POSTPONED until 2021

Biotechnology and the Future of Medicine

POSTPONED: The Center for Bioethics has made the difficult decision to postpone the Annual Bioethics Conference, scheduled for Monday, March 9, and Tuesday, March 10, due to the evolving public health situation regarding an outbreak of pneumonia caused by a novel strain of coronavirus, (COVID-19), including one confirmed case and several presumptive cases of the virus in Boston and Massachusetts.

We have rescheduled the conference for next year, June 10 and June 11, 2021, and hope that you will be able to join us then.

We apologize for the inconvenience this will cause and will refund all registration fees by the end of March.

The health and safety of all members of our community is a top priority at the Center for Bioethics, and we all have an responsibility to help prevent the spread of this and other illnesses. Please review the World Health Organization’s protective measures against virus.

Members of the Harvard University community can stay up-to-date via the Harvard website.

Thank you for your understanding. We hope you are able to attend the conference next year, please sign-up to receive information about the 2021 conference.

Conference Presenters
Conference Schedule
View a PDF of the conference program book

2020 Annual Bioethics Conference Program Book

The 2020 Annual Bioethics Conference will explore the potential of biotechnology to drive and shape the future of clinical care and research, and how ethics interacts with biotechnology in medicine, and consider multiple approaches to how we might ensure that biotechnology continues to evolve ethically.

The practice of medicine over the course of the last fifty years has changed dramatically. Novel technological developments will continue to generate new discoveries, therapies, and patient outcomes. Recent advances in intertwined areas, such as stem cell-based bioengineering, organoid technology, low-cost personal genome sequencing, machine learning, and human genome editing have the potential to create more effective, personalized medical treatments. But as we progress toward this biotechnologically-driven medical future, we must consider how ethical values can shape these advancements and vice versa.

Registration is $50 for two days of programing.

Sign-up here for email updates about the conference schedule, presenters, and registration information.

  • Call for Posters

    Abstract Submission Has Closed

    The annual bioethics conference planning committee is pleased to announce that abstracts for posters are now being accepted.

    Abstracts may be based on scientific research, ethics, or policy. Poster abstracts will be accepted on a rolling basis with the first review beginning on January 1, 2020. The final abstract deadline is March 2, 2020 at 5 p.m. ET. Abstracts will be selected by the committee and presenters will be notified by email if their abstract was selected.

    Selected presenters should have their posters printed in a 36 x 42 inch size format. Posters will be displayed during the conference on Monday, March 9, and Tuesday, March 10. Presenters are expected to share their findings with conference attendees during a one-hour poster discussion period on Monday, March 9 and during the one-hour lunch breaks on each day of the conference.

    Requirements:

    • A completed web form
    • A single PDF document containing a one-page written description of your poster (your abstract) to include:
      • Title of project/presentation in CAPITAL LETTERS at the top of the page.
      • Your name including earned degree(s) and professional licensure (if applicable).
      • Professional or academic title(s).
      • Professional or academic affiliation(s).
      • Co-author (if applicable).
      • Your email address for conference attendees to request additional project information.
      • A description of your fieldwork, research, or other bioethics project in fewer than 300 words including:
        • Statement of purpose and/or aims of the research (and context if relevant)
        • Research questions and/or hypotheses
        • Significance
        • Approach/method/strategy
        • Key findings
        • Importance/implications

  • About the Harvard Annual Bioethics Conference

    The Harvard Medical School Annual Bioethics Conference convenes leaders in the field to explore ethical questions and concerns in healthcare. Held each spring, this conference facilitates conversations among experts, and supports members of ethics committees, health care professionals, bioethicists, administrators, attorneys, and others who are interested in addressing ethical issues.

PAST ANNUAL BIOETHICS CONFERENCES
2019: Controlling Death: The policies, practices, and ethics of choosing when we die
2018: Defining Death: Organ transplantation and the 50-year legacy of the Harvard report on "brain death"
2017: The Ethics of "Making Babies"
2016: Social Justice and Ethics Committees in Health Care

The Harvard Annual Bioethics Conference is hosted and organized by the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School and co-sponsored by the Hastings Center and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.

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