Central Wisconsin Ethics of Stem Research Conference
The Central Wisconsin Ethics of Stem Research Conference, held April 22, 2008 at the Westwood Conference Center and the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County, was organized by Mark Brown, UWMC Professor of Philosophy and WIPPS Fellow, in collaboration with the WiCell Research Institute and the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin. The conference consisted of an afternoon session focused upon the basic science and clinical applications of stem cell research and an evening session devoted to what many consider the central ethical and public policy issue raised by stem cell research: the moral status of the human embryo. Presenters at the afternoon session included leading stem cell scientists; presenters at the evening session included leading philosophers, lawyers, and theologians on both sides of the ethical issue.
The objectives of the conference included:
- Assessment of current scientific research on human stem cells, with special emphasis on application to neurological and pancreatic disorders.
- Consideration of the regulatory and political dimensions of clinical applications of human stem cell research in the U.S. and beyond.
- Discussion of the ethical and clinical consequences of scientific breakthroughs in generating induced pluripotent stem cells.
- Providing for alternative ethical perspectives on human embryonic stem cell research.
Featured speakers included:
Clive Svendsen, Ph.D.
Director of the Svendsen Laboratory and Professor of Anatomy and Neurology at UW-Madison, and researcher on retinal blindness and Parkinson’s Disease.
Jon Odorico, M.D.
Director of the Odorico Laboratory and a Professor at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, and researcher on diabetes and pancreatic disorders.
R. Alta Charo, J.D
Warren P. Knowles Professor of Law and Bioethics at UW-Madison, and former member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Stem Cell Research Guidelines and President Clinton’s National Bioethics Advisory Committee.
Cynthia Cohen, J.D., Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, author of Renewing the Stuff of Life: Stem Cells, Ethics and Public Policy, and former member of the Canadian Institute of Health Stem Cell Oversight Committee and the Task Force on Ethics and the New Genetics for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.
Patrick Lee, Ph.D
Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Bioethics Institute at Franciscan University of Steubenville, and author of Abortion and Unborn Human Life.
For a copy of the Conference brochure, click here:
The Ethics of Stem Cell Research (PDF)
Report on Central Wisconsin Ethics of Stem Cell Research Conference(PDF)