September 17-19, 2019 – Ottawa

Professor Bartha Knoppers, 2019 Henry G. Friesen International Prizewinner, will deliver the 2019 Friesen Lecture at the University of Ottawa on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 at 11:30 am at the University of Ottawa, Pavillon Roger Guindon, 451 Smyth Road, Rm: Amphitheatre (RGN 2005). The title and description are as follows:

Friesen Lecture 2019: Bartha Maria Knoppers

SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS: THE PROHIBITION REFLEX
(From IVF to AI)

This Friesen Lecture intends to address the issue of the prohibition reflex that responds to queries about the ethico-legal impact of scientific breakthroughs by answering: “There should be a law against ‘it’!”. Drawing on four decades of my involvement in emerging technologies and policymaking, I will try to decipher the lessons learned especially here in Canada. The stage however, is necessarily international. I have divided this retrospective-prospective journey by decades beginning in 1978 and chosen the emblematic, iconic events of: I) Louise Brown (the first “test-tube baby”); II) Dolly (the cloned sheep); III) the human sequence “Map”; and, IV) the recent “CRISPR babies” in China and will conclude briefly with Big Data. Together, these breakthroughs will elucidate past, current, and future policy trajectories.

Click here for Brief Bio of Prof. Bartha Knoppers, 2019 Friesen Prizewinner.

An Invitational Roundtable is scheduled for Thursday, September 19, 2019 – 8:30 am to 10 am – Venue: Pavillon Roger Guindon, 451 Smyth Road, Rm: RGN2149.
Theme: “Impacts of Disruptive New Technologies (stem cell science, gene editing, AI) on Society: Role of the Academy”

Keynote – 2019 Friesen Prizewinner:
Dr. Bartha Knoppers (Director, Centre of Genomics & Policy, McGill U)

Speakers:
Dr. Alan Bernstein (President, CIFAR; 2017 Friesen Prizewinner)
Dr. Kym Boycott (Clinical Geneticist, Dept. of Genetics, CHEO RI)
Dr. Ronald Cohn (President and CEO, The Hospital for Sick Children)
Dr. Colleen Flood (Director, U Ottawa Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics)
Dr. Vivek Goel (VP Research & Innovation, U of T)
Dr. David Naylor (Past President, U of T; 2018 Friesen Prizewinner)
Dr. Duncan Stewart (President, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute)

Comments:
Dr. Bruce McManus (Director, PROOF Centre, UBC)
Dr. Jennifer Gibson (Director, Joint Centre for Bioethics, U of T)