Friday, September 24, 2010
4:00- 6PM
Redux or Remix: Cultural integrity in the Era of Neuroethics. Technology and Globalization
Abstract
Issues of race, culture, and identity are becoming more accentuated as research, policies and people’s daily lives become more globalized. Within this context, deciphering the complexities of neuroethical issues raised when conducting culturally responsive research, clinical practices, and science policies are growing. Race, ethnicity, and culture are ubiquitous in every aspect of individuals’ and groups’ thoughts, behaviors, attitudes and perceptions. When understanding culturally integrity, questions are raised to how meanings of race, group, and self identities influence ethical decisionmaking in neuroscience research, clinical practice, and policymaking. What does it mean to have cultural integrity? With the growing scientific and technological advances in the neurosciences, how are cultural integrity and cultural values weighed when faced with neuroethical dilemmas and decisions? Using a US and China comparative model, ways of understanding, how racial, social, and cultural perspectives and norms influence neuroethics and cultural integrity conversations will be explored.Speaker Information
Vivian Ota Wang, Ph.D.
Prof. Vivian Ota Wang is a Program Director at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the National Institutes of Health. She is currently responsible for the management and oversight of NHGRI and the National Cancer Institute/ NHGRI Cancer Genome Atlas controlled access genotype/phenotype datasets. Previously, she served as an (NIH) Agency Representative to the Executive Office of the President’s National Science and Technology Council for the Bush and Obama administrations, where she was responsible for developing federal interagency science R & D, ethical, legal, and social policies and leading public outreach and participation activities for nanoscale science and nanotechnology. She also served as a Senior Advisor to the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research-NIH Director and as a Program Director of the NHGRI-NIH Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Research Program. Prior to joining NIH, she held tenure-track faculty positions at Rutgers, Arizona State, and Vanderbilt universities where she maintained a research program focused on race and racial identity issues related to research ethics, program development and evaluation, and public and community engagement with underserved and under-represented people and communities. Dr. Ota Wang has served on national and international advisory committees, review panels and editorial boards for US Federal agencies, professional organizations, and international organizations including the US Department of Agriculture, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to name a few. She was a voting member on the Food and Drug Administration’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee for Isosorbide dinitrate/ hydralazine (BiDil), the first FDA approved “race-specific” drug. She currently serves on the APA Committee on Human Research and is their Ethics Committee Liaison. Dr. Ota Wang’s has been awarded a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, two National Institutes of Health Directors Awards, numerous NHGRI Merit Awards, the Colorado College Louis T. Benezet Award for outstanding achievement, excellence through unusual success or contributions, the Asian American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Contributions Award, and the American Psychological Association’s Meritorious Research Service Commendation and the Teachers College-Columbia University Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Ota Wang received a BA in Biology from Colorado College, an MS in Genetic Counseling from the University of Colorado and an MPhil and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University. She is a Fellow of the American Medical Association’s American College of Medical Genetics, a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Genetics, a Diplomate of the American Board of Genetic Counseling, a Clinical Laboratory Specialist in Cytogenetics and a licensed psychologist.
For additional information, tentative schedule, media access, or to register, please contact Guillermo Palchik at gpalchik@ccnelsi.com