NATIONAL CORE FOR NEUROETHICS
LA NEUROÉTHIQUE
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
featured items
PODCAST
The Top Health Searches of 2007
The Core’s Dr. Judy Illes comments on the ethics of cognitive enhancement on Episode 25 of CBC Radio’s Spark program.
NEWS ARTICLE
A brain scanner for your thoughts?
Researchers have found a way to tap into people’s unconscious, with compelling -- and disturbing -- results.
NEUROTALK VIDEOS
Some of the world’s top scientists and ethicists met in Banff, Alberta in March 2009, to ponder the most pressing issues in neuroscience. Their focus: neuroethics (see Neurotalk: improving the communication of neuroscience research). Short interview clips are now available at Discoverychannel.ca on topics such as brain scans, religion, neurolaw, cosmetic psychopharmacology, meditation and coma and feature the Core’s own Dr. Judy Illes.
POSITION
The National Core for Neuroethics is seeking a Postdoctoral or Masters level researcher to join our vibrant team at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada, and help lead a new initiative in neuroethics and pediatrics, with a specific focus on Cerebral Palsy, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder. The position will be in collaboration with the new National Centre for Excellence “NeuroDevNet” at UBC and the IRCM in Montreal. The National Core for Neuroethics also expects to have several additional openings for Postdoctoral Fellows and Graduate Students beginning in Winter 2010. For more information, or to apply, please contact Ms. Altaira Northe.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Neurotalk: improving the communication of neuroscience research
Judy Illes et al., Nature Reviews Neuroscience. (2009).
There is increasing pressure for neuroscientists to communicate their research and the societal implications of their findings to the public. Communicating science is challenging, and the transformation of communication by digital and interactive media increases the complexity of the challenge. To facilitate dialogue with the public in this new media landscape, we suggest three courses of action for the neuroscience community: a cultural shift that explicitly recognizes and rewards public outreach, the identification and development of neuroscience communication experts, and ongoing empirical research on the public communication of neuroscience.
IN THE NEWS
Drs. Judy Illes and Eric Racine talk with ScienceWatch.com and answer a few questions about their paper “Imaging or imagining? A neuroethics challenge informed by genetics”.
CALL FOR PAPERS
36th Annual Meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology
Date: June 9-12, 2010
Location: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon
Deadline for submission: February 1, 2010
RESOURCE
The “Tough Cases” Template is designed for use by medical residents in neuro-related subspecialties to record tough ethical cases that arise in practice. No identifying information of any kind is sought, unless the submitting resident opts to identify their name and speciality for further direction. Using these cases, our Clinical Neuroethics sessions can respond to residents’ neuroethical concerns and offer discourse, develop case-based seminars for medical residents, and inform our educational program. (Please note: this form should not be considered a replacement for clinical ethics consultation).
National Core for Neuroethics
University of British Columbia Hospital
2211 Wesbrook Mall
Koerner Pavilion, Room S124
Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5
Canada
[T] 604.822.7920
[F] 604.827.5229
Except where otherwise noted, all material on the National Core for Neuroethics website is licensed under a
upcoming events
SPECIAL EVENT
Peak Performance: The Path to Exceptional Athletic Achievement
Join leading experts from around the world for an afternoon focused on hot topics in the scientific, ethical and psychosocial complexities underlying competitive sports and the challenges athletes face in reaching peak performance. This rousing program features athletes, behavioral and life scientists, coaches, sports officials and ethicists - including the Core’s own Dr. Judy Illes. This event is presented by the Providence Heart + Lung Institute and is free to attend but registration is recommended. To RSVP, or for more information email here or call 604-806-9853.
Date: March 10, 2010
Location: The Segal Centre, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
COLLOQUIUM
The Centre for Research on Personhood in Dementia (CRPD) presents the Core’s Dr. Elana Brief as part of their monthly colloquium series. Dr. Brief will be discussing her work with a remote BC First Nations community who carry a gene that puts people at risk for an inherited form of early-onset Alzheimer Disease. The goal of her work is to create and deliver new knowledge that will re-empower this First Nations community to make decisions about Alzheimer screening and care. Refreshments to be served. For more information about the talk and CRPD, please visit www.crpd.ubc.ca.
Date: March 10, 2010 4:00 pm
Location: Jack Bell Building, Room 200, 2080 West Mall, UBC
LECTURE
Mammalian Brains and Moral Values
Dr. Patricia Churchland, Professor, University of California, San Diego
Date: March 17, 2010 12:00 pm
Location: The Brain Research Centre Conference Room, 1st Floor, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, UBC
CONFERENCE
Introducing Addiction Neuroethics
Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia
Neuroscience research is revealing how drugs act on the brain to cause addiction and why some individuals are more likely to develop an addiction than others. This research may lead to more effective treatments of addiction and revolutionize social policy. However, there are critical questions that need to be considered such as: Are individuals responsible for drug-induced behaviors? What can brain imaging tell us about who we are, and how should we protect ourselves against the misuse of this information? This one day conference will explore the ethical, legal and policy implications of neurobiological research in addiction and will feature the Core’s Dr. Judy Illes speaking on “The Image and Diction of Addiction”.
Date: April 9, 2010
Location: Brisbane, Australia
HEALTH CARE ETHICS SEMINAR
Health Care Ethics in the 21st Century
Providence Health Care Ethics Services is offering their second annual Health Ethics Seminar geared towards hospital and community-based clinicians, allied health professionals, social service providers, policy makers and others interested in deepening their understanding of ethical issues in health care. It is an intensive four day course offered by leaders in bioethics, law and medicine and has been designed to help clinicians as well as leaders identify and resolve ethical issues arising in the clinical and organizational contexts of healthcare.
Date: April 19-22, 2010
Location: Conference Centre, 2nd Floor, 1190 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC
CONFERENCE
Risky Choices - Risky Behaviors
The Providence Health Care Annual Ethics Conference will discuss some of the risky situations that can cause moral distress for health care providers, including patients leaving the hospital against medical advice and consuming addictive substances, and whether health care providers should respect patients’ decisions to engage in risky behaviors, the social contributors to such behaviors, and barriers to promoting patient safety.
Date: April 23, 2010
Location: SFU at Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings St, Vancouver, BC
CONFERENCE
2010 Annual Neuroethics Society Meeting
The annual meeting of the Neuroethics Society will include engaging panels and symposia, networking opportunities, the Society business meeting and a discounted book sale.
Date: May 10-11, 2010
Location: Washington, DC
CONFERENCE
JEMH Conference on Ethics in Mental Health
Hosted by the Journal of Ethics and Mental Health in association with McMaster University (Hamilton)
Theme: “Running the Moral Rapids”
Date: May 13-15, 2010
Location: Peterborough, Ontario Canada
The National Core for Neuroethics is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to tackling the ethical, legal, policy and social implications of frontier technological developments in the neurosciences. Our objective is to align innovations in the brain sciences with societal, cultural and individual human values through high impact research, education and outreach.