Keynote: Glenn McGee

Glenn McGee, Ph.D. is a philosopher and bioethicist who specializes in the ethical, legal, social and economic implications of biomedical sciences.

Dr. McGee is best known for introducing innovative ways of thinking about new or controversial areas of research and treatment, integrating research with teaching and his dedication to his graduate and undergraduate students. Dr. McGee has been a consultant for government and industry on matters of bioethics and has authored more than 200 articles and essays. A few of his well known publications include The Perfect Baby: A Pragmatic Approach to Genetics, which deals with the ethical issues of reproductive genetics; What’s in the Dish, in which he and co-author Arthur Caplan present arguments for stem cell research; and Beyond Genetics which is slated to hit bookshelves later this summer which discusses how the gene revolution will change our normal lives. He has also discussed his views on stem cell research on programs such as NPR’s Talk Of The Nation and numerous bioethical issues on international and national television shows.

Dr. McGee received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1994. Prior to this time was director of the Vanderbilt Doctoral Training Initiative, a doctoral program in genetics and ethics for scientists-in-training. Dr. McGee completed a post-doctoral fellowship from the U.S. National Human Genome Research Initiative at the University of Iowa. He founded the undergraduate minor and honors program in bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.

Dr. McGee is Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics, one of the most widely read bioethics journals in the nation. Currently he is a professor of Philosophy, Bioethics and History & Sociology of Science as well as Associate Director for Education and Senior Fellow at the Center for Bioethics, Department of Medical Ethics in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kathleen Glass

Kathleen Glass (LL.B., B.C.L, D.C.L.) is currently principal investigator of the Clinical Trials Research Group (CTRG) at the Biomedical Ethics Unit of McGill University and Clinical Ethicist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Her work focuses on the legal and ethical issues related to patients and research subjects in medical genetics including genetic diagnostics and gene therapy and has been published in the American Journal of Bioethics, the Hastings Center Report, the British Medical Journal, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Richard Gold

Richard Gold (LL.B., LL.M., S.J.D.) is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law and Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy at McGill University. His interests lie in gene patenting, and international applications of technology and ethics. He has discussed the debate on gene patenting in journals such as Nature Biotechnology and Nature Reviews Genetics.

Thomas J. Hudson

Thomas J. Hudson (MD, PhD) is currently an Assistant Professor and Associate Physician in the Departments of Medicine and Human Genetics at McGill University. He has participated in the development of gene maps of the human and mouse genomes during his position as Assistant Director of the Whitehead Institute/MIT Centre for Genome Research. His expertise in genome technology and his interest in the complex genetics of human diseases have led him to assume the position of Director of the Montreal Genome Centre.

Jonathan Kimmelman

Jonathan Kimmelman (PhD) is presently a postdoctoral researcher in the Medical Bioethics Unit of McGill University. His projects focus on the ethical analysis of human gene transfer and therapy/enhancement distinctions. He is currently working on a book discussing the political dimensions of biotechnologies. He has published articles in journals such as Nature Biotechnology and Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics concerning criminal DNA databanking.

Bartha Maria Knoppers

Bartha Maria Knoppers (LL.B., B.C.L., D.L.S., PhD) is a Professor at the Faculté de Droit, Université de Montréal and the Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine. She is currently Chair of the International Ethics Committee of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO). She is an expert in international ethics and her focus is on the development of ethical guidelines and procedures for genomics research. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association, Nature Genetics, Lancet, Science, Health Law Journal.