Assembly Select Committee on Bioethics, Medicine and Technology Michael Kalichman University of California, San Diego Director, UCSD Research Ethics Program Co-Director, San Diego Center for Ethics in Science and Technology California Council on Science and Technology Council Meeting Sacramento, CA February 2, 2006

Bioethics Focus Group Meeting December 2, 2005 Scripps Institution of Oceanography Goal: Priorities and parameters for the Assembly Select Committee on Bioethics and a statewide advisory panel on bioethics

Bioethics Focus Group Meeting Participants Mildred K. Cho, Associate Director, Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics Lawrence Cooper, Legislative Director Thomas Day, President Emeritus, San Diego State University Danny DeCillis, Research Associate, California Council on Science and Technology Susan Hackwood, Executive Director, California Council on Science and Technology Sari Hamerling, Legislative Representative Lawrence M. Hinman, Director, The Values Institute, University of San Diego Michael Kalichman, Director, Research Ethics Program, University of California San Diego Charles Kennel, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Jennifer Lahl, National Director of the Bay Area, Center for Bioethics and Culture Assembly Member Lori Saldaña

Framework for Bioethics Ethics competing interests, minimize harms, maximize benefits Approaches Ethicists (who and what); Judges vs. Facilitators Domains Medical ethics, bioethics, research ethics, science & technology ethics Some of the most challenging and important problems of our time

California National leader in science and technology Very little infrastructure in ethics Unlike other countries, U.S. legislators only rarely have technical backgrounds Stem cell initiative

What are the goals? Anticipate rather than merely react Opportunity for much needed national leadership (national issues, rarely addressed) Ethics as a part of rather than apart from research

What are the problems? Examples Pre-implantation and prenatal genetic diagnosis Therapy vs. enhancement Genetic technology and privacy Trust, fear, memory, truth Human-machine interface Buying and selling of eggs Social justice and new reproductive technologies Clinical research policy Research ethics education

What are the constraints? What limits should we place on these new developments? What kind of society are we aiming for? Resistance in research community because: a. poor understanding of public b. poor reporting by media

What can we do? Training of researchers Education of public Increased dialogue involving research community, public, and media Central home for science & technology policy in California Regulations: Prohibitions, guidelines for conduct of research

Possible first steps for Select Committee Town Hall meetings: series of meetings around the state to develop bioethics agenda Work groups: bioethicists and researchers – what do we have, what do we need?