Marilyn S. Baffoe-Bonnie is a sociologist and bioethicist whose work centers on the ethical and social dimensions of biomedical innovation. Rooted in medical sociology, science and technology studies, and bioethics, her research explores how the promises of emerging technologies, particularly gene therapy, are experienced, contested, and made meaningful by patients and communities.

Her current work focuses on gene therapy for sickle cell disease, using mixed methods to examine how concepts like cure, risk, and justice are negotiated by patients, clinicians, and policymakers. More broadly, her research engages with questions of health equity, the lived realities of biomedical progress, and the social infrastructure surrounding cutting-edge medicine.

Dr. Baffoe-Bonnie’s research has been recognized with multiple awards and published in Social Science & Medicine, Public Understanding of Science, Bioethics, and Genetics in Medicine Open. She is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Sickle Cell Disease in Social Security Disability Evaluations, the NYU Pediatric Gene Therapy and Medical Ethics Working Group, and the Red Blood Cell Antibody Exchange Patient Engagement Subcommittee under the federal Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability.

Prior to her current role as a Provost Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania, she completed a Predoctoral Fellowship in Bioethics and Health Disparities at the NIH Clinical Center and the National Human Genome Research Institute. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University, a Master of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Psychology from Haverford College, where she also minored in Health Studies and Peace, Justice, and Human Rights.