Fr. Kevin T. FitzGerald, S.J of Georgetown University

We live in an age of amazing advances in biotechnology, including the ability to change our own DNA.  With this power to edit our own genes comes the enormous responsibility to determine if, when, how, and why, we should, or should not, employ this technology.  This presentation will address this rapidly developing genome editing technology, and our shared decision-making responsibility, from the perspective of both national and international policies that could foster good genomic healthcare around the world, especially for those who are the most vulnerable and most in need.

Biography:

Kevin T. FitzGerald, S.J., Ph.D., Ph.D., is the Dr. David Lauler Chair of Catholic Health Care Ethics in the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University.  He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at the Georgetown University Medical Center.  He received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and a Ph.D. in bioethics, from Georgetown University.  His research efforts focus on the investigation of abnormal gene expression in cancer, and on ethical issues in biomedical research and medical genomics.  He has published both scientific and ethical articles in peer-reviewed journals, books, and in the popular press.

Fr. FitzGerald has given presentations nationally and internationally, and often been interviewed by the news media, on such topics as human genetic engineering, cloning, stem cell research, and personalized medicine.  He is a founding member of Do No Harm, a member of the ethics committee for the March of Dimes, a member of the Genetic Alliance IRB, and a member of the Georgetown-MedStar Hospital Ethics Committee.  In addition, he currently chairs the Ethics Advisory Council for the Geisinger Health System MyCode biobank project, which includes a Return of Results process for exome sequencing of project participants.

Address:Center for Clinical Bioethics , Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States