Ethics Meetings at PredictER

PredictER holds a semi-regular weekly meeting to discuss the ethical, legal and social issues relevant to the latest predictive health research. These meetings frequently include presentations from distinguished guest speakers. Recent speakers have included:

Greg Sachs, M.D. - Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine.

Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D. - Associate Dean for Translational Research, Indiana University School of Medicine.

David W. Crabb, M.D. - Director of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center, Chair of the Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine.

Eric Wright, Ph.D. – Director, Center for Health Policy, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis.

Eleanor DeArman Kinney, J.D., M.P.H. - Hall Render Professor of Law, Co-director of the William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health, Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis.

Jim Wolf, M.S. - Director, Survey Research Center, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis.

Most recently, Jennifer Girod, J.D., Ph.D., R.N. (IU Center for Bioethics/Sommer Barnard, PC) introduced and moderated a discussion of PredictER’s developing agenda for predictive health policy research. Four domains for potential public policy research were identified: the growing life sciences research and development sector, predictive health information and the future of insurance underwriting, the use and misuse of modestly predictive health information in clinical settings (including patient understanding of risk and related professional liabilities), and the impact of genomic information on public health.

The schedule for the rest of the month includes:

February 18 – 3:00: Elda Railey, Cynthia Burkhardt and Mary Lou Smith from the Research Advocacy Network will present their current activities and will discuss the influence advocates have had on tissue banking.

February 25 – 3:00: Anna Maria Storniolo, M.D., (Director, Catherine Peachey Breast Cancer Prevention Program) will share the progress of the Mary Ellen Tissue Bank.

If you are in the Indianapolis area and would like to attend, visit the Indiana University Center for Bioethics website for more information. - J.O.