December 19, 2005
Bioethics retreat to explore intersection of ethics, science and politics
The influence of politics on science will be discussed at a day-long symposium
on the Iowa State University campus Friday, Jan. 6.
The Bioethics Outreach Program will host its annual Winter Bioethics Retreat
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Scheman Building. This event is co-sponsored
by the ISU Bioethics Program, the Office of Biotechnology, the Miller Lecture
Fund in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Women's Studies
Program at Iowa State University.
The morning program will focus on the ethics and politics surrounding the science
of women's health in both domestic and international contexts. Susan Wood, who
recently resigned her post as director of the Office of Women's Health at the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will address her concerns about political
influences on decisions made by the FDA regarding women's health. Rosemarie
Tong of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte will speak on bioethics
and women's rights in the context of globalization. Diane Price-Herndl, associate
professor of English and Women's Studies at Iowa State, will discuss the influence
of judicial decisions and public activism on public policies regarding breast
cancer.
The afternoon's program will focus more generally on the ethics of political
sway in science and science policy. A panel of Iowa State researchers will reflect
on the influence of politics in their areas of study. Kristin Shrader-Frechette
of the University of Notre Dame will address the ethics of political influence
on scientific research.
"Our line-up of speakers for the day will take us a long way towards traversing
the huge topic of political influence on science," said Kristen Hessler,
bioethics outreach coordinator. "We are very pleased that several of our
speakers will address in considerable depth how political influence in science
affects women."
This event is free and open to the public. A continental breakfast will be available
at 8 a.m., and the program will begin at 8:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided, and
the program will be followed by a reception. Please register by visiting www.bioethics.iastate.edu/retreat.html
or by calling Katy Reeder, ISU Bioethics Program, at (515) 294-2566.
This event was made possible in part by the generosity of F. Wendell Miller,
who left his entire estate jointly to Iowa State University and the University
of Iowa. Mr. Miller, who died in 1995 at age 97, was born in Altoona, Ill.,
grew up in Rockwell City, graduated from Grinnell College and Harvard Law School
and practiced law in Des Moines and Chicago before returning to Rockwell City
to manage his family's farm holdings and to practice law. His will helped to
establish the F. Wendell Miller Trust, the annual earnings on which, in part,
helped to support this activity.
