Bartha Knoppers

Bartha Knoppers

Bartha Maria Knoppers, OC OQ (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 (French and English Literature) from McMaster University, a Diploma of Legal Studies from University of Cambridge, a Master of Arts degree in comparative literature from the University of Alberta in 1972, a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from McGill University in 1981, a Doctorate of Laws from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne in 1985.

From 2001 to 2009, She held the Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine at the Université de Montréal. She is also a counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. In 2009, she was hired as a Full Professor in McGill University's Department of Human Genetics. She is the chairman of the International Ethics Committee of the Human Genome Project. Knoppers is the lead author of the Stem Cell Charter.