NATIONAL CORE FOR NEUROETHICS
LA NEUROÉTHIQUE
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Academic Events (Archived)
LECTURES
The Cognitive Science of Morality Series
Title: Person as Scientist, Person as Moralist
Guest Speaker: Josh Knobe (Yale University)
Date: Monday, May 7, 2012
Time: 5:00-7:00PM
Location: Coach House, Green College, UBC
Co-sponsored by HECC and Green College, UBC
NEUROETHICS SEMINAR SERIES
Guest Speaker: Richard Gunderman, Professor of Radiology, Pediatrics, Medical Education, Philosophy, Liberal Arts, and in the Honors College, Indiana University School of Medicine
Date: Monday, April 30, 2012
Time: 1:00-2:00PM
Location: Conference Room, National Core for Neuroethics, S117, Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
Genetics, Ethics and the Brain
Guest Speaker: Dr. Robert Klitzman, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University
Date: Monday, April 23, 2012
Time: 12:00-1:00PM
Location: Conference Room, National Core for Neuroethics, S117, Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
CONFERENCES
2012 Providence Health Care’s Ethics Conference
Pre-Conference Workshop - Ethics in Pandemic Planning
Date: April 19, 2012 (1:00-5:00PM)
Location: Conference Centre, Level 1, Providence Bldg.,
St. Paul’s Hospital, 1081 Burrard St., Vancouver, BC
Date: April 20, 2012 (8:00AM-4:00PM)
Location: Segal Graduate School of Business, SFU
500 Granville St., Vancouver, BC
LECTURES
Philosophy Department Colloquium Series
Title: TBC
Guest Speaker: Johan van Benthem (Amsterdam/Stanford)
Date: Friday, April 13, 2012
Time: 3:00-5:00PM
Location: Buchanan Al02, UBC
The Cognitive Science of Morality Series
The Groupish Gene: Hive psychology and the Origins of Morality and Religion
Guest Speaker: Jonathan Haidt
Date: Monday, April 2, 2012 (5:00-6:30PM)
Location: Buchanan A104, UBC
The Cognitive Science of Morality Series
The Groupish Gene: Hive psychology and the Origins of Morality and Religion
Guest Speaker: Jonathan Haidt
Date: Monday, April 2, 2012 (5:00-6:30PM)
Location: Buchanan A104, UBC
WEBINAR
The Canadian Dementia Knowledge Translation Network (CDKTN),
Clinic for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders (UBC Hospital), and the National Core for Neuroethics, UBC
Date: Thursday, March 29, 2012 (9-10AM PST/12-1PM EST)
Presenters: Julie M. Robillard, PhD
B. Lynn Beattie, MD, FRCP(C)
NEUROETHICS SEMINAR SERIES
Legally Coerced Consent to Neurotherapies
Guest Speaker: Jennifer Chandler, LL.M., LL.B., B.Sc., Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Date: Friday, March 23, 2012
Time: 3:00-4:00PM
Location: Conference Room, National Core for Neuroethics
SPECIAL EVENT - BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK
ANNUAL DISTINGUISHED NEUROETHICS LECTURES
Guest Speaker - Prof. John Harris
Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Time: 4:00PM
Location: Brain Research Centre, Conference Room (First Floor)
Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital
2211 WesbrooK Mall, Vancouver, BC
Guest Speaker - Joseph Fins, MD, FACP
Rights Come to Mind: Narratives, Neuroethics, and Disorders of Consciousness
Panelists: Dean Mary Ann Bobinski (Faculty of Law, UBC)
Dr. Gladys Maestre (Neuroscience Professor
School of Medicine, University of Zulia, Venezuela
Dr. Eric Racine (Director, Neuroethics Research Unit,
ICRM, Montreal)
Prof. John Harris (Lord Alliance Professor of Bioethics
and Director, Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation,
University of Manchester)
Date: Thursday, March 15, 2012
Time: 3:00-5:00PM
Location: Michael Smith Laboratories Auditorium
2185 East Mall, UBC
BOTH LECTURE EVENTS ARE FREE TO THE PUBLIC AND ALL ARE WELCOME!
RESEARCH SEMINAR
Liu Institute for Global Issues
The Limits of Qualitative Research: Ethics and Methodology Amid Highly Politicized Research Settings
Guest Speaker: Erin Jessee, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Date: Friday, March 9, 2012
Time: 2:00-3:00PM
Location: Lui Institute for Global Issues, 3rd Floor Boardroom, 6476 NW Marine Drive, UBC
LECTURE SERIES
CAE - The W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics Public Lecture Series
The Cognitive Science of Morality Series
Guest Speaker: Professor Polly Wiessner
Date: Monday, March 5, 2012
Time: 5:00PM
Location: Green College Coach House, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC
Co-Sponsored by the CAE, Centre for Human Evolution, Culture and Cognition (HECC) and Green College, UBC
Practical Wisdom Colloquium Series
“Morality Before Religion: Empathy, Fairness and Prosocial Primates”
Date: Thursday, March 8, 2012 (3:00-5:00PM)
Location: Frederic Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Road, UBC
“Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reason: Why Incentives are No Substitute for Character”
Date: Thursday, March 1, 2012 (10:00AM-12:00PM)
Location: Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 6331 Crescent Road, UBC
Dinner at 6:45PM followed by a fireside chat at the Piano Lounge, Graham House, Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC
“Between Rules and Practice: Practical Wisdom in Constitutional Democracies”
Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 (6:00PM)
By Invitation Only (Contact Max Cameron: Max.Cameron@ubc.ca)
Location: Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 6331 Crescent Road, UBC
“Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to do the Right Thing”
Date: Saturday, February 4, 2012 (8:15PM)
Location: The Vancouver Institute, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, UBC
“Practical Wisdom and its Enemies: Nurturing Good Character in an Age of Rules and Incentives”
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2012 (10:00AM-12:00PM)
Location: Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 6331 Crescent Road, UBC
Dinner at 6:45PM followed by a fireside chat at the Piano Lounge, Graham House, Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC
The Practical Wisdom Colloquium Series (Winter 2011/2012: “Between Rules and Practice: Why We Need Practical Wisdom in Politics”) is funded by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Distinguished Scholar in Residence Program, Green College, and the UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions.
LECTURE
CAE - The W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics Public Lecture Series
Procreative Liberty and Embryo Selection
Guest Speaker: Dr. Inmaculada de Melo-Martin
Date: Monday, February 6, 2012
Time: 3:30-4:30PM
Location: Room 302, Hennings Building, 6224 Agricultural Road, UBC
CONFERENCES
ELSA-DBS International Meeting
Date: February 3, 2012
Location: Cologne, Germany
SPECIAL LECTURES
Visiting Professor - Dr. Patricia Churchland
Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality
Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 (5:00-6:30PM)
Location: Green College Coach House, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC (with reception to follow)
What is the Role for Rules in Social Behaviour?
Date: Thursday, January 26, 2012 (10:00AM-12:00PM)
Location: Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 6331 Crescent Road, UBC
(This Talk is co-sponsored by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Distinguished Scholar in Residence Program, Green College, and the UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions).
Meet the Author: Patricia Churchland DIscusses Braintrust
Date: Friday, January 27, 2012 (9:00AM-12:00PM)
Location: Green College Coach House, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2012 (8:15PM)
Location: The Vancouver Institute, Lecture Hall No.2. Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, UBC
Patricia Smith Churchland is a professor emerita of philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute. Her research focuses on the interface between neuroscience and philosophy. She explores the impact of scientific developments on our understanding of consciousness, the self, free will, ethics, and religion. She is author of the groundbreaking book, Neurophilosophy (MIT Press 1986), co-author with T.J. Sejnowski of The Computational Brain (MIT 1992). Brain-Wise was published by MIT Press in 2002. Her current work focuses on morality and the social brain, and appeared in Braintrust: What Neuroscience tells us about Morality, published in March 2011 by Princeton University Press. She has been president of the American Philosophical Association and of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and won a MacArthur Prize in 1991 and the Rossi Prize in 2008.
Patricia Churchland’s Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professorship is co-sponsored by Green College and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, UBC.
GREEN COLLEGE AND THE CENTRE FOR HUMAN EVOLUTION, COGNITION AND CULTURE SEMINAR SERIES - “The Cognitive Science of Morality”
The Good, the Bad, and the Dirty: The Role of Disgust in Moral and Political Judgment”
Guest Speaker: Dr. David Pizarro, Department of Psychology, Cornell University
Date: Monday, January 16, 2012
Time: 5:00-6:00PM
Location: Buchanan A104, 1866 Main Mall, University of British Columbia
BOOK DISCUSSION EVENT: DR. ABDALLAH DAAR & DR. PETER SINGER
The Grandest Challenge: Taking Life-saving Science From Lab To Village
Co-Sponsored by Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC and Random House Canada
Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Time: 5:30PM
Location: Michael Smith Laboratories Auditorium, 2185 East Mall, UBC
NEUROETHICS SPECIAL LECTURE EVENT
Notions of Hope in Neurodegenerative Disease: The Curious Case of Mr. Chin
Guest Speaker: Christopher Thomas Scott, BA, BS, MA, Senior Research Scholar, Pediatrics, and Director, Program on Stem Cells in Society, Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Date: Thursday, October 20, 2011
Time: 3:00-4:00PM
Location: Brain Research Centre, First Floor, Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
NEUROETHICS SEMINAR SERIES
Democracy Derived? New Trajectories in Pluripotent Stem Cell Research
Guest Speaker: Christopher Thomas Scott, BA, BS, MA, Senior Research Scholar, Pediatrics, Center for Bioethics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Time: 12:00-1:00PM
Location: Conference Room, National Core for Neuroethics, S117, Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
NEUROETHICS SEMINAR SERIES
Evolutionary Neuroscience and Disorders of the Will
Guest Speaker: Grant Gillett, MSc, MB, ChB, DPhil (Oxon), FRACS, Neurosurgeon and Professor of Ethics, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand
Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Time: 12:00-1:00PM
Location: Conference Room, National Core for Neuroethics, S117, Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
NEUROETHICS SEMINAR TALK
The Mirror Cracked from World to World
Guest Speaker: Grant Gillett, MSc, MB, ChB, DPhil (Oxon), FRACS
Neurosurgeon and Professor of Ethics, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand
Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Time: 3:30-4:30PM
Location: Library Processing Centre, Room B151, 2206 East Mall, UBC
NEUROETHICS SEMINAR SERIES
Public Engagement with Science: Lessons from the Climate Debates
Guest Speaker: Dr. Candis Callison, School of Journalism, UBC
Date: Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Time: 12:00PM
Location: Conference Room, National Core for Neuroethics, S117, Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
KT for Dementia Researchers
Date: September 1, 2011
Time: 1:00-2:30PM
Location: UBC Brain Research Centre Conference Room, First Floor,
Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
CONFERENCE
8th IBRO Congress on World Neuroscience
Date: July 14-18, 2011
Location: Florence, Italy
CONFERENCE
MiNDS Summer Symposium: THE OPTIMAL BRAIN: research, society, policy
Date: July 6-8, 2011
Location: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada
CONFERENCE
NeuroDevNet 2011 Vancouver: Brain Development Conference
Date: June 19-21, 2011
Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Additional info: http://www.neurodevnet.ca/events/conference/2011
CONFERENCE
Date: May 26-27, 2011
Location: Montreal, Quebec Canada
CONFERENCE
5th Journal of Ethics in Mental Health
Ethical Challenges in Service Delivery and Design
Date: May 12-14 , 2011
Location: Kelowna, BC
CONFERENCE
Providence Health Care’s Annual Ethics Conference
Difficult Medical Decision Making
Date: April 15, 2011
Location: Segal Graduate School of Business, SFU,
500 Granville St., Vancouver, BC
SEMINAR
Providence Health Care’s 3rd Annual Health Care Ethics Seminar
Navigating Ethical Issues in Health Care
Date: April 11-14, 2011
Location: Conference Centre, 2nd Floor, 1190 Hornby St.
Vancouver, BC (followed by the Conference below)
LECTURE
Responsibility in Human Research: What Does it Mean to Human Subjects and Researchers
Guest Speakers: Drs. Susan M. Cox and Michael McDonald
Centre for Applied Ethics, UBC
Date: Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 5:00-6:30PM
Location: Coach House, Green College, UBC
SPECIAL EVENT - BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK
ANNUAL DISTINGUISED NEUROETHICS LECTURES
Guest Speaker - Dr. Remi Quirion
Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Time: 10:00AM
Canadian Leadership and the International Future of Neuroethics
Location: National Core for Neuroethics
Conference Room, S117 (Second Floor)
Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital
Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Time: 12:00PM
Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory: Update and Role of Novel Gene Proteins
Location: Brain Research Centre
Conference Room (First Floor)
Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital
CONFERENCE
International Conference for Young Scholars: Cognitive Enhancement
Date: February 21- March 1, 2011
Location: Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz, Germany
CONFERENCE
Lost in Translation
Seeking answers in addiction and concurrent disorders
Date: February 11-17, 2011
Location: University of British Columbia, Life Sciences Centre
EDITORIAL
We mustn’t rush into a new MS treatment -- but we mustn’t waste time, either.
The Core’s Dr. Julie Robillard and Dr. Judy Illes discuss the mounting tension between research, medicine and patient communities whose lives are affected by multiple sclerosis (MS).
MEDIA RELEASE
UBC study offers ethical and cost-effective strategy for managing incidental findings
The increasing number of incidental findings in brain imaging can be managed ethically and cost-effectively by screening participants based on gender, age and family history, according to a study published today in the journal Value in Health by the Core’s Dr. Judy Illes and Mohsen Sadatsafavi. It is the first economic analysis of current practices for handling brain anomalies discovered unexpectedly during research and looks at the issue from the cost-to-society perspective to define the optimal way they should be managed.
RESOURCE
“Tough Cases” Template
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) CONFERENCE
Guest Speaker - Dr. Judy Illes - poster
Neuroethical Challenges for our Neurogenetic Future
The Interfaculty Centre for Bioethics and Medical Humanities is hosting a conference series entitled: “Ethics, it’s only natural”.
Date: December 8, 2010, 1830 hours
Location: University of Geneva, Switzerland
SPECIAL EVENT - LECTURE
Guest Speaker - Dr. Steven Miles
War on Terror Interrogations: Lessons for Forensic Behavioural Clinicians
The abusive interrogations of prisoners of war in Defense Department and CIA detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and secret CIA rendition prisons could not have occurred without the assistance of physicians and psychologists. Dr. Steven Miles, author of "Oath Betrayed: America's Torture Doctors" has reviewed and compiled about 60,000 pages of US government government documents describing the medical complicity in the design and monitoring of abusive interrogation. He will discuss this research and its implications.
Date: Monday, November 29, 2010 (12-1PM)
Location: Brain Research Centre Conference Room, 1st Floor
Koerner Pavilion, UBC Hospital, 2211 Wesbrook Mall,
Vancouver, BC
SPECIAL LECTURES
Visiting Professor - Dr. Grant Gillett
Freedom to be: Rights, Responsibilities and Decision-Making: Exploring issues of justice when persons with special needs, including the elderly, want to live in their homes
Date: November 16, 2010 (7-9PM)
Location: GF Strong Lecture Theatre, 4255 Laurel St., Vancouver
The Born Identity: Assisted Reproductive Technology and Genetic Bewilderment
Date: November 17, 2010 (7:30PM)
Location: Life Sciences Centre, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, UBC
Is it ever right to deceive? Reflecting ethically on a case
Date: November 19, 2010 (12:00-1:30PM - Ethics Brown Bag Lunch)
Location: GF Strong, SSSR #189
Challenging Cases: Discussion with Dr. Grant Gillett
Date: November 22, 2010 (12:00-1:00PM)
Location: BC Women’s Hospital
Grant Gillett is a neurosurgeon and Professor of Medical Ethics from the University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin Hospital, and Otago Bioethics Centre in New Zealand, who brings a deep analytical understanding to questions at the intersection of clinical neuroscience and philosophy. He studied medicine and psychology at Auckland before specializing in neurosurgery, and completed a doctorate in philosophy and held a fellowship at the University of Oxford before taking up his position at the University of Otago. Professor Gillett’s interests include postmodern philosophy, the philosophy of mind and language, medical ethics, philosophy of medicine, and philosophy of psychiatry. Professor Gillett is the author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications and five books, the most recent being “The Mind and Its Discontents”.
WORKSHOP
Expanding the Frontiers of Neuroethics
Modern neuroscience has brought novel knowledge of the human brain and neurocultural identity. These discoveries are important not only from the scientific or philosophical view, but also from the medical, legal and social perspectives, as they may lead to profound changes in fundamental concepts such as human identity, self, integrity, responsibility and freedom. Neuroethics is an expanding discipline lying in the interface between the empirical brain sciences, philosophy of mind, moral philosophy, ethics and the social sciences. It deals with the questions that arise when scientific findings about the brain are carried into philosophical analyses, medical practice, legal interpretations, or health and social policies. Organized by the Fundación Crimson and Uppsala Universitet, this in-depth workshop will include topical lectures, case studies, site visits and discussions.
Date: November 22-26, 2010
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
LECTURE
“The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life”
Sheldon Solomon, Psychology Department, Skidmore College
An existential psychodynamic evolutionary theory will be presented based on Ernest Becker’s (The Denial of Death) claim that self-esteem and cultural world views function to ameliorate the anxiety associated with the uniquely human awareness of vulnerability and mortality. An empirical research program in support of this theory will then be described, and the personal and interpersonal implications of these ideas will be considered.
Date: November 18, 2010 (12:00-1:30PM)
Location: Frederic Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Road, UBC
JOURNAL CLUB
Next BCCH Brown Bag Journal Club Session: The Social Construction of Disability
For more information see attached poster
Please read to initiate discussed the attached article
Date: Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Time: noon to 1pm
Location: SHHC Telehealth Classroom
CONFERENCE
2010 Neuroethics Society Annual Meeting
The Neuroethics Society will hold its second meeting in San Diego on November 12, 2010, the day before the Society for Neuroscience meeting begins. Activities begin on Thursday evening, November 11 and span a full day on Friday the 12th. The program is an exciting mix of talks, posters, panel discussions and break-out groups. Meal are included.
Date: November 11-12, 2010
Location: San Diego, CA USA
JOURNAL CLUB
Next Brown Bag Journal Club Session: Exploring Ethical Issues at BC Women’s
The first BCW Ethics at Lunch session for the fall will be “Aboriginal Competency and Ethical Responsibility”, hosted by Philip Crowell (Spiritual Care) and Lerinda Swain (Aboriginal Health Program). To get ideas flowing in advance, please see the attached articles. We have also attached a poster for the event – please post for those in your area not on email.
Date: Monday, September 27, 2010
Time: noon to 1pm
Location: Room 2N35
CONFERENCE
Building Better Brains: Neural Prosthetics and Beyond
The use of neural prosthetics to replace motor, sensory, or cognitive functions lost by disease or injury holds great therapeutic promise. However neural prosthetics have not yet been widely used in humans. This meeting, presented by the New York Academy of Sciences and the Aspen Brain Forum Foundation, will highlight the most cutting-edge developments on neural prosthetic devices for humans and will include a careful review of the current obstacles to using neural prosthetics therapeutically, as well as the related ethical and regulatory issues.
Date: September 23-25, 2010
Location: Aspen, CO USA
CONFERENCE
Philosophizing Social Justice in Nursing: The 14th International Philosophy of Nursing Conference
The University of British Columbia School of Nursing is delighted to welcome IPONS and all who share a fascination for philosophical thinking from a nursing perspective to a lively and enthusiastic dialogue on a theme of immediate relevance to nursing and society - social justice. To register online and to view a Draft Conference Schedule visit www.interprofessional.ubc.ca/14th_Nursing.html.
Date: September 20-22, 2010
Location: Vancouver, BC Canada
WORKSHOP
brains in dialogue on deep brain stimulation
To date tens of thousands of people worldwide have received deep brain stimulation to alleviate symptoms of several treatment-resistant disorders: from Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor to chronic pain, epilepsy and psychiatric conditions, such a obsessive compulsive disorder, major depression and Tourette syndrome. But what are the potentials and limitations of this technology? And what is the real impact on patient’s life? Is there a risk for personality alterations? Such controversial issues and many more will be addressed during the third bid - brains in dialogue workshop. Scientists, clinicians, patients, sociologists, philosophers, journalists and all interested stakeholders are welcome to participate and contribute to the discussion. Participation is free but registration is required by July 5, 2010.
Date: September 20-21, 2010
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Preliminary Program
SYMPOSIUM
The Moral Distress in Health Care Symposium, preceding the 2010 International Philosophy of Nursing Conference, will provide a unique opportunity for international and local scholars to advance policy, practice, education and research agendas on moral distress in health care.
For more information see attached poster
Date: September 18-19, 2010
Location: Vancouver, BC Canada
SEMINAR
Me, my Brain, and I: Functional Brain Imaging in Popular Culture
Dr. Louise Whiteley, Visiting Research Fellow, University of British Columbia
Functional neuroimaging increasingly promises to reveal our thoughts and intentions, the source of disease and dysfunction, and the basis of fundamental human traits and experiences. Cultural theorists have worried that this accommodation of the ‘mind-in-the-brain’ is dangerously selective; essentializing contested social and medical categories and encouraging deterministic perspectives. In this seminar, Dr. Whiteley argues that analyzing popular media is a key source of insight into the formation of (or resistance to) this kind of neuroessentialist discourse.
Date: July 29, 2010
Location: National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, Room S117
SEMINAR
Interior Traces: Telling Stories about the Brain
Dr. Louise Whiteley, Visiting Research Fellow, University of British Columbia
Interior Traces is a multimedia radio drama - written by Dr. Louise Whiteley and James Wilkes and funded by the Wellcome Trust - that asks how new ways of visualizing the brain and gene might impact how we see ourselves and how institutions define responsibility, personality, and health. Reflecting on numerous presentations of drama with linked discussions throughout the UK and in Vancouver, Dr. Whiteley will present data suggesting that the combination of fictional narratives with discussion is a powerful means of encouraging debate about the ethical, legal and social impacts of neuroscience, and discuss the theoretical ground for science communication like Interior Traces. Dr. Whiteley will also discuss the drama’s interrogation of the apparent immediacy and authority of brain scans and genetic tests through the video works that accompany the dramas, and consider how audience expectations affect the reception of this unusual format. Dr. Whiteley will conclude by presenting some initial findings on the use of Interior Traces for medical ethics education.
Date: July 8, 2010 12:15 pm
Location: National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, Room S117
CONFERENCE
International Conference on Ethical Issues in Medical Tourism
Sponsored by Simon Fraser University and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the purposes of this conference are to help raise scholarly and public awareness and promote new research on ethical issues in medical tourism, to develop new partnerships - both nationally and internationally - among researchers interested in the ethics of medical tourism, and to facilitate scholarly exchange in a relaxed atmosphere. The Core’s Joanne Reimer will be presenting on the topic of stem cell tourism on behalf of Sara Parke (information below).
Date: June 24-25, 2010
Location: SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings St, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Stem Cell Tourism and Spinal Cord Injury: Advocacy Perspectives
Presenter: Joanne Reimer for Sara Parke
Date: June 25, 2010 11:30 am
BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK 2010
The National Core for Neuroethics at UBC celebrated Brain Awareness Week (BAW) with a series of lectures by Patricia Churchland, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at the University of California and the Salk Institute, San Diego, CA. Professor Churchland spoke on “Mammalian Brains and Moral Values” to a standing-room audience at the UBC Brain Research Centre, and on “Issues Concerning Decision-Making and Control” to an equally full and captive audience at the Neuroethics Core. Dr. Churchland is a tremendous thinker, speaker, and mentor. We were honored to have her and thank the Dana Foundation for its generous support in enabling to host a distinguished Neuroethics Lecture on the occasion of BAW each year.
Dr. Patricia Churchland, Annual Distinguished BAW Neuroethics Lecture, UBC Brain Research Centre, March 17, 2010
Dr. Patricia Churchland, BAW Neuroethics Seminar, National Core for Neuroethics, March 18, 2010
Dr. Patricia Churchland and Dr. Judy Illes, March 18, 2010
CONFERENCE
Health of the Homeless
The Health of the Homeless and Urban Health Summit aims to present on the growing evidence of health challenges for people living in substandard housing. The summit will bring together the City of Vancouver, the Mental Health Commission of Canada and various health authorities to discuss challenging issues and possible future responses and approaches to homelessness and health. To inquire about details, please contact Ida Chen by email or at 604-806-8306.
Date: June 21-22, 2010 8 am-5 pm
Location: Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue (SFU Vancouver), 580 West Hastings St, Vancouver, BC Canada
SYMPOSIUM
Secrets of the Female Mind: Understanding Women’s Brain and Behaviour over a Lifetime
Hosted by the University of British Columbia Chapter of Women in World Neuroscience, with opening remarks by the Honourable Kevin Falcon, Minister of Health Services. Three distinguished UBC faculty, Dr. Liisa Galea, Pam Arstikaitis and Teresa Liu-Ambrose, will share their expertise on the effects of hormones and exercise on memory and decision-making, and how advances in neuroscience can help you feel younger and age more gracefully.
Date: June 24, 2010 2-4:00 pm
Location: Brain Research Centre, 1st Floor, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC
CAFÉ NEUROÉTHIQUE
Interior Traces
Michael is in prison for murder and thinks a brain scan will help him prove his innocence. But is the science ready? And is Michael treated differently because he’s been diagnosed as a psychopath? “Interior Traces” is a multimedia drama exploring how different ways of seeing the brain might change how we see ourselves. Come and find out what happens to Michael at this inaugural Café Neuroéthique event, and join in a discussion about the scientific, ethical, legal, and societal implications of his story. For more information about “Interior Traces”, please visit www.interiortraces.com or email here. Free entrance.
Date: June 21, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC Canada
CONFERENCE
21st Canadian Bioethics Society Annual Conference
The theme of the 2010 Canadian Bioethics Society conference is “Voices of Communities” focusing on voices of patients and families, voices of professionals and voices of the vulnerable. The Core’s own Joanne Reimer and Dr. Elana Brief will be presenting (information below).
Date: June 9-12, 2010
Location: Kelowna, BC Canada
Spinal Cord Injury and the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells: Stakeholder Perspectives
Presenter: Joanne Reimer
Date: June 11, 2010 10:30 am
Protecting or Silencing: The Benefits and Harms of Community Anonymity
Presenter: Dr. Elana Brief
Date: June 11, 2010 2:00 pm
WORKSHOP
Weaving Knowledge Translation Through Research Design in Dementia
Join us for a workshop on knowledge translation (KT) and dementia research. Drawing on case-based materials, dialogue, and interaction, we will reflect on the role of KT in dementia research and explore strategies for effective integration in planning and design.
Date: June 8, 2010 3:00 pm
Location: Brain Research Centre, 1st Floor, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC Canada
GRAND ROUNDS
Critical Questions (and Some Answers) for Pediatric Neuroethics
Hosted by UBC Department of Pediatrics
Date: June 4, 2010 8:30 am
Location: The Chan Centre for Family Health Education Auditorium at BCCH, Vancouver, BC Canada
SYMPOSIUM
Promoting Cognitive Health in Seniors Through Exercise: An International Collaboration
The Brain Research Centre at UBC is hosting a public symposium on exercise and cognitive health. For more information and to RSVP (deadline: May 20), please contact Katie Jeanes, by phone (604-875-4111 x 68562) or by email.
Date: May 27, 2010 8:00 am
Location: Diamond Health Care Centre, 1020 Lecture Theatre, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver BC
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
LECTURE
Finally, It’s Justice for All!
Dr. Anita Silver, Professor of Philosophy, San Francisco State University
Canada recently signed the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities. What does this mean? How is “disability” defined? What are the implications of this Convention for women or children with disabilities? How far does the Convention go in addressing issues like autonomy, decision-making, poverty, accessibility? With 144 nations signed on, a new global understanding of inclusive justice is being forged. This 4th Annual Stephan M. Salzberg Memorial Lecture explains the evolution of concepts of disability rights and explores the immediate practical use of these important innovative ideas in the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families. It is hosted by the Sunny Hill Ethics Committee and is sponsored by the C&W Ethics Service. To reserve a seat, please contact cw_ethics@cw.bc.ca or 604-875-2345 x6722.
Date: April 29, 2010 4:30 pm
Location: Gymnasium, Sunny Hill Health Centre, 3644 Slocan St, Vancouver, BC
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
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
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
CIHR CAFÉ SCIENTIFIQUE
Seeds of Change: Community Based Research in Practice
Community Based Research (CBR) is gaining recognition as an important tool to address health problems. This event is aimed at connecting the public with those involved with CBR projects, and to stimulate conversation about the value of CBR in mental health and addictions research, the processes and outcomes of CBR projects, and avenues for community participation in CBR. This event will include a series of short presentations and conversations about three diverse research projects that have been undertaken in BC in the field of mental health and addictions and will be moderated by the Core’s Dr. Elana Brief. For more information of to RSVP to this event please contact Sally McBride or visit the BC Mental Health and Addictions Research Network website.
Date: March 4, 2010 6:00 pm
Location: The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, BC
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
Trust in the New Sciences: Remaking the Human Science Fiction: Personalized Genomics and the Future of Medicine
Keynote: Dr. Michael Hayden, Canadian Research Chair, Human Genetics, UBC
Respondent: Dr. Anita Ho, Assistant Professor, W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, UBC
The impact of revolutionary advances in genetics and genomics is being felt in all aspects of society. For each of us, the prospect of knowing our own DNA sequence has been proposed to influence our lives in every way, from choice of partners to response to medications. Is this hope or hype? How do our Canadian roots and culture influence our own experience and relationship to the genetic revolution?
Date: January 26, 2010 7:00 pm
Location: Barber Learning Centre, Room 182, UBC
SYMPOSIUM
On the Edge of Chaos: Contemporary Neuroscience, Creative Patterns and Material Production
The Emily Carr University of Art and Design is hosting an all-day symposium to explore how the study of the brain and neuroscience can shed light on art-making and creative processes. The day features spotlight speakers, including the Core’s own Dr. Peter Reiner (abstract follows), and breakout sessions with special topics ranging from autism spectrum, injury and opportunity, addictions and altered states and seizures and the symbolic, followed by a reception and an exhibition opening. The symposium is free, but seating is limited. RSVP here by January 22, 2010. Please indicate whether you intend to participate for the day or specifically for a morning (9 am-12:15 pm), afternoon (1:30-3:45 pm) or break-out (4:00-5:45 pm) session to allow maximum capacity.
Date: January 29, 2010 9:00 am
Location: Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC
The Rise of the Neuro Meme
Spotlight speaker: Dr. Peter Reiner
The centrality of the brain in human behavior is evident to all. Of late, there has been a great deal of interest in the notion that we are our brains, a position known as neuroessentialism. Dr. Reiner will argue that neuroessentialism is a meme, a self replicating cultural idea that is in the process of spreading from its origin in the academic neuroscience and philosophical communities to the general population. Drawing upon examples from literature and other forms of popular culture, Dr. Reiner will discuss the implications of the rise of the neuro meme for the mores of society at large.
Date: January 29, 2010 1:30 pm
Location: Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC
ETHICS AND THE 2010 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES LECTURE SERIES
Back or Ban Boosters for the Body and Brain?
Dr. Susan M. Cox, Moderator
Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, sought to infuse his movement with three core values: excellence, friendship and respect. One could however ask whether those values are now outdated as the Olympic Games seem to have become mainly a battle between applications of advanced science and technology to equipment, training, nutrition and drugs. Moreover, the genetically modified athlete is apparently just around the corner. How should society react to the booming availability of performance-enhancing technologies? Should we welcome these innovations? Should we resign ourselves to their inevitability? Come and join a stimulating discussion with three panelists who will share their perspective on the subject.
Date: January 21, 2010 7:00 pm
Location: UBC Robson Square
DOCUMENTARY SCREENING AND DISCUSSION
The Cutting Tradition: Insights into FGM
Hosted by the Children’s & Women’s Hospitals Ethics Service
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) affects millions of women and girls worldwide. Increasingly, migration and medicalization have made this an important topic that requires health care providers in many countries to ensure they are able to provide appropriate and sensitive care for women and girls who have had FGM. This documentary is designed to provide insights into many aspects of FGM and also deliberately raises questions that are critical in understanding why FGM continues to be very common to this day in both rich and poor communities alike.
Date: January 12, 2010 5:30 - 7:00 pm
Location: Room D308, Shaughnessy Building, BC Women’s Health Centre
CONFERENCE
International Seminar on Mind, Brain and Consciousness
Bringing scholars from philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, neurology and the cognitive neurosciences together
Date: January 14-15, 2010
Location: Thane, Maharashtra, India
LECTURE
OCD: Phenomenology and Treatment
Dr. Maureen Whittal, Clinical Associate Professor, UBC
The lifetime prevalence of OCD is estimated to be between 1-2%. However, as most OCD sufferers will say, they are aware what they are doing or thinking does not make sense, but they cannot stop themselves. The latter leads to tremendous shame and may contribute to people concealing their symptoms from friends, family and health care providers. During this presentation the various iterations of OCD will be reviewed along with gold standard psychological treatments. One form of OCD, primary sexual and physical obsessions, will be highlighted as it can - for the uninformed - pose clinical and ethical dilemmas.
Date: January 13, 2010 12:15 pm
Location: National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, Room S117
LECTURE
Bodily Sources of Mind, Thought, and Language
Dr. Mark L. Johnson, Knight Professor, University of Oregon
From an evolutionary perspective, what we call “mind” and “body” are not two separate realities, but rather are dimensions of complex processes of ongoing interaction between an organism and its environment. Recent research coming out of the cognitive sciences is beginning to show us how our ability to experience and create meaning depends on the nature of our sensory-motor contact with our world and our emotional bonds to it. Our capacity for thinking is embodied, too, and it appropriates patterns of our sensory-motor experience for both concrete and abstract conceptualization and reasoning. Language and all other forms of symbolic expression and communication are thus tied to these bodily sources of meaning and thought.
Date: January 18, 2010 5:00 pm
Location: Barber Centre, Lillooet Room, UBC
LECTURE
Meditation as an Exemplar of ‘Nerobics’
Dr. Peter Reiner
Hosted by the UBC Meditation Community, Dr. Reiner will be talking about and leading a discussion on the effects of intensive meditation practice on attention. The talk will be based on findings from Dr. Richard Davidson and colleagues’ “Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence”.
Date: January 19, 2010 5:00 pm
Location: SUB Room 212
NEUROLOGY GRAND ROUNDS
Neuroethics of Cognitive Enhancement
Dr. Peter Reiner
There is a great deal of interest in cognitive enhancement, whether the route be pharmacological, behavioural or even via implantable devices. In this lecture, Dr. Reiner will review some aspects of the nosology of normal cognitive decline in humans, and the ways in which this nosology has an impact upon the ethical issues commonly raised when considering the development of pharmacological cognitive enhancers.Dr. Reiner will also share some preliminary data from his current study of the attitudes of physicians towards prescribing cognitive enhancers.
Date: December 9, 2009 8:00 am
Location: Auditorium of the Cordula and Gunter Paetzold Health Education Centre, Vancouver General Hospital
ETHICS AND THE 2010 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES LECTURE SERIES
Dismissing the ‘Dis’ in Disability
Dr. Judy Illes, Moderator
In anticipation of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and in celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, join us to discuss and debate notions of ability and disability with an esteemed panel of experts including Dr. Gary Birch, Executive Director of the Neil Squire Society, Dr. Andrei Krassioukov, Clinical Associate Director of the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD) and Ms. Peggy Assinck, Captain of the Canada Women’s Ice Sledge Hockey Team.
Date: December 3, 2009 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Location: Liu Institute for Global Issues, 6476 NW Marine Drive, UBC
NEUROLOGY GRAND ROUNDS
LECTURE
The Warrior Gene: A Case for Neuroethical Diagnosis
Dr. Grant Gillett, Green College Visiting Professor
What is the warrior gene and why is it over-represented in some racial groups? Is the warrior gene the reason why certain groups are disproportionately highly ranked in the statistics of societal discontent, or should we look further?
Date: November 26, 2009 2:00 pm
Location: Sherrington Room, Woodward Library, 2198 Health Sciences Mall, UBC
LECTURE
Neuroethics and Hysteria: The Mind and Neurological Disorder
Dr. Grant Gillett, Green College Visiting Professor
It is paradoxical that whereas we normally assume that the mind is an elaboration based on underlying brain processes, hysteria forces us to explore a phenomenon where the mind causes a presentation that looks neurological. What is going on in hysteria and how is that a fairly common tendency produces a disorder in which the person concerned does not seem to know what is going on in his or her own mind/brain?
Date: November 27, 2009 1:00 pm
Location: Room 307, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 6331 Crescent Rd, UBC
LECTURE
Neuroethics and Human Identity
Dr. Grant Gillett, Green College Visiting Professor
Neuroethics encounters significant questions of human identity when we examine the moral rights of embryos, people in persistent vegetative states and other forms of brain damage, and cyborgs. What kind of society are we in danger of producing if we allow a functional conception of neuroethics to prevail in our self-understanding?
Date: November 28, 2009 8:15 - 10:00 pm
Location: Lecture Hall No. 2, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, UBC
LECTURE
The Cultural Brain and Human Neuroethics
Dr. Grant Gillett, Green College Visiting Professor
To what extent is the brain a biological system best understood in terms of natural science and to what extent is the brain a cultural product? If the brain is a hybrid, how should neuroethics approach the contentious issues raised by contemporary neuroscience such as free will and the nature of consciousness?
Date: November 24, 2009 5:00 pm
Location: Green College
LECTURE
Becoming Ethical According to Buddhism and Neuroscience: Accessing Goodness and Perfection, Mitigating Responsibility
Jessica Main, Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation Chair in Buddhism and Contemporary Society, UBC
Neuroethics explores the implications of behavioral and cognitive neuroscience for our understandings of ethics: why and how people behave as they do. In particular, neuroethics is adept at revealing why people cannot perform actions or feel emotions prescribed by ethics. As such, it mitigates or reduces how responsible people are thought to be for certain actions. Jessica Main will bring this cautionary tendency of neuroethics into conversation with Buddhist ideas of moral perfectibility.
Date: November 25, 2009 12:15 - 1:15 pm
Location: National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, Room S117
LECTURE
Views of First Nation Elders on Memory Loss and Memory Care in Later Life
Dr. Wendy Hulko, PhD, MSW
In this presentation, Dr. Wendy Hulko will present and discuss findings from recently completed exploratory research on First Nations’ perspectives on dementia. This grounded theory project was conducted in collaboration with decision-makers from the Interior Health Authority and Elders from three Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation communities. The findings indicate that memory loss and memory care in First Nation communities has changed over time (from pre-contact to post-residential schools), including the causes attributed to memory loss in later life, and community responses to those affected. ‘Bringing back traditional lifestyle’ is seen as the way to prevent memory loss and promote culturally safe memory care.
Date: November 17, 2009 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Location: National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, Room S117
LECTURE
Athlete Physical and Emotional Recovery: Neuroimaging Findings with Questions for Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychoneuroendocrinology
Dr. Hap Davis, Clinical Psychologist, Calgary, Alberta
Dr. Davis will review ongoing research on athlete mood states using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain and endocrinology. He will address the speculation that endocrine and neural activities mediate motor performance, and offer insight into how research findings can be practically applied to facilitate recovery and improve athlete performance. Following his presentation, Dr. Davis will lead a discussion on the ethical bounds of preliminary neuroimaging results.
Date: November 13, 2009 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Location: National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room
LECTURE
Embodiment and Consciousness
Dr. Evan Thompson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto
In the past two decades, a number of philosophers and cognitive scientists have argued that the body does not simply support or enable cognition; bodily processes beyond the brain can and in some cases do constitute cognition. Can this view be applied to phenomenal consciousness or subjective experience? Most theorists would answer no. Dr. Thompson argues that a strong case can be made that the minimal system for the biological realization of consciousness is not the brain but includes the body beyond the brain. Consciousness is not a strictly brain phenomenon but an organism phenomenon. The minimal physical substrate for consciousness may include nonneural factors and extend beyond the skull.
Date: November 6, 2009 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Rm 260
NEUROETHICS JOURNAL CLUB
Did We Really Land on the Moon 40 Years Ago?
Dr. Jaymie Matthews, Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, UBC
On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong took one small step for [a] man onto the surface of the Moon. Or did he? Dr. Matthews will present the “mysteries” posed by those who believe the lunar landings were a hoax, things that seem to violate common sense, and then remind us that our “common sense” is actually quite restricted. According to Dr. Matthews, beings who’ve lived their entire lives on the surface of a planet with atmosphere and 1 gee of gravity are in for some surprises if they step onto the Moon. The two suggested readings are as follows:
The Case for Motivated Reasoning
“There Must Be a Reason”: Osama, Saddam, and Inferred Justification
Date: November 4, 2009 1:30 pm
Location: National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, Room S117
NEUROSCIENCE EXTRAVAGANZA
The Neuroscience Extravaganza at the Brain Research Centre is an annual poster competition for neuroscience students and postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Kate Tairyan and Daniel Buchman will be presenting neuroethics-themed posters.
Date: October 29, 2009 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Location: Brain Research Centre Conference Centre, 1st Floor, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion
CONFERENCE
Neuroethics at the Core, the blog of the National Core for Neuroethics, has been chosen to be an official Neuroblogger at this year’s meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, IL. We will be posting daily from October 17th-21st about our activities, events, and experiences related to Neuroscience 2009. Other official SfN blogs by category include:
Theme A: Development
http://genes2brains2mind2me.com/
Theme B: Neural Excitability, Synapses, Glia: Cellular Mechanisms
http://www.onesci.com/Main_Page
Theme C: Disorders of the Nervous System
http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia
http://genes2brains2mind2me.com/
http://shelledwalnut.blogspot.com/
Theme D: Sensory and Motor Systems
http://theneuronetwork.com/profiles/blog/list?user=1ntjqsxbxjnvo
Theme E: Homeostatic and Neuroendocrine System
http://dormivigilia.wordpress.com/
Theme F: Cognition and Behavior
http://thereducingvalve.blogspot.com/
Theme H: History, Teaching, Public Awareness, and Societal Impacts in Neuroscience
http://neuroethicscanada.wordpress.com/
LECTURE
Constraints on Agency, Constraints on the Self? Lessons from the Social Aspects of Biotechnology
Dr. Kieran O’Doherty, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia
The concept of autonomy, and how to preserve it, is central to many problems in applied ethics. But how should we think about self determination in those situations in which an individual is not consciously aware of being constrained in their actions or decisions? In this talk, Dr. O’Doherty presents three examples in which individuals’ agency is constrained in demonstrable ways, cognitively, biologically, or through institutional context, but individuals may not subjectively experience an infringement on autonomy. Examples are drawn from recent work on the social and ethical implications of biotechnologies: citizen’s value statements regarding salmon genomics; patients’ experience of genetic counselling for cancer; and psychological aspects of human microbiome research.
Date: October 5, 2009 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Lillooet Room
NEUROETHICS SEMINAR
The Inclusion of Neural Network Connectivity Dynamics towards a Brain-based Diagnostic for Cognitive Disabilities and Pathologies
Dr. Urs Ribary, Leadership Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience in Childhood Health and Development, Simon Fraser University
In order to understand health and pathological human brain development, we also have to better understand underlying brain networks and brain rhythms, and how brain areas are connected and communicate with each other. Human brain imaging technologies provide a superb opportunity to study such neural networks and the structural, functional and temporal connectivity required for normal brain development and the establishment of cognitive processes, such as language, learning and memory. This talk will highlight the significance of brain network dynamics underlying sensory perception and cognition. We will discuss how brain networks become slightly or severely dysrhythmic relating to altered and pathological cognition functions, or how brain network connectivity can fracture in traumatic brain injury patients relating to unconsciousness.
Date: September 30, 2009 12:15 - 1:15 pm
Location: The National Core for Neuroethics Conference Room, UBC Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, Room S117
CONFERENCE
Brain Matters: New Directions in Neuroethics
Organized by Novel Tech Ethics
September 24-26, 2009
Lord Nelson Hotel
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada
CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
Integrating Neuroethics in Medical Education: From Trainee to Practitioner
Daniel Z. Buchman (presenter), Sofia Lombera, Dr. Kate Tairyan, Dr. Ranga Venkatachary, Dr. Judy Illes, National Core for Neuroethics
Rapid advances in neuroscience and progress in neurological interventions for neurogenetic disorders, disorders of consciousness, and diseases of the aging brain, among others, have created an unprecedented need for medical trainees and practicing physicians alike to discuss and learn pragmatic clinical ethics. Daniel Buchman will present three independent and complementary educational initiatives designed to bring neuroethics thinking to the forefront of medical training and practice to achieve this goal.
Date: September 24-26, 2009
Location: Brain Matters: New Directions in Neuroethics, Halifax, Nova Scotia
PUBLIC LECTURE
In Perilous Pursuit of Perfection: The Ethics of Neuroscience in Sport
Dr. Judy Illes
Turning to science to enhance individual performance can raise powerful ethical questions. If we could predict from a brain scan who among our youth is likely to be an Olympic champion, how should we use this information? If we learned that an antidepressant increases the brain’s ability to coordinate movement, should it be banned as performance enhancing? In this free public lecture at UBC Robson Square, Dr. Judy Illes will consider questions like these, drawing on her work as director of the National Core for Neuroethics at UBC, an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to tackling the ethical, legal, policy and social implications of frontier technological developments in the neurosciences.
Free.
Date Sep 17, 2009 7:00 - 8:00 pm
Location: UBC Robson Square
Please call 604-822-1444 or click here to pre-register
WORKSHOP
Quality of Care Issues for Mental Health and Neurological Disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders in collaboration with the Forum on Health and Nutrition of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences will convene an international workshop on quality of care issues for mental health and neurological disorders in sub-Saharan Africa
Date: August 4-5, 2009
CONFERENCE & PUBLIC LECTURES
Removing Barriers, Enabling Individuals
Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies
"Removing Barriers and Enabling Individuals: Ethics, Design, and Use of Adaptive Technologies" is an Exploratory Workshop co-funded by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and the Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems at the University of British Columbia awarded to Principal Investigator Meeko Oishi, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Co-Investigator Ian Mitchell, Computer Science.
The workshop is restricted to invited participants, but the three keynote talks, held at the Royal Bank Cinema in the Chan Centre are open to the public.
Date: July 22-24, 2009