Talks

The 2025 PreMiEr SEI Symposium is a virtual workshop designed to bring together researchers, engineers, ethicists, and policymakers to examine the societal and ethical dimensions of microbiome engineering in the built environment. Over the course of the afternoon, participants will explore governance frameworks, public perceptions, and strategies for meaningful community...

While artificial intelligence appears ready to transform multiple aspects of healthcare, studies examining physician and patient opinions about digital-health tools have been limited. This presentation will explore physician and patient perspectives on the ethical issues raised by potential uses of AI in medicine, focusing on areas where doctor and patient...

Assistant Professor, Genomic Health, Geisinger Co-director, Geisinger MyCode Genomic Screening and Counseling Program Please register to attend. https://go.unc.edu/jsavatt   Currently, identification of individuals with genomic risk remains largely dependent on clinical testing that relies on a personal/family history of disease and, access to specialty care. However, some patients with suggestive...

Space is limited; please RSVP on Heel Life. February’s Table Talk presenter is Rami Major, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Social Medicine’s Center for Bioethics. Her research is titled “Ethical Considerations of Prenatal Gene Editing in Neurodevelopmental Disease.”

Carl Elliott was originally trained in medicine before going into philosophy, and his most recent book, The Occasional Human Sacrifice: Medical Experimentation and the Price of Saying No, is about whistleblowing in medical research. Carl grew up in Clover, South Carolina, where his father was a family doctor and his mother...

How We Die: A Panel Investigating the Ethics of Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Often discussed as a “good death,” Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) can also be highly contested. For instance, while MAiD may highlight a patient’s autonomy, it can come into conflict with a physician’s oath to do...

Lunch will be served and CLE credit will be offered!   Rebecca Walker is a professor in the Philosophy Department at UNC, with a joint appointment in the Department of Social Medicine in the School of Medicine. She uses philosophical and empirical research methods to address questions at the intersection...

Light refreshments will be served at 6:30. Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Ph.D., is the Cullen Professor of Medical Ethics and Associate Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy, with a specialization in bioethics, from Michigan State University.

Presenter: Marco Picchio, PhD, Department of Bioethics, NIH Clinical Center Discussant: Douglas MacKay, PhD, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Faculty, Center For Bioethics, UNC Lecture Summary: Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for assessing medical interventions. In contrast, randomized controlled trials are rarely used to assess social and...

Lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.   Neurodevelopmental diseases (NDDs) are notoriously difficult to treat because clinical symptoms stem from developmental processes that begin before birth. Prenatal gene editing could fill the treatment gap for NDDS by targeting and permanently correcting the genetic variants that underlie these pathogenic developmental...