University of Illinois at Chicago Office of Public Affairs (MC 288)
601 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607-7113, (312) 996-3456, www.uic.edu/depts/paff

Sept. 25, 2001

Contact: Bill Burton (312) 996-2269; burton@uic.edu

CHAIR OF BUSH'S BIOETHICS PANEL TO SPEAK AT UIC

Dr. Leon Kass, named last month by President Bush to chair a new President's Council on Bioethics, will give a talk entitled "Is There A Medical Ethic?" at the University of Illinois at Chicago Sept. 26.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is at 12:30 p.m. in Room 221 of the UIC College of Medicine, 1853 W. Polk St. A reception will follow the lecture.

The President's Council on Bioethics is charged with studying the human and moral ramifications of developments in biomedical and behavioral science and technology. The council will study such issues as embryo and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, genetic screening, gene therapy, euthanasia, psychoactive drugs and brain implants.

Kass is the Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. A Chicago native, Kass earned his B.S. and M.D. degrees at the University of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Harvard University. Afterwards he did research in molecular biology at the National Institutes of Health while serving in the U.S. Public Health Service. He has been engaged for over 30 years with ethical and philosophical issues raised by biomedical advances and has more recently taken on other moral and cultural issues.

His numerous articles and books include: "Toward a More Natural Science: Biology and Human Affairs", "The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of Our Nature", "The Ethics of Human Cloning" (with James Wilson), and "Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying" (with his wife, Amy Kass). His essays in biomedical ethics have dealt with issues raised by in vitro fertilization, cloning, genetic screening and genetic technology, organ transplantation, geriatric research, euthanasia and assisted suicide. His most recent article on cloning, "Preventing a Brave New World: Why We Must Ban Human Cloning Now," appeared in the May 21 issue of The New Republic.

Kass's talk is co-sponsored by the Integritas Institute, founded in 1997 by the John Paul II Newman Center to provide a forum for the study and discussion of ethics in the professional colleges of UIC, and by the UIC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

- UIC -