Josephine Johnston talk on Stem Cell Research

Josephine Johnston, an Associate for Ethics, Law & Society at the Hastings Center in Garrison, NY, will be our speaker. She is a New Zealand- trained lawyer with a Masters in bioethics and health law from the University of Otago. She has worked on ethical and legal issues in stem cell research and genetics, as well as the potential for patents to act as barriers to treatment and research, and the management of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research.

The Hastings Center is an independent bioethics research and education center. Its mission is to address fundamental ethical issues in health and medicine, the life sciences, and the environment as they affect individuals, communities, and societies.

Please join us in this exploration of issues relating to stem cell research. Her talk is titled “The Stem Cell Debate: Where to from here?” After a quick summary of the different forces at play in the stem cell debate, Ms Johnston will focus on some of the issues that arise as the research moves forward. Such issues include the role of egg, sperm and embryo donors in providing materials for the research, the intersection of the fertility industry and the stem cell research industry, and the question of access to any eventual therapies.

A question and answer period will follow her talk.