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Incidental Enhancements: A Neglected Governance Challenge for Human Genome Editing Research

June 25, 2020
The increasing pace and international diffusion of developments in human genome editing research have prompted ongoing efforts to develop responsible governance for such research. One point of broad agreement across these efforts is that human genome editing research should prioritize medical applications over attempts to enhance human traits because of...

Do Groups Have Moral Standing in Unregulated mHealth Research?

May 14, 2020
For the most part, discussions of the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of mHealth research have been preoccupied with the welfare and interests of individual participants — i.e., those who carry the devices running the programs that provide their health data to researchers. Since the ultimate benefits of mHealth...

Expert Stakeholders’ Perspectives on a Data-to-Care Strategy for Improving Care Among HIV-Positive Individuals Incarcerated in Jails

May 1, 2020
Data-to-Care (D2C) uses surveillance data (e.g., laboratory, Medicaid billing) to identify out-of-care HIV-positive persons to re-link them to care. Most US states are implementing D2C, yet few studies have explored stakeholders’ perspectives on D2C, and none have addressed these perspectives in the context of D2C in jail. This article reports...

Scraping the Web for Public Health Gains: Ethical Considerations from a ‘Big Data’ Research Project on HIV and Incarceration

May 1, 2020
Web scraping involves using computer programs for automated extraction and organization of data from the Web for the purpose of further data analysis and use. It is frequently used by commercial companies, but also has become a valuable tool in epidemiological research and public health planning. In this paper, we...

Public Health Research, Practice, and Ethics for Justice-Involved Persons in the Big Data Era

January 29, 2020
We are living in an era of “big data,” which is characterized by tremendous growth in data production, linkage, and analysis. This growth is shifting the landscape of possible opportunities and harms for public health research and practice, particularly for those affected by mass incarceration. We briefly examine the emerging...

CEDG and HEC Welcome Sara Meyers and Lisa Michelson

October 3, 2019
Sara Meyers and Lisa Michelson have been selected as the new student leaders for the School of Medicine’s  Clinical Ethics Discussion Group This position also entails appointment to the UNC Hospital Ethics Committee. Outgoing leaders are Tyler Clay and Mark Baumgarten. Center for Bioethics faculty members Arlene Davis, Jean Cadigan, and...

Sharing with Strangers: Governance Models for Borderless Genomic Research in a Territorial World

May 9, 2019
ABSTRACT. One of the practices that has defined the ethos of genomic research to date is a commitment to open and rapid sharing of genomic data and resources. As genomic research evolves into an international enterprise, this commitment is being challenged by the need to respect the interests of those...

Public Health Genomics, Biobanking, and Ethics

April 12, 2019
As large-scale biobanks are developed for translational genomic research and health care quality improvement, they are also becoming attractive as sites for public health interventions, such as population-based preventive sequencing for actionable variants. With the rapid advance of next-generation sequencing, the feasibility of such population health interventions is also increasing....

Eric Juengst was a featured expert in The New York Times

April 4, 2019
Eric Juengst was a featured expert on the potential pitfalls of gene editing in The New York Time’s article  “One Day There May Be a Drug to Turbocharge the Brain. Who Should Get It?” by Carl Zimmer.

Beyond Our Beginnings: 50 Years of Bioethics

February 12, 2019
“Beyond Our Beginnings:  50 Years of Bioethics“. We are hosting it at the Mews location at the  Graylyn International Conference Center In recognition of the Hastings Center’s 50th anniversary, this conference surveys the past, present, and future of bioethics scholarship, practice, and policy. The program addresses a broad range of...