Events

Past Event

Eric T. Juengst - Moral Trajectories in Genomic Medicine: From Personalized Medicine to Precision Prevention and Wellness Genomics?

December 17, 2018
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
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Presbyterian Hospital Building (Room 10-204), Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, New York

Event Description:

The application of translational genomic research to health care was initially heralded as offering a new vision of “personalized genomic medicine” that would tailor care to patients’ molecular profiles and empower them to take more active roles. As this movement evolves, odd things are happening. First, the effort to make genomic findings ‘actionable’ has led to the movement’s rebranding as “precision medicine,” seeking integration of genomic risk data with patients’ social histories and environmental exposures. Meanwhile, the same genomic variation studies that fuel the drive to individualization are reorienting the field from individuals to populations, suggesting group-targeted “precision prevention” designed to redress health disparities. Finally, as we learn more about genomic variants associated with beneficial traits, “wellness genomics” aspires go beyond traditional healthcare altogether, to help people with their personal and social goals. As each of these trajectories unfolds, it is important for "all of us" to anticipate and address their ethical pitfalls. 

Event Speaker

Eric T. Juengst, PhD is Director of the UNC Center for Bioethics and a Professor in the Departments of Social Medicine and Genetics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

Event Information:

This event is hosted by the Center for Research on Ethical/Legal/Social Implications of Psychiatric, Neurologic & Behavioral Genetics in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. 

For further information or to convey suggestions about future speakers, contact Paul S. Appelbaum, MD, Department of Psychiatry, at 646-774-8630 or [email protected].