PROTECT YOUR FAMILY FROM HIDDEN MUTATIONS
Susan Weiss Liebman, PhD, was among MIT's early female undergraduate students, part of a pioneering wave of women entering the institution. With an MS from Harvard and a PhD in genetics from the University of Rochester, she served as a biology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she taught genetics and led a research group for more than three decades. Later she transitioned her lab to the University of Nevada, Reno where she is currently a Research Professor. Over the years she has obtained over $13 million in external grants to support her research.
Susan raised two children and now delights in four grandchildren alongside her husband of fifty-five years. Following the sudden death of her niece, Liebman became a medical detective and committed to promoting awareness of genetic testing.
Author publications on genetics of heart disease.
2024 Liebman SW, How one Jewish geneticist turned a family tragedy into a lifesaving mission. The Forward
Culture, February 6.
2024 Liebman SW, A lifesaving revolution delayed, Nature Genetics, Turning Points DOI 10.1038/s41588-024-02013-0.
2021 Liebman SW, Palaganas H, Kobany H. A founder mutation in FLNC is likely a major cause of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy in Ashkenazi Jews. Int J Cardiol. 23:124.
2021 Liebman SW. The Dressmaker's Mirror, The Jewish Literary Journal, #100 October.
2019 Liebman SW. Hidden warnings of sudden cardiac arrest. Knowridge Science Report.
Selected Invited Talks and Panels
Dr. Liebman is available to speak to about her book or about genetic testing to a general audience, a Jewish audience, or to physicians for continuing education.
Please email SLiebman@UNR.edu to schedule a presentation, author talk or interview.
2026 Invited Speaker, ORT, Phoenix AZ group, October 19
2026 Invited Speaker 36th Annual Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine Conference, UNR School of Medicine,
Oct. 18 several hundred attendees expected
2026 Invited Speaker for Congregation Knesset Israel and OLLI Pittsfield, MA, October 6, 2026
2026 Guest Lecturer, Davidson Academy, Reno NV
2026 Invited Speaker, Nevada Sagebrush Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, May 9
2026 Book Club leader, Temple Sinai, Reno, March 15
2026 Invited guest, Genetics for healthcare: A podcast for patients #41 February 9 link
2026 Qesher International Jewish Book Club, Zoom Talk over 400 attendees Feb 3
2026 Invited speaker, UNR Medical School Genetics Student Interest Group, January 28
2025 Invited guest, Jewry Duty, October 30 link
2025 Keynote speaker, Sarnoff Center for Jewish Genetics, Annual Awareness Meeting. Skokie, IL Sept. 26
2025 Invited Guest, Jewry Duty, Oct. 30 link
2025 Invited Speaker, Genetic Counseling Program, U of Pennsylvania, September 16
2025 Invited Speaker, Genetic Counseling Program, U of Maryland, August 28
2025 Invited Panelist at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in their “The Silent Killer: Understanding Genetics’ Impact on Health” panel. Joining me were moderator Katharine Gammon and authors Alan Townsend and Lawrence Ingrassia, April 27.
2025 Congregation Beth David, Saratoga, Ca Adult Education, Zoom Talk April 21.
2025 Bethlehem Easton Hadassah Book Club Zoom speaker, March 20
2025 Invited Speaker, Genetic Counseling Program, Bay Path University, January 26.
2025 MIT Alumni Lecture Series, Protect your family with genetic testing. January 16
2024 Reno Reads KOLO TV Channel 8 December 16
2024 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, "Protect your family with genetic testing." December 12
2024 A Conversation with the Author at Temple Emanu-el (Reno) about my book moderated by Dr. Paul Hauptman, Dean of the UNR School of Medicine December 8.
2024 Avid Reader Book Discussion, November 26
2024 DNA Today podcast #315 Cardiac Sudden Death: Prevention via Genetics with Drs. Liebman & McNally November 15
2024 The Genetics Podcast EP163 The intersection of loss and genetic insight with Susan Liebman of University of Nevada, November 27
2024 It Happened to Me, podcast: Sudden Cardiac Death with The Dressmaker’s Mirror’s Dr. Susan Liebman, November 18
2024 UC Davis Cardiology Grand Rounds speaker “Genetic screening for cardiac disease.” January 22, Link to video
2023 Molecular Autopsy Implementation Expert Panel Member. The Research Triangle Institute International roundtable event to promote genetic testing in response to sudden death. Link to video
2023 Interview by Dr. Mili Thakur of Genome Ally about The Dressmaker's Mirror. Link to video excerpt
2022 Grand Rounds Internal Medicine Series, U of Nevada Reno Medical School. "How to improve your patient success rate using today's powerful genetic testing.” Link to short clip
2021 Invited speaker, “Boobies and Beverages,” a Jewish Nevada program designed to promote genetic testing for cancer.
2020 Invited speaker, University of Rochester Alumni Career Story Series “Balancing a challenging research and teaching career with being a wife and mother.” Link to short clip
2019 Invited speaker, Temple Emanu-El, Reno NV, “My Ashkenazi Jewish family’s struggle with sudden death.”
2019 Invited speaker, Yeast Research: Origins, Insights, Breakthroughs, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meeting “From basic yeast genetics to prions to protein misfolding diseases.” Link to video clip
Author's watercolors and sketches of family members.
Left to right, author and her father, her son and her niece, her grandmother, her sister, and her mother.
