New Directions in Adult Stem Cell Research and Ethical Considerations to be Addressed at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture and the Biology Department at the College of the Holy Cross will host a program of events titled “Stem Cells: Science and Ethics” on Thursday, March 27 at the College.  All of the day’s events are free and open to the public.

12:30-1:30 p.m., O’Neil Hall 112 Lecture: “Fibroblast – the ultimate stem cell?” Tanja Dominko, founder and president of CellThera, Inc. and research assistant professor of biology and biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, will give a presentation about her research on converting adult human cells into induced pluripotent cells (iPCs). These cells are similar to adult stem cells and have regained the ability to form various tissues. She will discuss the potential use of these iPC cells for patient-specific regeneration of tissues. If successful, this approach could skew healing outcome from scar formation to restoration of tissue function.

Dominko earned her Ph.D. in endocrinology and reproductive physiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center in Portland, Ore., as a staff scientist, and as a senior research scientist with Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester. In 2002 she founded CellThera, Inc., which develops new strategies for treatment of degenerative diseases that do not rely on embryonic stem cells. 3-4 p.m., Hogan Crossroads Coffee and Conversation Have questions about stem cell research? Everyone is invited for an informal chat with Tanja Dominko and Audrey Chapman, Healey Professor of Medical Humanities and Ethics at the University of Connecticut Health Center. 6-7 p.m., Rehm Library Poster Session Posters will be presented by students in the Molecular Biology and Contemporary Society class, taught by Cara Constance, assistant professor of biology and organizer of the event.  Individual student work is based on scientific topics, information and research explored in class. 7-8 p.m., Rehm Library Lecture: “The Ethical Complexities of Stem Cell Research” Audrey Chapman, Healey Professor of Medical Humanities and Ethics at the University of Connecticut Health Center, will give a presentation about the ethical complexities of stem cell research, variously characterized as one of the most promising but also one of the most morally and politically contentious contemporary scientific developments.  Her talk will evaluate the rationale for engaging in human embryonic stem cell research, whether current breakthroughs in reprogramming adult cells eliminate the need for doing so, and will identify ethical dilemmas related to research with any of the embryonic stem cell lines. She will also address questions regarding what kinds of ethical and scientific oversight the research requires, and how we can develop the field to promote maximum human benefit.

Chapman earned her Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University and graduate degrees in theology and ethics from New York Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary. She has published 16 books and numerous articles on topics related to bioethics, human rights, religious ethics, and intellectual property. She has had faculty appointments at Barnard College, Columbia University, the University of Ghana, and the University of Nairobi. She has also taught courses at New York Theological Seminary, Wesley Theological Seminary, Andover Newton Seminary, and Georgetown University.