As a result of the Human Genome Project (HGP), progress in genetic screening will soon make it possible to predict chronic disease risk in many individuals prior to the emergence of symptoms. As the HGP advances and the medical community incorporates genetic screening technology into its care procedures, there is a major need to consider the perspectives of other involved parties such as attorneys, counselors, psychologists, biologists, and the insurance industry.
The program is structured to emphasize interdisciplinary interaction in order to facilitate communication, the sharing of information, and bringing applied ethics to bear on major contemporary issues. The thrust of this conference is to offer a forum where diverse and ofien conflicting positions can be expressed, considered, and hopefully reconciled through a philosophical framework.
The interdisciplinary nature of the conference should be of particular interest to scholars and practitioners in the fields of bioethics, law, sociology, psychology, and the life sciences, as well as insurance regulators, private insurers, and policy makers from business or government.
William May is currently Assistant Director of the Ohio Department of Insurance, Office of Life and Health Services. In that capacity he oversees all rates, forms and filings for all life and health indemnity products and licensure of life and health companies, and directs the managed care division. He is currently the chairperson of the Ohio Genetic Testing and Screening Task Force created under House Bill 71 in 1993, and serves on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Working Group on Genetic Testing. Mr. May holds two degrees from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and for the past two years has been faculty for the National Association of Managed Care Regulators, specializing in education and training of fellow regulators throughout the country.
Harry L. Keffer, M.D., is a practicing anesthesiologist with Anesthesia Associates at Union Hospital, Terre Haute, Indiana, where he chairs both the Department of Anesthesiology and the Medical Staff Ethics Committee. A lecturer on anesthesia and ethics topics at the Indiana University Medical School's Terre Haute campus, Dr. Keffer has coauthored several publications on end-of-life decision-making with his wife, M. Jan Keffer, Ph.D., and has given over 50 presentations on ethics topics.
Celeste M. Condit is a Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. Her publications explore the dynamics of moral controversies in the public sphere and include Decoding Abortion Rhetoric (University of Illinois, 1990), Crafting Equality (with J.L. Lucaites, University of Chicago Press, 1994), and Evaluating Women 's Health Messages (with Roxanne Parrot, Sage, 1996). She began to focus on the role of genetics in the evolution of human reproductive values through a Study in a Second Discipline Fellowship that included laboratory and course work in genetics and ethnographic research through the Visiting Investigator Program at the National Institutes of Health. Her research in that area appears in a variety of communication journals, and she is currently working on a book entitled The Meaning of the Gene: Dreams and Nightmares of Control.
David H. Smith is a Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. He has written and taught about religion and ethics, medical ethics, and ethical issues associated with research in the life sciences and genetics. Dr. Smith has designed and taught in several programs helping faculty from many disciplines teach ethics in their courses. Some of those programs focused on the IU campus, some have been statewide and others, national in scope. He chairs the Executive Committee of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, and his most recent book, Entrusted: The Moral Responsibilities of Trusteeship (Indiana University Press, 1995), is a discussion of the responsibilities of the trustees of private institutions to dedicate those institutions to the common good.
General registration for the conference is $ 195.00. Non-ISU Faculty may register for $50.00. ISU faculty may register for the reduced fee of $25. Students may attend at no charge. The fee includes refreshment breaks, a conference reception, and materials. There is an additional fee for attendance at the program luncheons and dinner.
Program Location
The conference will be held in the Hulman Memorial Student Union on the Indiana State University campus. A map of the campus, and parking information, will be included with all registration acknowledgments.
Lodging
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Holiday Inn Terre Haute for the conference. To make reservations, participants should contact the Holiday Inn, 3300 Dixie Bee Highway, Terre Haute, IN 47802, (812) 232-6081. Be sure to mention you are attending The Ethics of Genetic Testing to receive the conference rate of $64 single/$74 double. Additional lodging information will be provided upon request.
Cancellation policy
If you must cancel your registration, please do so no later than March 11, 1996, to receive a refund. After that date, no refunds can be made.
For More Information
Contact: The Office of Conferences and Non-Credit Programs, Indiana State University, Reeve Hall 101, Terre Haute, IN,47809, or call 812-237-2522, or toll free at 1-800-234-1639.
Last updated: 10 June 1996
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~poynter/eep/isu.html
Comments: pimple@indiana.edu
Copyright 1996, The Trustees of Indiana University