In November 2018, the medical community was turned upside down when biophysicist He Jiankui announced the birth of the world’s first two gene-edited CRISPR babies. Jiankui’s announcement showed the uneasy relationship between medical innovation and regulation, science and ethics.
As part of our “Medical Innovation” theme, join a lively discussion exploring the promises and pitfalls of gene-editing babies, and what it means for the future of Canadian society. The session will end with a panel discussion and a question-and-answer period.
Join the conversation! Share your thoughts using the hashtag #CuriosityOnStage.
Dr. William (Bill) L. Stanford, PhD is currently a Senior Scientist at the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research at The Ottawa Hospital, a Full Professor at the University of Ottawa, Investigator in the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, Scientific Director of the Ottawa Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility, Scientific Director of the High Content Imaging and Screening Facility, and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Integrative Stem Cell Biology. Dr. Stanford’s interdisciplinary research centers around understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying cell fate changes in development and disease, using stem cells and molecular genetics techniques including genome editing. He has published more than 100 research manuscripts, which have been cited by the scientific community over 10,000 times.
Ozan Gurcan is a PhD candidate in Ethics and Public Affairs at Carleton University. He holds a BSc in Biomedical Science with minor in Applied Ethics, and an MA in Public Ethics. During his studies, Ozan volunteered at several healthcare organizations and served on the board of the Canadian Bioethics Society. He is trained in qualitative research methods and has experience assisting and leading ethics related research for the Canadian Health Portfolio, where he worked on a regulatory gap analysis project on synthetic biology, as well as for business where he led a project on the topic of ethical corporate purchasing. His main academic research interests are in bioethics and political philosophy, and he is currently writing his dissertation on the topic of genetic discrimination."
Please note that parking fees will be in effect.