Willy Lensch

Willy Lensch, PhD

Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine, Part-time
Member, HMS Center for Bioethics
Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center

M. William Lensch, PhD, is Associate Provost for Research at Harvard University and a Lecturer (part-time) in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical school (HMS)l. He received his PhD in Molecular and Medical Genetics from Oregon Health Sciences University where he studied hereditary bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition syndromes at the Portland Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. Dr. Lensch is a past Fellow of the Center for Bioethics. His professional portfolio within the provost’s office spans the schools of Harvard and provides high level management/guidance for interfaculty research and educational initiatives (IFIs) in the physical, life, and social sciences. His work in bioethics includes issues related to rare diseases, genetic modification, use of human tissues in research, stem cell biology, human/animal chimeras, and the disposition of human remains in museum collections. Dr. Lensch has served in various external roles including as a gubernatorial appointee to the State of Connecticut’s Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, a member of the Public Education Committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, and as Chair of the Bioethics Subcommittee of the national American Heart Association. His recognition includes multiple Certificates of Distinction in Teaching from Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, the Staff Family Prize for Excellence in Student Advising, and HMS’s Daniel D. Federman Staff Award for Exceptional Service, the latter for his role in the founding, operation, and ongoing strategy of the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR) during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Publications View
Selective pressure as an essential force in molecular evolution of myeloid leukemic clones: a view from the window of Fanconi anemia.
Authors: Authors: Lensch MW, Rathbun RK, Olson SB, Jones GR, Bagby GC.
Leukemia
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Clinical and molecular analysis in Joubert syndrome.
Authors: Authors: Pellegrino JE, Lensch MW, Muenke M, Chance PF.
Am J Med Genet
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Severe vincristine neuropathy in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A.
Authors: Authors: Graf WD, Chance PF, Lensch MW, Eng LJ, Lipe HP, Bird TD.
Cancer
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Analysis of the CMT1A-REP repeat: mapping crossover breakpoints in CMT1A and HNPP.
Authors: Authors: Kiyosawa H, Lensch MW, Chance PF.
Hum Mol Genet
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New connexin32 mutations associated with X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Authors: Authors: Bone LJ, Dahl N, Lensch MW, Chance PF, Kelly T, Le Guern E, Magi S, Parry G, Shapiro H, Wang S, et al.
Neurology
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Hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies: two distinct genetic disorders.
Authors: Authors: Chance PF, Lensch MW, Lipe H, Brown RH, Brown RH, Bird TD.
Neurology
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Two autosomal dominant neuropathies result from reciprocal DNA duplication/deletion of a region on chromosome 17.
Authors: Authors: Chance PF, Abbas N, Lensch MW, Pentao L, Roa BB, Patel PI, Lupski JR.
Hum Mol Genet
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Connexin mutations in X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Authors: Authors: Bergoffen J, Scherer SS, Wang S, Scott MO, Bone LJ, Paul DL, Chen K, Lensch MW, Chance PF, Fischbeck KH.
Science
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DNA deletion associated with hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies.
Authors: Authors: Chance PF, Alderson MK, Leppig KA, Lensch MW, Matsunami N, Smith B, Swanson PD, Odelberg SJ, Disteche CM, Bird TD.
Cell
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Trisomy 17p associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type 1A phenotype: evidence for gene dosage as a mechanism in CMT1A.
Authors: Authors: Chance PF, Bird TD, Matsunami N, Lensch MW, Brothman AR, Feldman GM.
Neurology
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