Nuffield Council on Bioethics

Last updated

Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Founded1991;33 years ago (1991)
FocusExploring ethical issues in biology and medicine
Location
  • London, United Kingdom
Website Nuffield Council on Bioethics

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is a UK-based independent charitable body, which examines and reports on bioethical issues raised by new advances in biological and medical research. Established in 1991, the Council is funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. [1] The Council has been described by the media as a 'leading ethics watchdog', [2] which 'never shrinks from the unthinkable'. [3]

Contents

Purpose

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics was set up in response to concerns about the lack of a national organization responsible for evaluating the ethical implications of developments in biomedicine and biotechnology. [4] Its terms of reference [5] are:

How the Council works

The Council selects topics to examine through a horizon scanning programme, which aims to identify developments relevant to biological and medical research. Members of the Council meet quarterly to discuss and contribute to ongoing work, review recent advances in medical and biological research that raise ethical questions and choose topics for further exploration. The Council is well known for its in-depth inquiries which usually take 18–24 months and are overseen by an expert working group, informed by extensive consultation and research. [6]

Membership and governance

The Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics is appointed by the Nuffield Foundation in consultation with the other funders. Chairs are appointed for five years. Council members are drawn from relevant fields of expertise including science, medicine, sociology, philosophy and law, for an initial period of three years, with the possibility of an additional three-year term. When vacancies arise, the Council advertises widely. The Council's Membership Advisory group considers and makes recommendations to the Council on future members selected from the respondents to advertisements. [7]

Chair

Director

Danielle Hamm was appointed in June 2021

Former Directors:

Members

Current [9]

Previous members [9]

Publications

Influence

The Council's recommendations to policy makers have often been described as 'influential'. [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50]

Funding

The Council was entirely funded by the Nuffield Foundation from 1991 to 1994. Since 1994, the Council has been jointly funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research Council and The Wellcome Trust on a five-year rolling system. [51] Towards the end of each five-year period, a process of external review is a condition of continued support. Funding has been confirmed until 2022 following the satisfactory completion of the latest funding bid. [52]

Ethical approach

The Council takes the view that its terms of reference do not require it to adopt the same ethical framework or set of principles in all reports. The Council is therefore not bound by the values of particular schools of philosophy (for example, utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics) or approaches in bioethics, such as the 'four principles of bioethics' (autonomy, justice, beneficence, non-maleficence), or the Barcelona Principles (autonomy, dignity, integrity, vulnerability). [53]

In 2006-7, John Harris, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester, and Dr Sarah Chan carried out an external review of the way ethical frameworks, principles, norms and guiding concepts feature in the Council's publications. [54] The authors found that the ethical frameworks used in the Council's publications had become increasingly explicit and transparent.

Related Research Articles

Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health, including those emerging from advances in biology, medicine, and technologies. It proposes the discussion about moral discernment in society and it is often related to medical policy and practice, but also to broader questions as environment, well-being and public health. Bioethics is concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, theology and philosophy. It includes the study of values relating to primary care, other branches of medicine, ethical education in science, animal, and environmental ethics, and public health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Designer baby</span> Genetically modified human embryo

A designer baby is a baby whose genetic makeup has been selected or altered, often to exclude a particular gene or to remove genes associated with disease. This process usually involves analysing a wide range of human embryos to identify genes associated with particular diseases and characteristics, and selecting embryos that have the desired genetic makeup; a process known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Screening for single genes is commonly practiced, and polygenic screening is offered by a few companies. Other methods by which a baby's genetic information can be altered involve directly editing the genome before birth, which is not routinely performed and only one instance of this is known to have occurred as of 2019, where Chinese twins Lulu and Nana were edited as embryos, causing widespread criticism.

Gregory Stock is an American biophysicist, best-selling author, biotech entrepreneur, and the former director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA’s School of Medicine. His interests lie in the scientific and evolutionary as well as ethical, social and political implications of today's revolutions in the life sciences and in information technology and computers.

The Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future (IBHF) is an affiliate of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and is housed at IIT's Chicago-Kent College of Law. The IBHF was founded in 2004 by Lori Andrews, J.D., and Nigel M. de S. Cameron, Ph.D., to discuss and analyze the ethical, legal, and social implications of biotechnologies.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ethics.

Søren Holm is a bioethicist and philosopher of medicine. He holds a chair in bioethics at the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, part of the School of Law at the University of Manchester in Great Britain and the University of Oslo. With Professor John Harris Holm served as co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics from 2004-2011. Holm holds a master's degree in health care ethics from the University of Manchester and two doctoral degrees in medical ethics from the University of Copenhagen. He was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics from 2006 to 2012 and a member of the Council’s Working Party on Emerging biotechnologies.

Y Touring Theatre Company was a national touring theatre company which produced original plays and debates exploring contemporary issues. It was founded in 1989 by Nigel Townsend. The company was based in Kings Cross, London, England and was a former operation of Central YMCA.

Stephen Garrard Post has served on the Board of the John Templeton Foundation (2008-2014), which focuses on virtue and public life. He is a researcher, opinion leader, medical school professor, and best-selling author who has taught at the University of Chicago Medical School, Fordham University-Marymount, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (1988-2008) and Stony Brook University School of Medicine (2008-). He is widely known for his research on the ways in which giving can enhance the health and happiness of the giver, how empathy and compassionate care contribute to patient outcomes, ethical issues in caring for people with dementia, medical professionalism and the virtues, and positive psychology in relation to health and well-being. Post is an elected member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Medicine, London. He was selected nationally as the Public Member of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Composite Committee (2000-2005), and was reappointed for outstanding contributions.

German Ethics Council is an independent council of experts in Germany addressing the questions of ethics, society, science, medicine and law and the probable consequences for the individual and society that result in connection with research and development, in particular in the field of the life sciences and their application to humanity. Its duties include informing the public and encouraging discussion in society, preparing opinions and recommendations for political and legislative action for the Federal Government and the German Bundestag as well as cooperating with national ethics councils and comparable institutions of other states and of international organisations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francoise Baylis</span> Canadian bioethicist

Françoise Elvina BaylisFISC is a Canadian bioethicist whose work is at the intersection of applied ethics, health policy, and practice. The focus of her research is on issues of women's health and assisted reproductive technologies, but her research and publication record also extend to such topics as research involving humans, gene editing, novel genetic technologies, public health, the role of bioethics consultants, and neuroethics. Baylis' interest in the impact of bioethics on health and public policy as well as her commitment to citizen engagement]and participatory democracy sees her engage with print, radio, television, and other online publications.

Jan Deckers works in bioethics at Newcastle University. His work revolves mainly around three topics: animal ethics, reproductive ethics and embryo research, and genetics.

Sir Jonathan Robert Montgomery is a British legal scholar who specialises in health care law. He is Professor of Health Care Law at University College London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Matthew Liao</span> Taiwanese-born American philosopher

S. Matthew Liao is an American philosopher specializing in bioethics and normative ethics. He is internationally known for his work on topics including children’s rights and human rights, novel reproductive technologies, neuroethics, and the ethics of artificial intelligence. Liao currently holds the Arthur Zitrin Chair of Bioethics, and is the Director of the Center for Bioethics and Affiliated Professor in the Department of Philosophy at New York University. He has previously held appointments at Oxford, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and Princeton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judit Sándor</span>

Judit Sándor is a Hungarian lawyer, bioethicist, and author, as well as full professor at the Department of Political Science, Department of Legal Studies and the Department of Gender Studies of the Central European University (CEU), Budapest. She had a bar exam in Hungary before she conducted legal practice at Simmons & Simmons in London. In 1996 she received Ph.D. in law and political science at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">He Jiankui affair</span> 2018 scientific and bioethical controversy

The He Jiankui affair is a scientific and bioethical controversy concerning the use of genome editing following its first use on humans by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who edited the genomes of human embryos in 2018. He became widely known on 26 November 2018 after he announced that he had created the first human genetically edited babies. He was listed in the Time's 100 most influential people of 2019. The affair led to ethical and legal controversies, resulting in the indictment of He and two of his collaborators, Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou. He eventually received widespread international condemnation.

Sarah Chan is Chancellor's Fellow in Ethics and Science Communicator in The Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vardit Ravitsky</span> Bioethicist, researcher, and author

Vardit Ravitsky is a bioethicist, researcher, and author. She is president and CEO of The Hastings Center, a full professor at the University of Montreal, and a senior lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is immediate-past president and current vice-president of the International Association of Bioethics, and the director of Ethics and Health at the Center for Research on Ethics. She is a Fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, where she chaired the COVID-19 Impact Committee. She is also Fellow of The Hastings Center and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alena Buyx</span> German medicine ethicist and university teacher

Alena Michaela Buyx is a German medical ethicist. She has been Chair of the German Ethics Council since 2020.

Jessica Wilen Berg is an American attorney and specialist in Public Health (MPH), currently serving as co-Dean at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, the first female co-Dean or Dean in the law school's 129-year history. She is also Tom J.E. and Bette Lou Walker Professor of Law,Professor in the Departments of Bioethics, and of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the CWRU School of Medicine. She is a reference book author in the area of informed consent. Her scholarly opinion is often reported by institutions and media on ethical aspects iof innovative biomedical procedures.

The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is a Catholic academic institute based in Oxford, which engages in scholarship, public debate, and education. Established in 1977, it is the oldest bioethical research institution in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. ↑ The Nuffield Foundation: About Us
  2. ↑ BBC, Ethics backing for tailored drugs
  3. ↑ The Guardian, Organ transplants: Relative ethics
  4. ↑ Whittall, H. (2008) A closer look at the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Clin Ethics 3:199–204 (p.199)
  5. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics: About Us
  6. ↑ How the Council works
  7. ↑ How are Council members selected?
  8. ↑ "Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Council Members" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  9. 1 2 References on linked pages.
  10. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2018) Genome editing and human reproduction: social and ethical issues
  11. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2017) Human embryo culture: Discussions concerning the statutory time limit for maintaining human embryos in culture in the light of some recent scientific developments
  12. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2017) Cosmetic procedures: ethical issues
  13. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2017) Non-invasive prenatal testing: ethical issues
  14. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2016) Genome editing: an ethical review
  15. ↑ http://nuffieldbioethics.org/project/naturalness Nuffield Council on Bioethics: Naturalness
  16. ↑ "Children and clinical research – Nuffield Bioethics". Nuffield Bioethics. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  17. ↑ "Biological and health data – Nuffield Bioethics". Nuffield Bioethics. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  18. ↑ "The culture of scientific research – Nuffield Bioethics". Nuffield Bioethics. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  19. ↑ Neurotechnology – Nuffield Bioethics
  20. ↑ Donor conception – Nuffield Bioethics
  21. ↑ Emerging biotechnologies – Nuffield Bioethics
  22. ↑ Mitochondrial DNA disorders – Nuffield Bioethics
  23. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2011) Human bodies: donation for medicine and research"(London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  24. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2011) Biofuels: ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  25. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2010) Medical profiling and online medicine: the ethics of personalised healthcare in a consumer age (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  26. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2009) Dementia: ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  27. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2007) Public health: ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  28. ↑ "Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2007) The forensic use of bioinformation: ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)". Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  29. ↑ "Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2006) Critical care decisions in fetal and neonatal medicine: ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)". Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  30. ↑ "Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2006) Genetic Screening: a Supplement to the 1993 Report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)". Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  31. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2005) The ethics of research involving animals (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  32. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2005) The ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries: a follow-up Discussion Paper (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  33. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2003) The use of genetically modified crops in developing countries: a follow-up Discussion Paper (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  34. ↑ "Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2003) Pharmacogenetics: ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)". Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  35. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2002) Genetics and human behaviour: the ethical context (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  36. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2002) The ethics of patenting DNA: a discussion paper (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  37. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2002) The ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  38. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2000) Stem cell therapy: the ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  39. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (1999) The ethics of clinical research in developing countries: a discussion paper (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  40. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (1999) Genetically modified crops: the ethical and social issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)
  41. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (1998) Mental disorders and genetics: the ethical context (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics) Archived 15 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  42. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (1996) Animal-to-human transplants: the ethics of Xenotransplantation (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics) Archived 20 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  43. ↑ "Nuffield Council on Bioethics (1995) Human tissue: ethical and legal issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics)". Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  44. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics (1993) Genetic screening: ethical issues (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics) Archived 15 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  45. ↑ https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/bioethics-council--gene-editing-human-embryos-conditionally-ok-64508 The Scientist: Bioethics Council: Gene-Editing Human Embryos Conditionally OK
  46. ↑ The Telegraph: How to futureproof your kids – the physical health timebomb
  47. ↑ BBC News: GM crops 'good for developing countries'
  48. ↑ The Independent: Ministers urged to scrap DNA records of innocent people
  49. ↑ Times Online: DNA database ‘puts innocent under suspicion'
  50. ↑ Nature News blog: Egg donor ‘compensation’ increased in UK
  51. ↑ "The Nuffield Council on Bioethics".
  52. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics: How is the Council funded?
  53. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics: How does the Council ‘do’ ethics?
  54. ↑ Nuffield Council on Bioethics: An external review of the Council’s ethics Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.