, Illumina develops, manufactures, and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological funct ...

Awards and honors

* 2009

Greenwall Faculty Scholar in Bioethics * 2013

Thomas Langford Lectureship Award

Select papers

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Charmaine Living people Year of birth missing (living people) African-American women academics American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Howard University alumni Duke University faculty 21st-century African-American scientists American women geneticists American geneticists 21st-century African-American women Jamaican academics Jamaican women academics Jamaican scientists