Anticipating Ethical Concerns in a New Era of Neuroscience

Ongoing advances in neuroscience hold tremendous promise for reducing the burden of neurologic and psychiatric diseases, and may fundamentally change how we understand ourselves. The UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences was established to foster translational research in neuroscience, bringing new approaches and interventions to address the problems of patients with diseases of the brain. Given the complexity of the brain and the centrality of brain function to who we are, these efforts also pose deep ethical, legal and conceptual questions. To anticipate and address these problems, we are inviting input from leaders in many different fields.

The mission of this symposium is twofold: 1) To better prepare the neurosciences community to anticipate and address neuroethical concerns arising from their work, and 2) To prepare for broader public engagement with these issues.

Program Overview:

Tuesday, January 28, 2020
UCSF Mission Bay

Bringing together an exciting panel of speakers, this program will closely examine three topic areas of both great hope and potential concern in the neurosciences. We will hear a variety of perspectives surrounding the use of neurogenetics, neuromodulation, and patient data, including both prepared remarks and engaging interdisciplinary discussion.

Introductory Remarks

Stephen Hauser | UC San Francisco

Panel One
Neurogenetics & Parenthood

Headline Address
Jennifer Doudna | UC Berkeley

Response and Perspectives
Stephan Sanders | UC San Francisco | Anticipated Uses in Autism
Hank Greely | Stanford University | Neurogenetics and Law
Laurie Zoloth | University of Chicago | Religion and Values

Panel Two
Neuromodulation Roundtable

Use Cases and Perspectives
Katherine Scangos | UC San Francisco | Mood Disorder
Joseph Fins | Weill Cornell Medicine | Disorders of Consciousness
Sara Goering | University of Washington | Brain-Computer Interfaces
Jose Carmena | UC Berkeley | Engineering and Industry

Panel Three
Patient Data in the Digital Age

Headline Address
Eric Topol | Scripps Research

Response and Perspectives
Gabe Aranovich | Mindstrong Health | Industry Perspective
Riley Bove | UC San Francisco | Bridging Research and Clinical Data
Anna Wexler | University of Pennsylvania | Ethics and Privacy

Concluding Remarks

Shared Themes and Implications for Public Engagement
Sam Barondes | UC San Francisco