GRTC Lecture Series
New gene(-editing) therapies and Justice – the challenges of access, equity and sustainability
It is our pleasure to invite you to the upcoming talk in the GRTC Lecture Series, featuring Dr. Oliver Feeney from the University of Tübingen.
🔗 Zoom Link: https://med-uni-tuebingen-de.zoom-x.de/j/66960639584?pwd=9hWXZJ92FBS26PXavhahdGQZbzKSok.1
🔑 Meeting ID: 669 6063 9584
🔒 Passcode: 243074
Talk Title: New gene(-editing) therapies and Justice – the challenges of access, equity and sustainability
Abstract: Recent breakthroughs in genomic technologies have transformed human therapeutics, but they also raise complex questions about access, equity, and the sustainability of justice. Dr. Feeney will critically evaluate current debates on justice in gene-editing therapies, distinguishing between well-grounded considerations and overly idealistic assumptions, and will place these therapies within the broader context of justice in healthcare and innovation. Moreover, the speaker will address key factors influencing justice in gene-editing therapies, including differences in technical methods (ex vivo vs. in vivo), infrastructural and geographical variations in capacity and core costs of ethical and effective clinical trials, the idea versus reality of intellectual property and incentivising innovation, the role of public funds, as well as taking account of new challenges in international governance and regulation arising from the USA.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Oliver Feeney is a researcher in the Ethics of Genome Editing Research Unit at the Institute of Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tübingen. He specializes in the ethical, legal, and social (justice) implications of biomedical technologies. His work particularly examines the ethics and governance of genome editing; ethics of human enhancement; polarisation and trust in science and medicine, and the ethical and social justice considerations of patents in new gene editing technologies. As part of the European university network "CIVIS – Europe’s Civic University Alliance," he successfully organized the annual CIVIS Blended Intensive Programme on the science, ethics, and governance of human genome editing from 2022 to 2025, bringing together students from across Europe. He is currently an active member of the working group on regulation within the COST Action (CA21113) Genome Editing for the Treatment of Human Disease Network (GeneHumdi). Additionally, he has served on the Royal Irish Academy’s Life and Health Sciences Committee since 2018, where he has led working groups focused on genomics and bioethics. For more information on his activities and publications, please see: https://www.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/de/das-klinikum/mitarbeiter/profil/3936
Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues or others who may be interested in attending.
We are looking forward to your participation!
