Ellen M. Wijsman, Professor Emerita, received a B.S. in Biology (1975), from Michigan State University, and Ph.D. in Population Genetics (1981), from the Genetics Department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Genetics, Stanford University from 1981-1984, and a research associate from 1984-1987. In 1987 she joined the faculty at the University of Washington in the Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, and was promoted to Associate and full Professor in 1992, and 1997, respectively. From 1993 onward she held a joint appointment in the Department of Biostatistics, and the Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine. She is also an adjunct faculty in the Department of Genome Sciences. In 2023 she retired, returning as a part-time faculty member.
She has served as president of the International Genetic Epidemiology Society. She has served on a number of NIH-commissioned monitoring and advisory panels, including the advisory panel for the "Emerging Genetic Studies advisory panel of the Jackson Heart Study", the NHLBI Large-Scale genotyping cohorts oversights committee, the Observational Study Monitoring Board for the "National Registry of Genetically Triggered Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Cardiovascular Conditions", the data safety and monitoring board for the "Collaborative studies on the genetics of asthma" and "Determinants of high blood pressure" studies, and on the Genetic Analysis Workshop advisory committee. She has served on the editorial boards of The American Journal of Human Genetics, Genetic Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and is a member of Faculty Opinions. She has also served as a review committee member for the National Institute of Aging Board of Scientific Counselors, the NHLBI Mammalian Genotyping Service review panel, and the Center for Inherited Disease (CIDR) Access Committee.