UNIVERSITY NEWS - OCTOBER 2004

FAU Hosts Public Seminar on Stem Cell Research

BOCA RATON, FL (October 18, 2004) - Florida Atlantic University's Division of Research and Graduate Studies presented "Stem Cells: Science, Ethics and Public Policy," an educational seminar exploring issues relevant to stem cell research. The seminar, which was free and open to the public, was held on Monday, October 18, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the University Theatre, located in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters on FAU's Boca Raton campus. This event was co-presented by the Florida Catholic Conference.

The seminar addressed various aspects of stem cell research from scientific, legal, ethical and religious perspectives. Each panelist made a 10-minute presentation, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Seminar panelists included Dr. Larry F. Lemanski, vice president for Research and Graduate Studies at FAU; Father Tadeusz (Tad) Pacholczyk, director of Education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia; Bernard Siegel, an attorney and executive director of the Genetics Policy Institute in Coral Gables, FL; Dr. Alan L. Berger, Raddock Eminent Scholar Chair for Holocaust Studies at FAU; and Dr. Robin N. Fiore, Adelaide R. Snyder Professor of Ethics at FAU.

Dr. Lemanski, vice president of research at FAU since 2001, is a professor of biomedical sciences, biology and chemistry. He is a prolific researcher in the fields of cellular, molecular and developmental biology with more than 280 research publications, book chapters and proceedings to his credit. His studies, involving cellular and molecular analyses of the proteins in the embryonic hearts of animals, have been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health over 27 years.

Rev. Dr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, newly appointed director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, is a Roman Catholic priest with a Ph.D. degree in neuroscience from Yale University, where his research focused on cloning genes for neurotransmitter transporters that are expressed in the brain. For several years, he worked as a molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and went on to study dogmatic theology and bioethics in Rome for five years. He has given presentations and participated in roundtables around the country on stem cells, cloning and other biotechnologies.

Bernard Siegel is the founder and executive director of the Genetics Policy Institute. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Miami and was a trial attorney for most of his career. He has been a member of the Florida Bar for nearly three decades. A recognized authority on human cloning and stem cell policy, Siegel has appeared on the CBS Evening News, CNN, CNN International, MSNBC, CTV and network news broadcasts around the world including Japan, Russia and the Republic of Korea.

Dr. Alan L. Berger has occupied the Raddock Eminent Scholar Chair for Holocaust Studies, the first Holocaust chair established in Florida, since its inception in 1995. He also directs both the Holocaust and Judaic Studies undergraduate program and the Center for the Study of Values and Violence after Auschwitz at FAU. Berger is the author or editor of a number of books dealing with the impact of the Holocaust in the modern world, and the psycho-social and theological legacy of the Holocaust on the second generation - the children of survivors.

Dr. Robin N. Fiore is an associate professor of philosophy at FAU where she teaches moral philosophy, political philosophy and applied ethics research ethics, biomedical ethics, environmental ethics, and business and professional ethics. She is a member of the Board of the Florida Bioethics Network and co-director of the South Florida Environmental Ethics Consortium, a collaborative regional educational effort linking educational institutions, clinicians and practitioners, governmental agencies and community groups.

For more information on the educational seminar, contact Florida Atlantic University's Division of Research and Graduate Studies at 561-297-0888.

-FAU-