As an undergraduate student concurrently studying law and genetics, I became concerned about the social, ethical and legal implications of genetic knowledge and scientific advances more generally. This largely academic interest in bioethics took a more practical turn through my later work for Australian health departments. There I worked at the "coal face" of research ethics, both running and developing policy for human research ethics committees (HRECs), and acting as a general liaison for executive officers of HRECs around the state. I am now in the process of my doctoral dissertation at Georgetown University Law Center. My dissertation is assessing the regulation of race-based research, including developing strategies for engaging minority racial and ethnic groups in the regulation of research.