WHAT: “Beyond Embryonic,” a scientific and ethical exploration of stem cell research with speakers including Christopher Scott Thomas, author of the book “Stem Cell Now.”
Thomas will give an evening lecture titled “From Bench to Bank to Breakthrough: New directions in stem cell ethics and policy.” Three other experts representing different points of view will speak during a pre-lecture workshop earlier in the day.
The lecture is the fourth in the “Conversations about Ethics” series organized by the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Previous discussions have focused on the relationship between parents and children, health care reform and end-of-life care.
WHEN: The evening lecture will be held Monday, Nov. 15, 2010, from 6 to 8 p.m., with a book signing and reception from 5 to 5:45 p.m.
WHERE: Pestana Lecture Hall (Room 3.104 of the Medical School Building) at the UT Health Science Center’s Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Campus, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive.
WHO: In addition to authoring “Stem Cell Now,” Thomas is the director of the Stanford University Program on Stem Cells in Society. He’s a faculty member and senior research scholar at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, a Brocher Institute Fellow and an associate fellow at King’s College London and the University of Sheffield.
NOTES: The evening lecture is free and open to the public. For information or to register, visit http://www.texashumanities.org/stem_cells.cfm#. On-site, reporters can contact Sheila Hotchkin at 210-567-3026 for assistance.
At the pre-lecture workshop earlier in the day, seats have already been filled, but representatives of the news media can be accommodated. Please contact Sheila Hotchkin at 210-567-3026 if you would like to attend. The workshop will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at Methodist Healthcare Ministries, 4507 Medical Drive. Speakers include:
- 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Connie J. Eaves, Ph.D., director of Terry Fox Laboratory and vice president of research of the BC Cancer Agency in Canada’s British Columbia province. Dr. Eaves is also associate dean of research and professor of medical genetics at the University of British Columbia. She will speak on “Stem Cells: The Hype and the Reality.”
- 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.: Col. Robert G. Hale, D.D.S., LTC MIL, commander of dental trauma research detachment and director of craniomaxillofacial research at Brooke Army Medical Center. Dr. Hale will speak on “The Need for Regenerative Medicine.”
- 3 to 4 p.m.: The Rev. Paul Parks, D.Min., executive director of the Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health in San Antonio. Dr. Parks will speak on “The Interaction of Faith and Medicine.”
For this event, the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics has partnered with Methodist Healthcare Ministries, the Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health, and the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology at the UT Health Science Center.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled a record $259 million in fiscal year 2009. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $739 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.