UW-Madison is sponsoring a capstone event to bring the campus and community together around the important questions regarding race, research involving human subjects and the business of commercializing human-derived biomaterials raised in the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Co-sponsored by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, UW Law School, the UW-Madison Libraries and WARF, this free 2-day conference features discussions, keynote lectures and films. See the detailed agenda.
Highlights on Friday, April 15 include an exploration of who owns human specimens and materials and why it matters, a keynote lecture by Ruth Faden, Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics on the controversies raised in the Skloot book, and a showing of “Made in India” (as seen at the Wisconsin Film Festival) followed by a moderated discussion.
On Saturday, April 16 panelists including UW-Madison’s Alta Charo, Pilar Ossorio and Norm Fost will explore whether Henrietta Lacks and her cells would meet with the same fate in today’s environment. The day will conclude with a keynote lecture by Vanessa Northington Gamble, University Professor of Medical Humanities at the George Washington University entitled, “Henrietta Lacks Beyond Her Cells: Race, Racism, and American Medicine,” and additional film showing and discussion following.
Registration is preferred for this free event.