(Press-News.org) The decision by a global bioethics association to hold its 2024 congress in Qatar, a nation with laws against LGBTQ+ people, provoked controversy, including objections from some of its own members.
The outcry motivated the organization’s president and colleagues to draft an ethics framework to guide future site selection. The framework, published today in The American Journal of Bioethics, might also help global organizations make decisions about ethically appropriate conference sites. [The paper is available in PDF by request.]
“Many organizations around the world are addressing these questions,” said Nancy Jecker, the paper’s lead author and a professor of bioethics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is also the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) president, a post she was elected to after Qatar’s selection.
Every two years, IAB members from around the globe gather to discuss weighty bioethics topics regarding healthcare, scientific research, education and public health. In 2022, its president announced the choice of a university based in Doha, Qatar, for the 2024 World Congress of Bioethics.
“We’ve had 16 world congresses spanning more than three decades, and it’s striking that this will be our first in the Middle East or an Arab country,” Jecker said. The choice of Qatar, in the global South, helps “dismantle the global North bias embedded in our usual way of doing business,” she said, noting that 80% of IAB’s congresses have been held in the global North.
In the just-published paper, the authors propose a framework with seven ethics principles:
Being anti-discriminatory
International
Green (minimizing carbon footprint)
Inclusive
Leaving no one behind
Freely exchanging ideas
Being epistemically just
Rather than comprising a “litmus test” to apply to a nation’s government, the paper identifies multiple values and principles at stake, Jecker said, adding that the authors’ aim is to begin a broader conversation within bioethics and other academic fields about the ethics of international conferencing.
The paper argued that if governments globally were subjected in earnest to a human-rights test, “all countries would fail it.” To the question of whether to shun places where human-rights abuses are reported, the paper offered an analogy: “Some people effect change by protesting the government, while others run for office. Both can be effective ways to instigate change.”
With anti-LGBTQ+ laws increasing across the African continent, Jecker asked, “Should we never go to Africa — and turn our backs on people in that region?” She noted that while half of U.S. states have enacted anti-LGBTQ+ laws and many have banned most abortions, those actions likely would not preclude the United States from being considered as a conference site.
In applying the proposed principles to Qatar, the authors said hosting the World Congress in that nation offsets epistemic injustices of not having previously conferenced in the Middle East or an Arab country. Siting the event in Qatar also gives credibility to points of view that emerge from that region, Jecker said, creating a better balance of voices in an organization that identifies itself as “international.”
The conference host, the university’s Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics at Hamid bin Khalifa University, is facilitating fully online participation to reduce the meeting’s carbon footprint, expand access and reduce participants’ cost. It is also offering simultaneous Arab-English translation at some sessions.
Jecker stressed that the IAB Congress affords ethicists a chance to engage with local people.
“We’re partnering with the World Health Organization's regional office, and we've helped connect local women's groups in the area with the Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, which holds its World Congress back-to-back with ours. I'm hoping we will engage meaningfully across borders of culture and religion and race in ways that enhance mutual understanding,” she said.
Jecker clarified that the ethics framework put forth in the paper does not represent the views of the IAB board or its members. “The authors are not looking for a rubber stamp of this position. We want to lead a wider conversation. As we move forward, we'll need to hear from people in different parts of the world.”
END
Paper addresses ethics of bioethics conference in Qatar
The controversial choice leads a UW Medicine bioethicist and co-authors to publish principles to guide the selection of future conference sites.
2023-08-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Breakthrough polymer research promises to revolutionize recycling
2023-08-07
A team of researchers led by Brent Sumerlin, the George B. Butler Professor in the University of Florida Department of Chemistry, has made a breakthrough with the potential to transform how we recycle plastics. Their innovative approach to working with polymers has led them to develop a new method for recycling that promises to lower the energy requirement without sacrificing the quality of the plastic.
It’s no secret that the U.S. and the Earth at large have a pressing plastic problem. Despite a meteoric rise in usage over the past few decades, only about 10% of our plastic currently ends up getting recycled.
“Our work is a response ...
New study in JNCCN highlights rapid adoption of clinical research results into chemotherapy prescribing patterns
2023-08-07
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [August 7, 2023] — New research in the August 2023 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network evaluates how an important analysis on local-regionally advanced colon cancer adjuvant chemotherapy impacted prescribing patterns. The IDEA collaboration included more than 12,000 patients with Stage III colon cancer across 6 randomized phase 3 trials in a planned pooled analysis, to determine how three or six months of post-surgery chemotherapy—either a combination of capecitabine/oxaliplatin (CAPOX) or fluorouracil/leucovorin/oxaliplatin ...
American Heart Association CEO again honored as elite nonprofit leader, health equity champion
2023-08-07
DALLAS, August 7, 2023 — Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, has again been recognized for elite leadership in the 26th annual listing of The NonProfit Times Power & Influence Top 50. For more than three decades, The NonProfit Times has been a leading trade publication providing news, information and insight into nonprofit management.
Brown, who is now appearing for the 8th time on this list, was recognized specifically for her leadership as a champion for equitable health. The NonProfit ...
Department of Energy announces $4.7 million for research on integrative computational tools for systems biology research
2023-08-07
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $4.7 million in funding for five new research projects in computational biology. These projects will develop new software and analytical tools to manage the growing quantities of genomics and other data stemming from the study of microbes and other biological systems.
“The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Genomic Science program is at the forefront of using genome-enabled approaches to identify the basic principles that drive biological systems underlying functional processes of organisms,” said Todd Anderson, DOE Acting Associate Director for BER. “To gain ...
Tiny, flexible spinal probe system could lead to better therapies
2023-08-07
HOUSTON – (Aug.7, 2023) – The spinal cord is harder to access and study than even the brain. The challenges posed by its mobility and anatomical structure have made understanding exactly how it functions difficult.
Rice University engineers will work with collaborators to optimize an array of nanoelectronic threads, or NETs ⎯ already used successfully for gathering high-fidelity, long-term data from neurons in the brain ⎯ for use in the spine, supported by a $6.25 million, four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.
In addition to neuronal activity recordings, NET probes can provide tunable, localized stimulation of adjacent neurons. Rice ...
Advancing environmental justice research and student engagement in energy
2023-08-07
HOUSTON, Aug. 7, 2023 – The Baker Hughes Foundation announced a $100,000 grant to the University of Houston Energy Transition Institute (ETI) to support environmental justice research and workforce development programs.
The institute, which focuses on the creation and use of reliable, affordable, environmentally responsible energy for all through a just and equity-driven pathway, is looking forward to using the grant to amplify its mission.
“Thanks to the generous support of the Baker Hughes Foundation, the UH ...
Carbon dioxide – not water – triggers explosive basaltic volcanoes
2023-08-07
ITHACA, N.Y. – Geoscientists have long thought that water – along with shallow magma stored in Earth’s crust – drives volcanoes to erupt. Now, thanks to newly developed research tools at Cornell, scientists have learned that gaseous carbon dioxide can trigger explosive eruptions.
A new model suggests that basaltic volcanoes, typically located on the interior of tectonic plates, are fed by a deep magma within the mantle, stored about 20 to 30 kilometers below Earth’s surface.
The research, which offers a clearer picture of our planet’s deep internal dynamics and composition, with ...
Inside job: Finding exposes unexpected killer of immune cells lacking self marker
2023-08-07
Researchers at Kobe University discovered an entirely new and unexpected mechanism by which the immune system can get rid of cells lacking molecules that identify them as part of the self in mice. The finding, published in PNAS, has possible implications for cancer treatment.
The immune system comprises many types of cells that work together to fight off diseases. Two important types are dendritic cells and T cells. Dendritic cells are located in strategic positions throughout the body including the gut and skin, as well as in the lymph nodes, sample their environment and present small components derived from these samples on their ...
Memory, forgetting, and social learning
2023-08-07
Social learning is typically thought to be most beneficial when the environments in which individuals live change quite slowly – they can safely learn tried and tested information from one another and it does not go out of date quickly. Innovating brand-new information, on the other hand, is thought to be useful in dynamic and rapidly changing environments.
Researchers Madeleine Ammar, Laurel Fogarty and Anne Kandler at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology developed an agent-based simulation model of the evolution ...
New method to identify mutations in childhood brain tumors
2023-08-07
Researchers at Uppsala university have developed a new method to find mutations in brain tumors in children. They could also show that the mutations identified by them changes how cancer cells respond to a cancer drug. These findings could lead to better diagnostics and more individualized treatment of children with brain tumors. The study is published in the journal PNAS.
Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. It usually develops in the cerebellum and even if modern treatment has improved the prognosis so that over 70% live more than five years, not all patients ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained
Less intensive works best for agricultural soil
Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation
Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests
Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome
UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership
New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll
Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes
University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025
Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials
New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age
Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker
Chips off the old block
Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia
Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry
Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19
Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity
State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections
Young adults drive historic decline in smoking
NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research
Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development
This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack
FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects
A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions
AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate
Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative
Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine
[Press-News.org] Paper addresses ethics of bioethics conference in QatarThe controversial choice leads a UW Medicine bioethicist and co-authors to publish principles to guide the selection of future conference sites.