Published June 12, 2008, last updated on March 8, 2013 under Education News
The Duke Translational Research Institute along with the Duke Cell Therapy Steering Committee has recruited world class experts in two important areas to explore the interface between cellular therapy and surrounding ethics issues. This interactive conference will hear talks on today’s cellular therapy interventions tailored to specific medical conditions followed by an insightful discussion by our ethical experts. The discussions will explore methods of detection of inborn errors of metabolism and the human cost of medical intervention. It will discuss a number of cellular therapy approaches to treating malignancies, and the ethical considerations of choosing the one intervention over another.
The conference will consider such issues as pre-gestational diagnosis and mandatory newborn testing for certain conditions and the burden that this may confer along with the critically important information. The ethicists will lead the discussion of what effects the diagnosis or intervention will have on the family as well as the individual in treatment.
This will be a rare opportunity to participate in an informed and balanced discussion of highly charged areas of medicine.