Emerging Policy and Ethical Implications from Neuroscience, Genetics & the Microbiome

press release: Thanks to technological advances, researchers know more about the human microbiome, a person's genetic makeup, and the human brain than anyone could have imagined decades earlier. This knowledge brings with it great potential but also challenges for policy.

The La Follette School's 2018 Symposium will explore what researchers have learned about each of these breakthroughs and the resulting challenges. 

The three-hour event will feature three sessions.

• The Potential of Brain Science to Inform Public and Poverty Policy with Professor of Social Work Katherine Magnuson and Professor of Economics, Population Health Sciences, and Public Affairs Bobbi Wolfe. Both are with UW-Madison.
• Integrating Genetics with Health and Education Research and Its Policy Implications with Dan Belsky, assistant professor of population health sciences at Duke University, and Jason Fletcher, professor of public affairs and sociology at UW-Madison.
• Genetic and Microbial Data Informing Policy Research, and Ethical Issues with UW-Madison Professors Pam Herd (public affairs and sociology) and Alta Charo (law and bioethics).

The symposium also is sponsored by UW-Madison's Center for Demography and Ecology, Center for Demography of Health & Aging, and Institute for Research on Poverty. Registration is appreciated but not required via this online form.