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Professor Françoise Baylis of Dalhousie University will present “Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing” as part of the McDonald-Merrill-Ketcham Award Lecture on Friday, February 14 at the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

The annual lecture and award are presented by the Hall Center for Law and Health. The event begins with a light lunch at 11:30 a.m., followed by the lecture and panel discussion beginning at noon. This is a free event, but registration is required.

Professor Baylis is a philosopher whose innovative work in bioethics, at the intersection of policy and practice, has stretched the very boundaries of the field.  Her work challenges readers to think broadly and deeply about the direction of health, science and biotechnology. It aims to move the limits of mainstream bioethics and develop more effective ways to understand and tackle public policy challenges in Canada and abroad.

A public intellectual for the modern age, Professor Baylis brings her ethical sensibilities, informed by best practices, theory and common sense, to a wide range of public issues. She is a frequent guest on CBC and Radio Canada and the author of many news stories with a “behind the scenes” look at ethical issues.

Professor Baylis is University Research Professor, NTE Impact Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University. She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In 2017 she was awarded the Canadian Bioethics Society Lifetime Achievement Award.

Discussion panelists include:

Emily Munson, ’17, MA, JD, LLM, an Indianapolis attorney with a passion for disability rights and health law, leading the employment practice group at Indiana Disability Rights. Prior to that, Munson was an attorney and administrative law judge for Indiana's Family & Social Services administration.

In 2017, Munson graduated with distinction from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law with her LL.M. in Health Law, Policy & Bioethics. Her thesis addressed patient autonomy in the context of traumatic, disabling injury. In 2010, Munson earned her J.D. with a health law concentration and M.A. in Philosophy. She graduated with honors from Hanover College in 2006.

Tyler T. Cho, Ph.D., J.D., a patent attorney assisting clients in intellectual property matters, including drafting and prosecuting U.S. and international patent applications; office action responses and appeals; post-issuance proceedings; and preparing opinions on patentability and/or infringement in a variety of areas, including biotechnology, small molecule pharmaceutical agents and biologics, diagnostic tests, and medical/dental devices. He specializes in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological arts. His in-depth experience in biochemistry gives him unique insight into various types of patentable products and processes, particularly in the health and biosciences sector.

Peter H. Schwartz, MD, Ph.D., Director, IU Center for Bioethics, Associate Professor of Medicine and Scholar in Bioethics, IU School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Philosophy, IU School of Liberal Arts, at IUPUI. He directs the IU Center for Bioethics and the Bioethics and Subject Advocacy Program of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, and he co-leads the Behavioral Science and Ethics pillar of the IU Precision Health Initiative. 

The annual MMK Lectureship and Award is supported by a bequest to the IU McKinney School of Law and the Indiana University School of Medicine. This lecture and award bring leading scholars and policy makers in the fields of law and medicine to the Indianapolis campus for the benefit of students, faculty, the bar, and the medical community.