Mark Leach

Mark Leach, JD, MBE, is a practicing attorney who serves as the bioethics specialist for the National Center for Prenatal & Postnatal Down Syndrome Resources at the University of Kentucky. His research focuses on the state of prenatal testing and its ethical administration. Mark has presented at international and national conferences for obstetrics, medical genetics, genetic counseling, and Down syndrome support organizations. He blogs at www.downsyndromeprenataltesting.com.

Representative publications and presentations:

Leach, M. Unjustified: the imbalance of information and funding with noninvasive prenatal screening. AJOB Empirical Ethics 2015, 6(1): 21-30.

Leach, M. Ethical patient care through financial means: requiring genetic counselling code for billing prenatal genetic testing. 2014 National Society of Genetic Counselors, New Orleans, LA, September 18, 2014.

Leach, M. The New Era of Prenatal Testing: Answering Questions About the New Age of Genetics. 2014 National Down Syndrome Congress, Indianapolis, IN, July 11, 2014.

Leach, M., M. Gallagher, The Down Syndrome Information Act: How to get it passed in your state, 2014 Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action, Washington, DC, February 28, 2014.

Leach, M. ELSI as applied to noninvasive prenatal screening. 2013 American Society of Human Genetics, Boston, MA, October 25, 2013.

Leach M, Skotko BG. (2012). Resources available for informed prenatal decisions. Genetics in Medicine: 14:348-349.

Leach M. The ethical obligation of testing laboratories to provide educational materials with Down syndrome diagnosis. 2012 International Society for Prenatal Diagnosis, Miami, FL, June 5, 2012.

Skotko BG, Leach M. (2011). Physicians need to offer up-to-date information about Down syndrome to expectant couples to inform decision-making. Pediatrics. October 17, 2011.