Durham CELLS

Durham CELLS

Formation	2011
Focus	To support excellence in academic research, innovative teaching and public dialogue on the ethical, social and regulatory issues raised by the life sciences
Location	Durham, United Kingdom
Parent organization	Durham University
Website	https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/ethics-law-life-sciences/

Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences) is a research centre at Durham University, based in Durham Law School. It focuses on the legal and ethical issues raised by biological science, medicine and regulation: biolaw and bioethics. It was founded in December 2011 ^[1] and has members from anthropology, biology, law, medicine, philosophy, sociology and theology. ^[2]

Durham CELLS is an established expert research centre in biolaw and bioethics. ^{[3] [4]} Its activities include:

• running a research blog on issues relating to the ethical, social and regulatory issues raised by the life sciences, ^{[5] [6]}
• running a blog on obstetric violence, supported by conferences and seminars, ^{[7] [8] [9]}
• engaging school students with biomedicine and bioethics, ^{[10] [11] [12]} and
• supporting ethics advisory committees. ^{[13] [14]}

Members

Director: Emma Cave

Founder: Shaun Pattinson (2011)

Members include: ^[15]

• Deryck Belyeveld is an exponent of the moral theory of the late Alan Gewirth.
• Emma Cave chaired a Nuffield Council on Bioethics working group on Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models in 2024, setting out governance proposals. ^{[16] [17]} She also chaired the General Medical Council Good Medical Practice Advisory Forum, resulting in new good medical practice guidance in 2024. ^[18] She is co-author of Medicine, Patients and the Law (7th ed., 2023). ^[19]
• Richard Goldberg has addressed the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pandemic Response and Recovery on vaccine damage schemes and vaccine liability. ^[20]
• Samantha Halliday is co-lead of the Northern Network for Medical Humanities: Narratives of consent and invisible women. ^[21]
• Shaun Pattinson is author of several books including Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine (2023) ^[22] and Medical Law and Ethics (7th ed., 2025). ^[23]
• Camilla Pickles is a member of the International Platform in Obstetric Violence. ^[24]
• Elizabeth Chloe Romanis is author of Biotechnology, Gestation and the Law (2024) ^[25] and editor of Medical Law International. ^[26]

References

1. Website of founder
2. Website of Durham CELLS
3. "Northern Health Science Alliance website".
4. Mapping the Arts and Humanities, humanities.org.uk
5. Professor McMahon publishes piece on patents and stem cell-based embryo models on Durham CELLS Blog recently cited in Nuffield Council on Bioethics Report, Maynooth University
6. Durham CELLS blog
7. Obstetric Violence Blog
8. Olivia Verity and Camilla Pickles, 'Obstetric Violence: Where is the Law?' AIMS Journal, 2022, vol. 34, No. 2
9. Obstetric Violence: Multidisciplinary Analysis, Seminar hosted by Durham CELLS
10. YouTube video entitled 'Human Cloning and Mitochondrial Donation: Mock Court Case'
11. YouTube video entitled 'Human Cloning and Mitochondrial Donation: Mock Parliamentary Debate'
12. YouTube video entitled 'Understanding stem cell research: Students' First Debate on the (fictional) Stem Cell Bill'
13. Durham expert appointed to UK Covid-19 Inquiry ethics panel
14. Two members, Emma Cave and Robert Song, sit on the British Medical Association’s, Medical Ethics Committee
15. "Members of Durham CELLS".
16. "Durham University (2024) Report calls for legislation to bolster governance of stem cell-based embryo models (27 November)".
17. "Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2024) Human stem cell-based embryo models: A review of ethical and governance questions".
18. "Good Medical Practice 2024"., General Medical Council
19. Brazier, Cave and Heywood (June 2023). Medicine, Patients and the Law (7 ed.). Manchester: MUP. ISBN   9781526157171.
20. Durham Law School (14 March 2025). "Richard Goldberg Addresses APPG on Reform of Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme". Durham Law School. Retrieved 1 Apr 2025.
21. "Northern Network for Medical Humanities".
22. Pattinson, Shaun (26 January 2023). Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN   9781509941070.
23. Pattinson, Shaun (23 April 2025). Medical Law and Ethics (7th ed.). London: Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN   9780414125070.
24. "IPOV".
25. Romanis, E Chloe (2024). Biotechnology, Gestation, and the Law. UK: OUP. ISBN   9780198873785.
26. Romanis, EC; Davaney, S; Mullock, A; Black, I (2024-04-09). "Framing a future research agenda for Medical Law International". Medical Law International. 24: 3–13. doi:10.1177/09685332241242270.