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Susan Weiss Liebman, PhD, was among MIT's early female undergraduate students, part of a pioneering wave of women entering the institution. With an MS from Harvard and a PhD in genetics from the University of Rochester, she served as a biology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she taught genetics and led a research group for more than three decades. Later she transitioned her lab to the University of Nevada, Reno where she is currently a Research Professor. Over the years she has obtained over $13 million in external grants to support her research. 

 

​Susan raised two children and now delights in four grandchildren alongside her husband of fifty-five years. Following the sudden death of her niece, Liebman became a medical detective and committed to promoting awareness of genetic testing.

Selected Invited Talks and Panels

Dr. Liebman is available to speak to about her book or about genetic testing to a general audience or to physicians for continuing education.  â€‹

Please email SLiebman@UNR.edu to schedule a presentation, author talk or interview.

2024  UC Davis Cardiology Grand Rounds speaker “Genetic screening for cardiac disease.” Link to video

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2023 Molecular Autopsy Implementation Expert Panel Member. The Research Triangle Institute International  roundtable event to promote genetic testing in response to sudden death. Link to video

 

2023  Interview by Dr. Mili Thakur of Genome Ally about The Dressmaker's Mirror. Link to video excerpt

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2022  Grand Rounds Internal Medicine Series, U of  Nevada Reno Medical School. "How to improve your patient success rate using today's powerful genetic testing.” Link to short clip

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2021  Invited speaker, “Boobies and Beverages,” a Jewish Nevada program designed to promote genetic testing for cancer.  

 

2020  Invited speaker, University of Rochester Alumni Career Story Series “Balancing a challenging research and teaching career with being a wife and mother.” Link to short clip

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2019  Invited speaker, Temple Emanu-El, Reno NV, “My Ashkenazi Jewish family’s struggle with sudden death.”

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2019  Invited speaker, Yeast Research: Origins, Insights, Breakthroughs, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meeting “From basic yeast genetics to prions to protein misfolding diseases.” Link to video clip

Author's watercolors and sketches of family members.

Left to right, author and her father, her son and her niece, her grandmother, her sister, and her mother. 

watercolor painting of author as a baby and her father
watercolor of boy and girl sitting next to each other writing
water color painting of woman
charcol sketch of woman's head
sketch of old woman playing pianoo
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