FACULTY NEWSProf. Susan Wolf to Speak at University of Virginia on Genetics & Law On May 22, Prof. Susan Wolf will lecture at the University of Virginia’s Conference on Genetics & the Law. She will be speaking on “The Debate Over the Return of Results & Incidental Findings.” Prof. Wolf’s current work on this is funded by NIH and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As a funded investigator, she also participates in the NIH/NHGRI Return of Results (RoR) Consortium, meeting the following day in Rockville, MD.
 Prof. Susan Wolf publishes new book on end-of-life care Oxford University Press has just published a new book by Nancy Berlinger, Bruce Jennings, and Prof. Susan Wolf on termination of life-sustaining treatment and care of the dying. This book is the result of a 5-year process involving experts from across the country to revise and substantially expand The Hastings Center’s groundbreaking guidelines on end-of-life care first published in 1987. Prof. Wolf served as principal author of those guidelines, used and cited widely, including by Justice O’Connor in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Cruzan decision. The new guidelines fully revise and update the book, to address death and dying in an era of health care reform. The book now considers end-of life care for children, the role of disability, advances in palliative care, plus debates over assisted suicide and euthanasia. For more on The Hastings Center Guidelines for Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment and Care Near the End of Life, 2d ed. (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2013). Prof. Susan Wolf publishes in Science on Gene Sequencing Debate Science has just published online ahead of print an article by Susan M. Wolf, George J. Annas (Boston University), and Sherman Elias (Northwestern University) on a major controversy over how to handle incidental findings in medical genomic sequencing. Their article on “Patient Autonomy and Incidental Findings in Clinical Genomics” argues that the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) made a serious mistake when it issued a practice statement in March insisting that clinical sequencing for any medical indication should add analysis of 57 extra genes to look for disease-causing variants, even if the patient does not want this and even if the patient is a child. Wolf et al. argue that the ACMG statement and its subsequent “clarification” in April reject long-established legal and ethical principles of patient autonomy and the “right not to know” unwanted genetic information. Prof. Wolf’s article is accompanied by a response from Amy McGuire (Baylor College of Medicine) and colleagues, entitled “Ethics and Genomic Incidental Findings.” Two of those authors were co-authors of the March ACMG statement.
BIOETHICS IN THE MEDIASusan Wolf is quoted regarding genetic testing in LiveScience.com. Carl Elliott’s open letter to Governor Mark Dayton regarding U of M research case scrutiny appeared in the StarTribune.
Leigh Turner, PhD, is quoted in the Wall Street Journal regarding Mayo Clinic. Carl Elliott, MD, PhD, letter to the editor regarding research subjects appeared in the Minnesota Daily.
Steven Miles, MD, is featured in an article in MinnPost regarding bioethics and gun policy. Carl Elliott, MD, PhD, is quoted in MinnPost. An article by Carl Elliott, MD, PhD, regarding the need for investigating research scandal at the U appeared in MinnPost.
| STUDENT NEWS Rick Weinmeyer presented the 2013 MA Bioethics Graduation Speech, excerpt from his speech.
"Our faculty members are on the cutting edge of bioethical inquiry, and have held themselves out as advocates for the public good, both in terms of public activism and scholarly contributions. Whether they’ve taken on the issue of doctors participating in torture, the exclusion of pregnant women from clinical research, or called for this very academic institution to closely examine its own moral legitimacy, they have conducted their work with utmost integrity and passion."
 Congratulations to Center for Bioethics former intern Eleanor Gilmore-Szott! Eleanor recently interned with the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Her research and development of educational materials supported the work of the Commission staff on the report “Safeguarding Children: Pediatric Medical Countermeasure Research.”
Allison Whelan, a Bioethics MA student and joint degree  student in Law, Health & the Life Sciences program has been hired to work as a Summer Associate for the Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Allison is one of two candidates selected from over 130 nationwide applicants. She will be working in the Law Department, assisting attorneys with health care regulation, innovations, research and education, and litigation. Allison will also attend meetings with Cleveland Clinic’s Ethics Committee and the Institutional Review Board.
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