Tag: recent publications

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

pfc-web-logoCheck out the May 28th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

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NEW EVENT!

glassesofwine_slidePetrie-Flom / Center for Bioethics Reception at ASLME 38th Annual Health Law Professors Conference

June 4, 2015 7:30 – 9:30 PM
Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark
1 South Broadway, St. Louis, MO

Come learn more about the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School at this jointly-hosted dessert reception at the 2015 annual ASLME Health Law Professors Conference.

We hope to see you there!

For more information, please contact Brooke Tempesta at Brooke_Tempesta@hms.harvard.edu.

For more on news and events at Petrie-Flom, see the full newsletter.

New paper on cross-disciplinary collaboration

Timo Minssen Leave a comment

By Timo Minssen

The nature of today’s most vital challenges and funding policies are driving more and more researchers towards interdisciplinary work. But what are the essential tools for those breaking the silos and leaving the comfort zones of their own disciplines?

Some advice on how to address the particular challenges and opportunities in interdisciplinary research are described in our recent paper “Ten Simple Rules for a Successful Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration” published in the online open access journal PLOS Computational Biology last month. Please find below and abstract of the paper, which has inter alia been discussed and cited by Times Higher Education.

Abstract:

Cross-disciplinary collaborations have become an increasingly important part of science. They are seen as a key factor for finding solutions to pressing societal challenges on a global scale including green technologies, sustainable food production and drug development. This has also been realized by regulators and policy-makers, as it is reflected in the 80 billion Euro “Horizon 2020” EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. This programme puts special emphasis at breaking down barriers between fields to create a path breaking environment for knowledge, research and innovation.

However, igniting and successfully maintaining cross-disciplinary collaborations can be a delicate task. In this article we focus on the specific challenges associated with cross-disciplinary research in particular from the perspective of the theoretician. As research fellows of the 2020 Science project and collaboration partners, we bring broad experience of developing interdisciplinary collaborations [2–12]. We intend this guide for early career computational researchers as well as more senior scientists who are entering a cross disciplinary setting for the first time. We describe the key benefits, as well as some possible pitfalls, arising from collaborations between scientists with backgrounds in very different fields.

Proposed citation:

Knapp B, Bardenet R, Bernabeu MO, Bordas R, Bruna M, Minssen T, et al. (2015) Ten Simple Rules for a Successful Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration. PLoS Comput Biol 11(4): e1004214. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004214

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

Check out the May 15th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

Featured in this edition:

brain_pain_slide_270_174_85REGISTER NOW!
Visible Solutions: How Neuroimaging Helps Law Re-envision Pain

June 30, 2015, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West A
Harvard Law School,
1585 Massachusetts Ave.,
Cambridge, MA [Map]

Can brain imaging be a “pain-o-meter” that tells courts when a person is in pain?  Can fMRI help us discern whether intractable chronic pain is “all in your head” or all in the brain – or will it require us to reconsider that distinction? Leading neuroscientists, legal scholars, and bioethicists will debate standards and limits on how the law can use brain science to get smarter about a subject that touches everyone.

Agenda

The full agenda will be announced in the coming weeks. Check back here for news!

Registration

This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is required. Register now!

This event is part of the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Cosponsored by the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School, and with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund. 

 For more on news and events at Petrie-Flom, see the full newsletter.

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

Check out the April 17th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

Featured in this edition:

PFC Logo-RGB-Round-Otlns-NewApply Now!
2015-2016 Petrie-Flom Student Fellowships

The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics is an interdisciplinary research program at Harvard Law School dedicated to the scholarly research of important issues at the intersection of law and health policy, including issues of health care financing and market regulation, biotechnology and intellectual property, biomedical research, and bioethics. The Student Fellowship Program is designed to support student research in these areas. More information on our current fellows and their work, is available on this website.

Eligibility: The student fellowship program is open to all Harvard graduate students who will be enrolled at the University during the fellowship year and who are committed to undertaking a significant research project and fulfilling other program requirements.  Although the fellowship is open to all graduate students, including those in one-year programs, we encourage those who are in multi-year programs at Harvard to wait until after their first year to apply.
Resources: The Center will award each fellow a $1,500 stipend, paid at the end of the academic year once all fellowship requirements (including submission of an acceptable paper) are completed. Additionally, fellows may be eligible to request additional funding to cover reasonable costs associated with their research projects (e.g., copying, publications, conference fees, travel).
Application: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until 9AM, Friday, August 7, 2015. Notifications of awards will be made by August 21, 2015.

View the full requirements and application instructions on the call for applications.

 For more on news and events at Petrie-Flom, see the full newsletter.

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

PFC_Banner_DrkBlueCheck out the March 20th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

Featured in this edition:

KIngKing v. Burwell and the Future of the Affordable Care Act

April 1, 2015

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East B
Harvard Law School
1585 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

A full agenda is available on our website. Register here!

This Term, in King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court will consider whether the Affordable Care Act permits the government to extend tax-credit subsidies to citizens of states that have chosen not to establish their own insurance exchange. If the Court rules that these subsidies are not permitted under the law, the fallout will be extensive and possibly devastating to state insurance markets, and countless local, state, and federal actors will have to decide how to move forward.  This event will bring together scholars and practitioners in the fields of law, public health, and economics to evaluate the oral argument in the case and consider how the Court is likely to rule before exploring the likely impacts of a decision against the government and finally beginning to build groundwork for politically-viable fixes at all levels of public and private involvement.

This event is supported by the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund.

For more on news and events at Petrie-Flom, see the full newsletter.

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

PFC_Banner_DrkBlueCheck out the March 6th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

Featured in this edition:

KIngKing v. Burwell and the Future of the Affordable Care Act

April 1, 2015

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East B
Harvard Law School
1585 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

A full agenda is available on our website. Register here!

This Term, in King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court will consider whether the Affordable Care Act permits the government to extend tax-credit subsidies to citizens of states that have chosen not to establish their own insurance exchange. If the Court rules that these subsidies are not permitted under the law, the fallout will be extensive and possibly devastating to state insurance markets, and countless local, state, and federal actors will have to decide how to move forward.  This event will bring together scholars and practitioners in the fields of law, public health, and economics to evaluate the oral argument in the case and consider how the Court is likely to rule before exploring the likely impacts of a decision against the government and finally beginning to build groundwork for politically-viable fixes at all levels of public and private involvement.

This event is supported by the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund.

For more on news and events at Petrie-Flom, see the full newsletter.

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

PFC_Banner_DrkBlueCheck out the February 20th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

Featured in this edition:

child_pediatrician_slide_270_200_85_c1FREE REGISTRATION!
Families Matter: Ethically, Legally, and Clinically

March 18 – 20, 2015
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

We often talk, in bioethics, about individual autonomy.  Yet our most challenging ethical, legal and clinical controversies in health care often center around family roles and responsibilities: How should we handle parents’ refusals of medically recommended treatment or, conversely, parents’ requests to medicate or surgically alter their children?  What should be known, and by whom, about a child’s genome, especially when genetic information effects other family members?  What weight should be given to family interests in decisions about a child’s health care?  How should we think about 3-parent embryos? Gamete donors? Gestational mothers? What rights and responsibilities should fathers have with regard to decisions about abortion and adoption, for example, as well as health care decisions for their offspring?  Health care decisions might be messier, but maybe they would also be better if we gave more attention to family matters, and how families matter. Read More

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

PFC_Banner_DrkBlueCheck out the February 6th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

Featured in this edition:

genderreassignment_slideGender (Re)assignment:Legal, Ethical, and Conceptual Issues

Tuesday, February 10, 2015, 12:00 PM

Pound Hall 102 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA [Map]

Trans and intersex individuals face a series of legal, medical, and social challenges. This panel explores these overlapping issues, including: healthcare coverage of treatments such as gender reassignment therapy, the legal recognition of trans identities, intersexuality, and asexuality.  Join us for a wide-ranging panel discussion. Panelists include: Noa Ben-Asher, Elizabeth F. Emens, Gerald L. Neuman, Matthew J.B. Lawrence, and I. Glenn Cohen.

For more on news and events at Petrie-Flom, see the full newsletter.

Check out the latest news from the Petrie-Flom Center!

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

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Happy New Year! Check out the January 9th edition of the Petrie-Flom Center’s biweekly e-newsletter for the latest on events, affiliate news and scholarship, and job and fellowship opportunities in health law policy and bioethics.

Featured in this edition:

Harvard Law School 2013-05-03 Petrie-Flom Center Food ConferenceOutbreak: Developing New Medical Products for Epidemics, A lecture by Peter Hutt                                Thursday, January 15, 2015, 12:30 PM                         Hauser Hall 102,                                     1575 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

 

The recent outbreak of Ebola has called attention to the substantial difficulties associated with developing and testing new products for time-sensitive epidemics. What are the legal, ethical, and economic barriers to getting essential treatments and preventative measures from the lab into the hands of patients – and how can they be overcome?

Please join the Petrie-Flom Center for a discussion of these issues by Peter Barton Hutt, Partner at Covington & Burling, LLP, and Lecturer on Law at HLS. Rachel Sachs, Petrie-Flom Center Academic Fellow, will respond.

For more on news and events at Petrie-Flom, see the full newsletter.

A Physician Fights Surgery

laurenataylor Leave a comment

Physician and bioethicist Carla C. Keirns described the potentially dangerous impact of medicalization on her own childbirth in the Narrative Matters section of Health Affairs this month. A segment of that writing was reproduced in the Washington Post yesterday.

In each piece, Keirns outlines the challenges she faced in vaginally delivering her son in a hospital environment that seemed committed to performing a caesarian section. Particularly given Keirns’ expertise in and familiarity with health care, the lack of patient-centered care in the story is striking. Several staff suggested that surgery was a foregone conclusion while others appeared unprepared for her son’s long-awaited arrival.

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