PRIM&R Board Profile - Judy Norsigian

Judy Norsigian, executive director and a founder of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective (which does business under the name Our Bodies Ourselves), is a co-author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause and Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth. Judy speaks and writes frequently on a wide range of women's health concerns, including abortion and contraception, sexually transmitted infections, genetics and reproductive technologies, tobacco and women, women and health care reform, and midwifery advocacy. She joined the PRIM&R Board in 1992, and although she cannot recall the exact circumstances, she is certain it had something to do with Joan Rachlin! Judy currently serves as the Board's secretary.

Judy's tenure on the Board has been characterized by her dedication to ensuring that the organization and the Board had good systems and processes in place. She brought prior Board experience to PRIM&R, and so she tried to contribute to PRIM&R a Board process in which everyone felt heard and respected. Even so, she reflects, when people feel passionate about something—and that is true of most at PRIM&R!—there are still some heated conversations. Through the years, Judy has enjoyed the lively conversations and the commitment and dedication of the Board and staff of PRIM&R.

Because Judy's primary area of expertise is not research or protection of subjects, she has served as a bridge from PRIM&R to other organizations and movements, such as the larger women's health and social justice movements. She has been able to promote PRIM&R's work in many different circles and make people aware of what PRIM&R does. Judy quips, "if you think of PRIM&R's Board of Directors as an IRB or IACUC, I am the unaffiliated, community member!"

Judy has learned quite a bit about the research arena in her nearly 20 years on the Board. She has presented at a few PRIM&R conferences (and, she notes, she will be facilitating not one, but two workshops at this year's AER Conference!), and there has been some intersection between her work with PRIM&R and her work with Our Bodies, Ourselves. Judy has long had an interest in research ethics, particularly in light of the history of poorly conducted research on women's health.

Judy was raised in Watertown, MA and currently lives in Newton, MA. She was widowed in 1994, and she has one daughter and two stepchildren. Judy is a cellist, and one of her goals is to brush up her skills enough to form a PRIM&R chamber music group.