WMU Ethics Center to stage bioethics conference, issues call for papers

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The Center for the Study of Ethics in Society is celebrating 30 years at WMU with a bioethics conference March 17-18 at the Fetzer Center and has issued a call for scholars to submit papers by Nov. 16.

The theme of the conference will be: "Bioethics: Preparing for the Unknown." The theme highlights "uncertainty" and "intention" as important factors in bioethics.

Keynote speakers

Both conference keynote speakers have WMU ties. Insoo Hyun is associate professor of bioethics and philosophy at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, while Richard Sharp is director of the Biomedical Ethics Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Hyun is a former WMU assistant professor of philosophy and associate director of the Ethics Center. Sharp received his bachelor's degrees in philosophy and sociology from WMU.

"The success of our keynote speakers illustrates how ethics at WMU has had influence both locally and beyond our campus," says Dr. Sandra Borden, center co-director. "We are so pleased they are returning to WMU to mark this occasion with us."

Insoo Hyun

Hyun received his bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy at Stanford and his doctoral degree in philosophy at Brown University. In addition to being associate professor, he is director of the CWRU Stem Cell Ethics Center. He served on the WMU faculty from 1998-2003.

In 2005, Hyun received a Fulbright Research Award from the U.S. Department of State to study the ethical, legal and cultural dynamics of human research cloning in South Korea. In 2006, he chaired the Subcommittee on Human Biological Materials Procurement for the International Embryonic Stem Cell Guidelines Task Force, a multinational, multidisciplinary working group for the ISSCR—International Society for Stem Cell Research. In 2007, he served as co-chairperson of the ISSCR Task Force on International Guidelines for the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells. Hyun is the past-chairperson of the ISSCR's Ethics and Public Policy Committee.

Richard Sharp

In addition to a bachelor's degree from WMU, Sharp earned master's and doctoral degrees in philosophy from Michigan State University. At the Mayo Clinic, Sharp also directs the Center for Individualized Medicine Bioethics Program and the Clinical and Translational Research Ethics Program.

Sharp's research examines ethical tensions in medicine and biomedical research. He has studied a variety of topics in biomedical ethics, including the integration of genetic technologies into patient care, best practices for clinical ethics consultation, financial conflicts of interest and ethical dimensions of patient advocacy. His current research examines how patients and health care providers view new forms of personalized medicine and clinical interventions enabled by molecular diagnostics. Sharp frequently advises health care organizations on ethical issues and has served on advisory committees for the National Institutes of Health, Institute of Medicine and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Bioethics focus

Bioethics has been a major focus of the Ethics Center since it was founded in August 1985 by Dr. Michael S. Pritchard and other WMU faculty across the curriculum who gathered to share their common interest in ethics research and instruction.

The center's efforts in bioethics have been led by Dr. Shirley Bach, associate director and professor emerita of philosophy. Bach has worked closely with the local medical community for many years, developing ethics programming and providing expert consultation. She supported the work of the Ethics Center in sponsoring biomedical ethics speakers and programs. She established the Shirley and Michael K. Bach Quasi Endowment for the Ethics Center, which is providing support for the March 2016 conference.

The conference will also include a tribute to Pritchard, the center's founding director and professor of philosophy, who will be retiring next summer.

"Mike has won friends for ethics all over the world by being a gifted philosopher, who happens to think that ethics is not just for philosophers," Borden says.

For more information including conference updates, visit wmich.edu/ethics.

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