University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks named the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences one of 8 Interdisciplinary Academic Initiatives in his October 2003 State of the University Address. In 2006 President Bruininks named Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost E. Thomas Sullivan as head of the Consortium's Initiative. We are delighted to have Provost Sullivan at the helm and benefit greatly from his guidance.
In 2008-09, Presidential Initiative funding allowed the Consortium to:- publish the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology;
- offer intramural grant funding to further work on the societal implications of the life sciences by Consortium member centers, plus programs and departments participating in the Joint Degree Program;
- host our 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner with keynote address by Prof. Arthur Caplan, PhD (University of Pennsylvania);
- host our groundbreaking 10th Anniversary Conference on "What's Next in Law and the Life Sciences? Debating Openness, Access & Accountability," with keynote address delivered by Prof. Larry Gostin, JD (Georgetown University/Johns Hopkins University)";
- offer events open to the public such as the Lecture Series on Law, Health & the Life Sciences; and
- host the 2008-09 Visiting Consortium Professor Prof. David L. Faigman, JD (UC, Hastings College of the Law).
The Consortium responds to the most challenging legal and ethical questions of the 21st century: questions posed by biomedicine and the life sciences. These are questions that require a new kind of cross-disciplinary work fully marrying legal, ethical, and scientific expertise. The University's commitment to grappling with these emerging and complex questions is part of its land-grant legacy of serving the people of Minnesota, the country, and the world.
The Consortium links 18 of the University's leading programs and centers, leveraging the University's strengths in the life sciences, biomedicine, law, bioethics, and public policy to do cutting-edge work on the societal implications of the life sciences.
The Consortium's partner program, the Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences, offers 23 degree combinations, allowing exceptional students to combine a law degree with a wide range of graduate and professional degrees in the life sciences, biomedicine, and environmental studies. The Presidential Initiative allowed the Consortium to launch the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology; increase our capacity to seek and manage externally funded grants; create a Visiting Consortium Professor position to bring to campus and the community each year a prominent scholar focusing on the societal implications of the life sciences; support work on the implications of the life sciences by Consortium members and Joint Degree Program partners; and continue extensive programming including a lecture series and an annual conference.
The Consortium is grateful to the Office of the President and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost for their support and confidence. More information on all of the Presidential Initiatives may be found at www1.umn.edu/pres/01_initiatives.html. More information about the University's commitment to interdisciplinary research and studies can be found at www.interdisciplinary.umn.edu/index.
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship
Kimberly Thomas-Pollei, PhD candidate in Technical Communications, Department of Writing, has been awarded a one-year Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship funded by the Graduate School. In 2008-09 Ms. Thomas-Pollei will work with the Consortium as part of her research on "Interrogating Patent Law and Commodification of Genetic Risk: Myriad Genetics' BRACAnalysis and the Production of Subjectivity."
Ms. Thomas-Pollei's project is an interdisciplinary research project examining ethical, legal, and social issues arising out of advances in genetics and analyzing the effects of patenting and commercialization of genetic sequences. She is investigating the relationships among science, technology, patenting, industry, and social identity using the ongoing controversy regarding BRCA1 & 2 gene patents as a case study.
This Fellowship is intended by the Graduate School to provide a unique study opportunity for top PhD students whose research and scholarly interests complement those of one of the University-wide, interdisciplinary research centers or institutes.
For more information on the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship, visit www.grad.umn.edu/.
