law Practice

Jennifer K. Wagner has been practicing law in and near State College, Pennsylvania since 2007. Her practice has involved transactional, litigation, and consulting services in areas such as residential and commercial landlord-tenant law; real estate law; home improvement and construction matters; condominium and homeowner associations; discrimination; privacy; contracts; and more. Jennifer's professional memberships include the Centre County Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, and American Bar Association. 

academic RESEARCH

Jennifer has been conducting academic research since 1999. Dr. Wagner’s research efforts are driven by her commitment to the international human right of everyone “to participate...and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 27). Working in primarily two technical domains of genetics and mobile, digital health technologies, Dr. Wagner conducts multidisciplinary research in four highly inter-related topical areas: (1) biases and discrimination, (2) vulnerable populations, (3) patient/participant/consumer engagement, and (4) law and policy. She has served as a contributing editor for the Genomics Law Report, co-chair of the ethics committee for the American Association of Biological Anthropologists, and chair of the Social Issues Committee for the American Society of Human Genetics. Dr. Wagner earned a prestigious K99/R00 NIH "Pathway to Independence Award" from the National Human Genome Research Institute for her "Multidisciplinary Study of Race, Appearance, Ancestry, Discrimination & Prejudice." Her work has been cited by the Supreme Court of the United States.

 

Education and Experience

Jennifer K. Wagner was valedictorian of her high school class (West Snyder High School, 1998). She pursued her undergraduate studies at Penn State University, during which time she was a Schreyer Honors Scholar. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with High Honors and High Distinction in 2002 and was the Student Marshal for the Department of Anthropology. She continued studying human genetics at the University of Michigan in its Program in Biomedical Sciences but left to pursue legal studies at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill, NC. During her legal training, Jennifer studied international human rights law (minority rights and indigenous peoples rights) at the Irish Centre for Human Rights in Galway, Republic of Ireland; earned a certificate of merit for achieving the highest grade in Privacy Law; was recognized for providing over 75 hours of pro bono legal work; and was the President of the UNC Law School Chapter of the American Constitution Society. Jennifer earned her Juris Doctorate in May 2007, was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar, and began her private law practice in October 2007. Jennifer concurrently pursued graduate studies at Penn State University and in 2010 earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in Anthropology with her thesis entitled "Social and Legal Implications of DNA Ancestry Tests." Subsequently, she conducted post-doctoral research at Duke University's Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (Duke IGSP, 2010-2011) and at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Integration of Genetic Healthcare Technologies (Penn CIGHT, 2011-2014), all the while continuing her law practice in State College, PA. She was selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to be a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow and served as a 2014-2015 AAAS Congressional Fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (MA), where she managed the judiciary portfolio and assisted with privacy, health, consumer protection, and environmental policy. She joined Geisinger Health System in September 2015 as Associate Director of Bioethics Research and Assistant Professor in the Center for Translational Bioethics & Health Care Policy. In 2021 Jennifer left Geisinger to become an Assistant Professor of Law, Policy, and Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. In June 2023 her title was updated to Assistant Professor of Law, Policy, and Engineering and Anthropology.