- Adjunct Professor of Bioethics
Johns Hopkins University - Founder
de-bi, co. - OBGYN Faculty
WellSpan Health Systems
Dr. Marielle S. Gross is an adjunct professor of bioethics at Johns Hopkins Berman Institute, a rural OBGYN, and the founder of de-bi, co., a decentralized biobanking company dedicated to empowering patients, physicians, and scientists to collaborate in research and development of precision medicine. Her work addresses ethical, legal, socioeconomic, and technological aspects of learning health systems through the lens of structural justice. Her foundational research and advocacy focused on addressing bias in healthcare, particularly in contexts of intersectional vulnerability and power asymmetry in women’s health topics, including ultrasound, HIV, substance use, breastfeeding, assisted reproduction, and medical records. Dr. Gross’s mission is to reform bioethics technologies and paradigms for the era of mobile computing, blockchain, and generative AI to ensure the future of global human health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
Research Focus
Research Interests
- Structural justice in learning health systems
- Ethical and scientific implications of de-identification
- Blockchain and privacy-preserving technology solutions
- Person-centered information architectures for precision medicine
- Novel legal and ethical paradigms for health data ownership
Education
- Residency in Gynecology & Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2018
- MD, University of Florida College of Medicine, 2014 (with Honors in Research)
- Master’s in Bioethics, New York University, 2010
- Hecht-Levi Postdoctoral Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University, 2020
Activities
Current Projects
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Piloting digital platforms to enhance community engagement in biospecimen research
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Developing infrastructure to facilitate sustainable, scalable translation from bench to bedside
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Mixed methods research on ethics, governance and incentive structures for engaging patients and other stakeholders in a decentralized biomedical data economy
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Legal frameworks and a comprehensive roadmap for institutional transformation regarding diverse consumer, clinical and commercial challenges for implementing decentralized biobanking
Awards and Recognition
- Johns Hopkins Distinguished Teaching Society, 2017-present
- Williams Senior Resident Research Award, 2017
Recent Publications
- Sabharwhal, K, B Hutler, Eifler M, and Gross M. Decentralized Biobanking for Transparency, Accountability, and Engagement in Biospecimen Donation. Journal of Health Care Law & Policy. (forthcoming/in press 2025).
- Dewan A, Eifler M, Hood A, Sanchez W, Gross M. Decentralized Biobanking App for Research Transparency and Patient Engagement: Participatory Design. JMIR Human Factors. 14/01/2025:59485 (forthcoming/in press) DOI: 10.2196/59485 URL: https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/59485
- Sanchez W, Linder L, Miller RC, Hood A, Gross MS. Non-Fungible Tokens for Organoids: Decentralized Biobanking to Empower Patients in Biospecimen Research. Blockchain Healthc Today. 2024 Apr 30;7. doi: 10.30953/bhty.v7.303. PMID: 38715762; PMCID: PMC11073479. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38715762/
- Gross, Marielle S., et al. “Stigmatizing Mothers: Qualitative Analysis of Language in Prenatal Records.” Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, 2025. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/950313/summary
- Gross M, Hood A, Miller Jr R. Nonfungible Tokens as a Blockchain Solution to Ethical Challenges for the Secondary Use of Biospecimens: Viewpoint. JMIR Bioinform Biotech 2021;2(1):e29905 URL: https://bioinform.jmir.org/2021/1/e29905 DOI: 10.2196/29905
- Gross, M., Hood, A. J., & Sanchez, W. L. (2023). Blockchain Technology for Ethical Data Practices: Decentralized Biobanking Pilot Study. The American Journal of Bioethics, 23(11), 60–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2023.2256286