The Biotechnology Policy Forum would like to announce our upcoming seminar on Thursday, November 19th at 2:00pm:

“Health Care Reform and Biomedical Innovation”

New health technologies have contributed to large increases in health care costs.  Are we getting the bang for our buck?  Should cost-control be a priority?  Or is this a futile quest for perfect health with marginal gains?

This talk will review the research on the value of new medical technologies and discuss the impact of health reform on the pace of technological innovation in medicine.

Who: Professor David H. Howard of Emory’s Rollin’s School of Public Health
When: Thursday, November 19th at 2:00pm
Where: Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience (IBB) Suddath Seminar Room 1128
Directions: http://www.ibb.gatech.edu/visitors/

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Professor David H. Howard

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David Howard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University. A health economist by training, Dr. Howard’s research employs economics and statistics to better understand physician decision-making and its implications for public policy. Dr. Howard’s current areas of research include: the impact of patients’ life expectancy on the use of cancer screening, the impact of quality and outcomes on patients’ choice of provider, and the value of medical care for cancer. Dr. Howard is also studying the impact of waiting time on transplant candidate’s choice of living versus deceased donor transplantation. Dr. Howard has acted as an advisor or consultant to MEDPAC, the American Cancer Society, the Division of Transplantation in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Howard received his doctorate in health policy from Harvard University in 2000.
We hope to see you there!
–The BBUGS Public Policy Committee

The Biotechnology Policy Forum would like to announce our upcoming seminar on Monday, June 15th at 11:00am:

“Water and Sanitation in International Development”

Who: Brooks Keene and Shadi Saboori of CARE International
When: Monday, June 15th at 11:00am
Where: Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience (IBB) Suddath Seminar Room 1128
Directions: http://www.ibb.gatech.edu/visitors/

Food and refreshments will be provided!
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Shadi Saboori:  Shadi is a Senior Research Project Coordinator working with the Center for Global Safe Water in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory.  She has coordinated data collection projects on school water, sanitation and hygiene in Kenya and community water and sanitation in Ethiopia.  She has also worked with CARE USA and Golder Associates, an environmental engineering firm based in Atlanta.  She has a degree in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from Georgia Tech.

Brooks Keene:  Brooks is a Policy Advisor for the Water Team at CARE USA and was formerly a Policy Analyst with CARE.  Among other things, he has researched water and sanitation policy in Kenyan primary schools, climate change adaptation in Niger, sexual violence in the Congo and the U.S. military’s development work in Sub-Saharan Africa. Brooks previously worked for CNN International.  Brooks has a masters degree in International Affairs from Georgia Tech.

We hope to see you there!
–The BBUGS Public Policy Committee

For more information on BBUGS BPF, contact melissa_li@gatech.edu

The Biotechnology Policy Forum would like to announce our upcoming seminar on Tuesday, April 14th at 4:00pm:

“Future Ethics and Policy in Biotechnology Education and Practices”

Who: Prof. Roberta Berry
When: Tuesday, April 14th at 4:00pm
Where: Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience (IBB) Suddath Seminar Room 1128
Directions: http://www.ibb.gatech.edu/visitors/

How are we changing graduate and undergraduate education to fit the ways in which engineering is evolving?
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Roberta M. Berry is Associate Professor and Director, Law, Science & Technology Program. Her research focuses on the legal, ethical, and policy implications of life sciences research and biotechnologies. In 2001, Prof. Berry was named Outstanding Faculty Member by the Georgia Tech Student Government Association. In 2004, she received the Ivan Allen Jr. Faculty Legacy Award and in 2005 she received the Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award.

She has published a co-edited interdisciplinary book on health care law, ethics and policy, and a number of articles focusing primarily on the implications of genetic knowledge and technologies. She has also delivered a number of papers on the legal, ethical, and policy issues posed by life sciences research and biotechnologies, and, in 2000, she served as Executive Director of the transatlantic workshop Shaping Biotechnology Policy in the 21st Century: A Joint European and American Workshop on Policy, Legal, and Ethical Issues

We hope to see you there!
–The BBUGS Public Policy Committee

The Biotechnology Policy Forum would like to announce our upcoming seminar on Wednesday, February 11th at 4:00pm:

“Nanotech and Biotech: Social Impacts of Emerging Technologies”

Who: Dr. Jan Youtie
When: Wednesday, February 11th at 4:00pm
Where: Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience (IBB) Suddath Seminar Room 1128
Directions: http://www.ibb.gatech.edu/visitors/

Due in part to the Human Genome Project, the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act was passed in 2003 to integrate social concerns into nanotechnology R&D and to encourage citizen input.  As a result, the National Science Foundation has created the Center for Nanotechnology in Society to examine the effects of nanotechnology on ethical, legal, and social issues. This presentation will discuss our approach and lead an open discussion on the implications of this approach for other emerging technologies including biotechnology.
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Dr. Jan Youtie is a principal research associate at Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute and adjunct associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy. She specializes in applied research in economic development, manufacturing modernization, and telecommunications policy areas. Dr. Youtie has been a principal investigator in studies sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Aspen Institute, the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technologies, and the Georgia Office of Planning and Budget.

We hope to see you there!
–The BBUGS Public Policy Committee

PUBP 8803 Special Topic: Biotechnology Law, Policy, and Ethics
CRN: 26403

Instructor:
Prof. Roberta Berry <http://www.spp.gatech.edu/faculty/faculty/rberry.php>

Enrollment:
Students will include Georgia Tech graduate students and GSU law students
(enrolled in concurrent GSU LAW 7098 Biotechnology Law, Policy, and Ethics).

Certificate or Minor:
This course can be counted toward a graduate minor or certificate
<http://www.spp.gatech.edu/prospective-students/ps_PhDcert.php>.

Formal Audit Available:
Please email Prof. Berry <robertaberry@gatech.edu> for information about the
level of participation required and how to register for the course as a
formal audit (a formal audit course appears on your transcript with a grade
of “V”).

Day/time:
Thursdays, 2:55pm-5:30pm

Place:
Room 104, DM Smith Building (corner of Bobby Dodd and Cherry Street).

Description:
This course examines the legal, policy, and ethical issues associated with
biotechnologies in selected topic areas, which may include genetically
modified foods, nanotechnology, xenotransplantation, artificial organs,
patenting of genes/patenting of life, stem cell research, gene therapy,
preimplantation genetic diagnosis, sex-selection reproductive technologies,
germline genetic engineering of human beings, human reproductive cloning,
and end-of-life technologies. The course will include multi-disciplinary
readings and an interactive format requiring preparation and presentation of
6 short “reaction papers” (about two paragraphs) reacting to assigned
readings for a class session and a “position paper” (about 1500 words) on a
biotechnology issue of the student’s choice.

“The World Economy on the Precipice: Causes, Implications, Prevention”

Uri Dadush, Director

Development Prospects Group

The World Bank, Washington DC

What caused the crisis?

What are the implications for the world economy and for the developing countries?
What can be done to contain the crisis and avoid its recurrence?

4:30pm Wednesday, December 3^rd, 2008

LeCraw Auditorium, Management Building, Tech Square

Uri Dadush is an expert on the World Economy with a special focus on the developing countries. Mr. Dadush received his Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University, was President of the Economist Intelligence Unit, part of The Economist Group, and has also served as a senior consultant with McKinsey and Co. He currently directs the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank, which is responsible for the analysis and projection of the world economy and its implications for the developing countries, including trends in capital flows and prices of primary commodities.

Hosted by:
The Georgia Tech Center for International Business Education & Research,

The European Union Center of Excellence

In partnership with:

The Bioengineering and Biosciences Unified Graduate Students (BBUGS) Policy Forum and The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering

Wednesday November 19th, 2008 4:00-5:00 pm

IBB Building

Suddath Seminar Room 1128

What makes a biotech idea marketable?  What would it take to turn your biomedical research into profitable products, and how can you do it?

Haskell is a science advisor in the Needle & Rosenberg Intellectual Property Practice of Ballard Spahr and a member of the Life Sciences/Technology Group.  He joined the firm after a number of years working as a Principal at a Venture Capital fund and prior to that as an analyst at Hedge Funds that specialized in biomedical securities.  Before moving to Georgia, Haskell was a senior buy-side analyst with Kilkenny Capital Management, a biomedical hedge fund in Chicago where he covered the small- to mid-cap growth stocks.   Prior to joining Kilkenny, he was a buy-side biotechnology analyst with S Squared Technology Corporation, a high-tech and healthcare hedge fund in New York.  Earlier in his career, Haskell was a researcher at the VA Medical Center in Seattle, where he led a successful team project to better understand how human leukemia genes cause cancer.
Haskell holds an MBA in finance from the Yale School of Management, a PhD in chemistry from the University of California at San Diego and the Salk Institute, and a BA with a double major in chemistry and physics from Cornell University.

We hope to see you there!
–The BBUGS Public Policy Committee

Wednesday November 12th, 2008 4:00-5:00 pm

IBB Building

Suddath Seminar Room

The president-elect has a lot to say about reforming health care to be lower cost and more accessible to more people.  What’s he up against?  Will we get there?   Learn about the American health care system, its guiding principles, its structure, its history, and predictions for its future

Ronald E. Bachman is president and CEO of Healthcare Visions.  The major goals of Healthcare Visions are to lower the number of uninsured, improve mental health coverage, develop the concept of consumer-centric Medicare and Medicaid, and advance employer introductions of healthcare consumerism.  Mr. Bachman is also a Senior Fellow of the Center for Health Transformation (CHT), a Senior Fellow at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation (GPPF), and a Senior Fellow at the Wye River Group on Health.  Ron is a retired partner from Pricewaterhouse Coopers where he consulted to a broad range of clients including: employers, HMOs, hospitals, physicians, indemnity carriers, BlueCross BlueShield plans, as well as State and Federal Agency clients.

We hope to see you there!
–The BBUGS Public Policy Committee

Wednesday October 1st, 2008 4:00-5:00 pm

IBB Building

Suddath Seminar Room

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is a leader in disease research and presides over the vastly important mission of enhancing public health and health promotion world-wide.

Dr. Lammie is the Team Leader of the Diseases Elimination and Control Group in the Division of Parasitic Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  He received his PhD from Tulane University in 1983 following doctoral research on the immunology of experimental filariasis.  His lab is working to develop new tools and strategies to monitor and evaluate the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. He is affiliated faculty with the University of Georgia and Emory University.

Tom Wang of AAAS

Tom Wang is the director of international cooperation for the American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences (AAAS). He has traveled the world with leading scientists and Nobel Laureates addressing how health and science issues shape our global community.

Food and drinks will be provided. We look forward to seeing you!

The BBUGS Biotechnology Public Policy Committee is dedicated to addressing the impacts of bioengineering and the biological sciences on society

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The Biotechnology Policy Forum would like to announce our upcoming seminar
on Monday, March 10th at 4:00pm:

“Science in Foreign Policy: Scientists as Diplomats” by Dr. Tom Wang, PhD

When: Monday, March 10th at 4:00pm

Where: UA Whitaker Building, Room 1103

Directions: http://www.ibb.gatech.edu/visitors/

“Science in Foreign Policy, Scientists as Diplomats”
In a time of increasing global challenges, from climate change to emerging infectious diseases to energy security, coupled with an increasingly dynamic geo-political environment, science and scientists are critical to both addressing trans-border issues and fostering positive relationships between nations. The 1999 National Academy’s report on science in the U.S. Department of State begins, “Precisely because STH [science, technology, and health] developments are such a pervasive force, they cannot be isolated from the fundamental workings of foreign policy.” The presentation will address the conduct of foreign policy from official institutions, primarily the State Department, as well as from non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) in the context of science and scientific engagement. Examples will be drawn from the speaker’s own experience in addressing “bird flu” in East Asia, supporting scientific integrity in China, and promoting science and technology capacity building in Rwanda. Finally, the speaker will discuss opportunities and mechanisms for scientists and engineers to enter the foreign policy arena.

Biography
Dr. Tom C. Wang is the Director for International Cooperation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a leading general science society and publisher of the journal Science. He helps to manage the association’s bilateral and multilateral international relationships. Dr. Wang came to AAAS from the U.S. Department of State, where he served as a science policy advisor in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He was the Bureau’s chief contact and coordinator for environment, science, technology, and health issues relevant to the region. He represented the U.S. government in the 21-economy Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum’s science, technology, and health-related working groups and led the Bureau’s input into the 2006 federal pandemic influenza plan. Prior to federal government service, Dr. Wang conducted drug delivery research at Johnson & Johnson. He has also consulted for various technology companies including Alkermes, GE Plastics, Hewlett-Packard, and Omni-Guide Communications. Dr. Wang’s scientific expertise is in the area of polymeric materials and nanotechnology and received his master’s and doctorate degrees in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with degrees in chemical engineering and political science.

We hope to see you there!
– BBUGS Public Policy Committee