Valuing Lives: A Conference on Ethics in Health and the Environment
The NYU Center for Bioethics
New York University
March 5, 2011

The NYU Center for Bioethics in conjunction with the NYU Environmental Studies Program will be hosting ‘Valuing Lives: A Conference on Ethics in Health and the Environment’ on Saturday, March 5, 2011. The event will be held on New York University’s beautiful Washington Square campus, in the heart of Greenwich Village and will feature talks in a single day followed by an end-of-conference dinner at a local restaurant that night.

Call for Papers Deadline: November 1, 2010

For more information

This presentation will draw from a larger project: ‘After the Culture War? America in the Obama Era’, which examines the competing themes of normalisation of the ‘core’ culture war issues (abortion, same-sex marriage, aid-in-dying, stem cell research) against the contemporary backlash and resistance,including, but not limited to, the ‘tea party’ phenomenon. The resulting book will provide an assessment of the status of social and religious conservatism in America, and a measure of the vitality of the culture wars. (Ethics & Health Law News)

4th National Conference on Genomics and Public Health
Using Genomic Information to Improve Health Now and in the Future
Bethesda, Maryland
December 8-10, 2010

The 4th National Conference on Genomics and Public Health: Using Genomic Information to Improve Health Now and in the Future is a three-day event that will highlight best practices in public health genomics today while preparing for the future.

The agenda will feature keynote presentations by leaders in the fields of genomics and public health, interactive plenary and break-out sessions, and scientific poster exhibits on genomics research and public health practice. Networking events are also planned for the evenings.

For more information

8TH Annual Quandaries in Health Care Conference
“A Need to Confess?: Writing About the Healthcare Experience”
September 30 – October 2, 2010
The Given Institute of the University of Colorado
Aspen, Colorado

Quandaries in Health Care is an annual conference series in which keynote discussants, guest faculty and conference participants gather at the Given Institute in Aspen, Colorado, for two and one-half days of large and small group discussions revolving around a single theme.  This year’s theme explores the literary trend among healthcare professionals to publish narratives which reveal the pressures faced and felt by them, often by focusing upon breaches in expectations as well as the shame, guilt and anxiety that such breaches evoke.

The keynote discussants will examine the appropriateness and possible effects of such “confessional” writing, including the effects it may have on patients, the professions, and the connection between professionals and the communities they serve.

For more information or to register

19th International Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Symposia
Ethics of Invasive Brain Testing: Limits and Responsibilities

Cleveland, OH
Sunday, October 3, 2010

Symposium Organizer - Paul Ford, PhD

Clinicians and researchers are faced with ethically intricate challenges with the continued advancement of invasive technologies for monitoring and testing brain functioning. These technologies allow us to localize seizure foci, map functional areas, and explore therapeutic stimulation with applications to epilepsy, tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, and psychiatric disorders. These tests are performed on patients who become unusually vulnerable to power differences and manipulation. We have great potential to manipulate a person’s cognition, mood, or mind through these processes. We need to have clear reasons and justifications for choosing:

•  Which technologies we use
•  Which patients we use them on
•  How we use them on patients
•  What research questions we tackle
•  How we tackle those research projects

Threaded through these challenges are deeply held value convictions about justice, professionalism, and responsibility. Please feel free to visit http://www.ccf.org/neuroethics and click on NeuroEthics Symposia for more information.

The Indian Journal of Medical Ethics NATIONAL BIOETHICS CONFERENCE, 2010

Venue: All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
Date: 17-20 November 2010
Theme: Governance of healthcare - ethics, equity and justice

Call for abstracts

The scientific committee of the Third Indian Journal of Medical Ethics National Bioethics Conference (NBC-3) seeks abstracts of papers, and proposals for holding workshops, on topics relevant to bioethics. These must be in line with the conference theme: “Governance of healthcare-ethics, equity and justice.”

The NBC provides a space for researchers, clinicians, ethics committee members, students, teachers and activists to build a productive dialogue on governance in healthcare. Over the four days of the conference, participants will listen to plenary speakers giving overviews on important issues; present papers and posters on their own work and share their experiences; engage in discussions, and participate in workshops for skills building, information sharing and development of guidelines. Please visit http://nbc3.ijme.in/ for information on the conference, fellowships, registration and abstract submissions.

The deadline for abstract submission is 31 July 2010

Neurosociety… What is it with the brain these days?
Institute for Science, Innovation and Society (InSIS), and the
European Neuroscience and Society Network (ENSN)
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK.
7-8 December, 2010

The last twenty years have seen unprecedented advances in the neurosciences, in fields such as psychopharmacology, neurology and behavioural genetics. A growing number of ethicists, social scientists, legal scholars and philosophers have begun to analyze the social, legal and ethical implications of these advances, from the use of fMRI imaging in legal cases, to the medical benefits and risks of the increasing prescription of psychotropic drugs such as Prozac and Ritalin. Some attention has been paid to the economic questions raised by the commercial development and application of new technologies, and the extent to which subfields such as neuroeconomics and neuromarketing are generating commercially and clinically valuable findings. The conference aims to bring together academics and practitioners from this wide range of disciplines to attempt a critical evaluation of the current state and future prospects for neuro thinking.

For more information

Second International Conference on Science in Society
Carlos III University of Madrid
Madrid, Spain
11 to 13 November 2010

This Conference will address disciplinary and interdisciplinary challenges in the sciences, and in particular the relationships of science to society.

Key themes addressed by the Conference include the social impacts of science, the values and ethics of science, the pedagogies of science, the knowledge-making processes of science, the politics of science and the economics of science. At first glance, the scope and concerns of the Conference are enormous. However, in contrast to conferences with a specialist disciplinary focus, this Conference aims to explore, in an interdisciplinary spirit, linkages between different areas of concern and practices of investigation. We welcome presentation proposals which range from broad explorations of philosophical, theoretical, methodological and policy questions, to proposals which present finely grained evidence of the connections of science to society in microcosms of research, teaching and practice.

For more information

8th Annual Quandaries in Health Care Conference
“A Need to Confess?: Writing About the Healthcare Experience”
September 30 – October 2, 2010
The Given Institute of the University of Colorado
Aspen, Colorado

Quandaries in Health Care is an annual conference series in which keynote discussants, guest faculty and conference participants gather at the Given Institute in Aspen, Colorado, for two and one-half days of large and small group discussions revolving around a single theme.  This year’s theme explores the literary trend among healthcare professionals to publish narratives which reveal the pressures faced and felt by them, often by focusing upon breaches in expectations as well as the shame, guilt and anxiety that such breaches evoke.

The keynote discussants will examine the appropriateness and possible effects of such “confessional” writing, including the effects it may have on patients, the professions, and the connection between professionals and the communities they serve.

For more information

19th International Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Symposium
Ethics of Invasive Brain Testing:  Limits and Responsibilities
Sunday October 3

Symposium Organizer - Paul Ford, PhD
Clinicians and researchers are faced with ethically intricate challenges with the continued advancement of invasive technologies for monitoring and testing brain functioning. These technologies allow us to localize seizure foci, map functional areas, and explore therapeutic stimulation with applications to epilepsy, tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, and psychiatric disorders. These tests are performed on patients who become unusually vulnerable to power differences and manipulation. We have great potential to manipulate a person’s cognition, mood, or mind through these processes. We need to have clear reasons and justifications for choosing:
* Which technologies we use
* Which patients we use them on
* How we use them on patients
* What research questions we tackle
* How we tackle those research projects
Threaded through these challenges are deeply held value convictions about justice, professionalism, and responsibility. Audience: This one-day symposium is intended to engage neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, advance care nurses, physician assistants, and ethicists in addressing practical ethical challenges related to invasive brain testing.

For more information

The Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of Witwatersrand (WITS) will be running a 3 day training workshop on Research Ethics “Conducting Research Responsibly” between 3-5 October 2010. The workshop is funded by an unrestricted educational grant from PFIZER. The objective of the training program is to build research ethics capacity in Africa and is led by Prof A Dhai, Director of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics and Dr Norma Tsotsi, Director Undergraduate Programs at the Centre and is co-chaired by Professors Dhai and Joseph Mfutso-Bhengu, College of Medicine, Malawi.

Scholarships covering travel and accommodation will be provided for by the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics from the educational grant. Research Ethics Committee members, research regulators and researchers who have not previously been exposed to research ethics training programs are invited to apply for scholarships. Applicants will need to be residing in Africa and are required to send through a motivation for funding, together with a brief CV. Applications and supporting documents should be emailed to both Professor A Dhai at amaboo.dhai@wits.ac.za  and Dr Norma Tsotsi at norma.tsotsi@wits.ac.za .

Workshop venue: Panari Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya

Closing date for applications: Friday, 20th August 2010

Queries: Professor Dhai at amaboo.dhai@wits.ac.za  or Dr Norma Tsotsi at
norma.tsotsi@wits.ac.za

Reason, Theology, and the Genome: A Conference on the Ethics of Human Enhancement
Christ Church, University of Oxford
October 9, 2010

What is the place of theology in the growing debate over genetic engineering and human enhancement? Are theological reasons of interest only to believers? Or, as Michael Sandel and Jürgen Habermas have both suggested, might they be important for society generally, for secular and religious alike? Reason, Theology and the Genome brings together a distinguished international panel of speakers, representing many different disciplines and points of view, to consider the relevance of theology to one of the most important questions of our time.

For more information or to register

Humanities and Technology Association Annual Conference
September 30-October 2, 2010
Bowie State University
14000 Jericho Road Park
Bowie, Maryland

This year our special topic is: Technology and Development: The Human Benefits and Burdens.  The sustainable use of technical and natural resources makes it possible to alleviate world hunger, eliminate literacy, deliver basic health care services, and raise living standards worldwide.  Yet, we still face significant political, economic, environmental, and social challenges in reaching the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of eliminating extreme poverty in all its forms by 2015.  Some of these challenges evoke questions about the use and abuse of technologies with regard to development.  What have been the human benefits and burdens of the introduction of new technologies in the past and what are the challenges facing both the developed and developing countries today?

For more information or to register

Second International Congress Of Bioethics
“Morality, Spirituality and Creationism”
20-22 November, 2010

Location (venue details & address): National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Shahrak-e Pajoohesh, km 15, Tehran - Karaj Highway,Tehran, Iran

Contact tel: +98 21 44580472

Contact email: info@iranbioethics2010.ir,

Abstract submission deadline: 22 September 2010

For more information, please visit: http://iranbioethics2010.ir/

November 19, 2010 at The Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York

The 2010 AMBI Clinical Ethics Conference is a conference in which keynote speakers, guest faculty and conference participants gather at the Alden March Bioethics Institute in Albany, New York, for a full day of engaging discussions and breakout sessions revolving around a single theme. This year’s theme explores the new Family Health Care Decisions Act and its impact at the hospitalized patient’s bedside.

The target audience for this conference includes: institutional ethics committee members, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, chaplains, hospice staff, case managers, lawyers, healthcare facility administrators, and others interested in healthcare decision making.

Keynote Speakers: Robert N. Swidler, MA, JD, Alicial Oullette, JD, and Thaddeus Pope, JD, PhD

The registration fee is $100. Registration for Albany Medical School students and alumni and Albany Law School students is half-price.

The Institute for Faith and Learning
Baylor University
2010 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
“Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care”
October 28-30, 2010
Waco, Texas

Inspired by the conviction that a Christian understanding of the dignity of the human person should inform fundamental questions about the future of health care, our conference seeks to engage participants from a broad range of disciplines and health care professions.  Confirmed speakers include: Elias Bongmba, Rice University; Toyin Falola, University of Texas; Paul Griffiths, Duke Divinity School; Jeff Levin, Baylor University; Gilbert Meilaender, Valparaiso University; Stephen Post, Stony Brook University; Margaret Somerville, McGill University; Daniel Sulmasy, University of Chicago; John Swinton, University of Aberdeen; and S. Kay Toombs, Baylor University.

For more information, please visit: http://www.baylor.edu/ifl/index.php?id=70580.

Call for Papers Deadline: July 15, 2010

The members of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology will convene in Extraordinary Session at UNESCO headquarters in Paris (Room XI, Fontenoy Building) on 28-30 June, 2010.

COMEST is an advisory body and forum of reflection composed of 18 independent experts and 11 ex officio representatives of international scientific bodies. The Commission is mandated to formulate ethical principles that could provide decision-makers with criteria than go beyond economics.

The agenda will focus on environmental ethics with an emphasis on ethical principles in relation to climate change, an interim report on which will be adopted at the Session. In addition, questions concerning the ethics of science, nanotechnologies, and converging technologies will be an integral part of the programme.

The session will be open to the public with the exception of the morning of the 28 June and the afternoon of 30 June. Advance registration, which is free of charge, is required for persons wishing to attend the Session.

Contact
John Crowley
COMEST Secretariat
UNESCO
1 rue Miollis 75732 Paris Cedex 15 FRANCE
Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 68 38 28
Fax: +33 (0)1 45 68 57 24
E-mails: comest@unesco.org

Website: http://www.unesco.org/shs/ethics

The American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine is holding the first regional biomedical ethics workshop on the occasion of Global Medical Ethics Day on September 17 and 18. The conference will be on “Biomedical Ethics in Medical Schools: A Regional Perspective”  followed by a meeting dedicated to the formation of an Arab and Regional Network for biomedical ethics. Agenda: Biomedical Ethics (and Research Ethics) Regional Portal and the formation of the Arab and Middle East Biomedical Ethics Society.

For more information: www.atds.org.tn/Global%20Medical%20Ethics%20Day%20FINAL.pdf

8TH Annual Quandaries in Health Care Conference
“A Need to Confess?: Writing About the Healthcare Experience”
September 30 – October 2, 2010
The Given Institute of the University of Colorado
Aspen, Colorado

Quandaries in Health Care is an annual conference series in which keynote discussants, guest faculty and conference participants gather at the Given Institute in Aspen, Colorado, for two and one-half days of large and small group discussions revolving around a single theme.  This year’s theme explores the literary trend among healthcare professionals to publish narratives which reveal the pressures faced and felt by them, often by focusing upon breaches in expectations as well as the shame, guilt and anxiety that such breaches evoke.

The keynote discussants will examine the appropriateness and possible effects of such “confessional” writing, including the effects it may have on patients, the professions, and the connection between professionals and the communities they serve.

For more information and to register online:
http://www.coloradobioethics.org/calendar_home.html

2011 ELSI Congress: Exploring the ELSI Universe
April 12-14, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Watch the website of the UNC Center for Genomics and Society for more information and breaking news:
http://genomics.unc.edu/genomicsandsociety/html/elsicongress.html

With the World Cup in South Africa underway, Wimbledon beginning next week, and London 2012 drawing ever closer, Oxford Online Debates continue this week with the launch of the latest discussion, ‘Performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sport’. (PhysOrg)