lakehead's centre for health care ethics celebrates 10th anniversary with margaret somerville lecture: talk focuses on ethics of 3-parent embryos

(february 19, 2008 --thunder bay, on) 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 's centre for heath care ethics (chce) is pleased to host dr. margaret somerville as its next encounters in bioethics speaker on wednesday, february 20. dr. somerville's lecture is presented in concert with the chce's 10th anniversary.

"dr. somerville has been active in the worldwide development of bioethics," says dr. jaro kotalik, director of lakehead's centre for health care ethics. "she has played an invaluable role in the study of the wider legal and ethical aspects of medicine and science, and we are thrilled to invite her to our campus to celebrate our centre's continued success in disseminating information in this field of study."

somerville presents "where do i come from: does every child have a right to natural parents and to know their identity?" the premise of this talk stems from dna research which was made public by u.k. media on february 5, 2008. after 10 three-parent (one man and two women) embryos were formed in a lab at newcastle university in england, the embryos began to develop normally, but were destroyed within six days. after the human fertilisation and embryology authority (hfea) reversed its decision to ban the procedure, uk researchers have since been given the go-ahead to create an embryo which will contain dna from three people.

among other issues, somerville's lecture will explore the question as to whether or not we should be concerned about this matter. the presentation takes place at 6:00 p.m. in lakehead's atac 1003. this is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend. call 807-343-8126 for more information.

history of chce

the history of the chce's development spans back to 1996, when a group of approximately 20 university faculty members, alongside a number of health care professionals, started thinking big. they formed the thunder bay bioethics interest group (tb big). these members were responding to concrete and practical needs of health care delivery, and research and teaching of health care professionals - activities pursued here in thunder bay - all which constantly produced questions and concerns that could be responded to without moral and ethical concerns.

the formation of tb big was a response to local need as well as an effort to stay competitive with developments taking place beyond thunder bay. over the previous decade, the number and complexity of ethical concerns in health care had been accelerating. although rapid scientific and technological developments made medical interventions ever more powerful, they were also more invasive, and at times, morally problematic. rising costs of health care required increasing rationalization and justification of intervention methods as well as possible conflicts of interest and values. to cope with canadians' demand to be better informed, hospitals began creating ethics committees, and bioethics departments, and they subsequently appointed ethics consultants. health care professionals, administrators, and volunteers were suddenly seeking education and training in bioethics, and universities responded by creating various academic units dedicated to teaching and research of bioethics.

the founders of tb big realized their first priority was gathering knowledge from thunder bay's many experts while creating a forum at which ethical issues could be discussed and learned from. monthly health care ethics meetings began at that time and still continue to this day. initial audience turnout indicated that thunder bay certainly had a need for an ongoing health care ethics education and discussion program. tb big was later renamed the centre for heath care ethics in october of 1998.

chce has since prepared and delivered over 110 educational programs in the form of evening presentations and discussions, noon-time rounds, day-long workshops, symposia, and lectures - with total participation exceeding 4000 people thus far.

ethical perspectives surrounding cancer care, research with aboriginal participants, care for children and adolescents, and care for people with addiction and mental disabilities were all examined during these early workshops. a number of workshops were also presented at hospitals around the region including kenora, sioux lookout, geraldton, and terrace bay.
the centre's major research interest lies in ethics of public health, especially areas involving ethical and legal aspects of influenza pandemic planning. consultations on this subject were also provided to health canada, the canadian public health agency, and bioethics advisory commissions of switzerland. a series of presentations in canada, the u.s., and europe, stemming from the involvement in pandemic planning and public health policy development continues today. another of the centre's special research interests includes the ethics of health care involving the aboriginal population. in collaboration with lake of the woods district hospital, first nations and inuit branch of health canada have funded some work in this field. with support from health force ontario, the centre currently collaborates with sioux lookout menoya win health centre on a project involving traditional healers and elders.

media: dr. jaro kotalik is available for media interview. please contact him directly at
807-343-8126 to arrange an interview time. reminder: members of the media are also welcome to interview dr. somerville prior to her 6:00 p.m. lecture on wednesday, february 20. to arrange an interview time between 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., please contact heather scott at 807-343-8177. if you have any questions regarding this media release, please contact heather scott, communications officer, 807-343-8177, commun@lakeheadu.ca; or eleanor abaya, director of communications, 807-343-8372, eabaya@lakeheadu.ca.