Morgridge Institute presents panel on H5N1 influenza research

The Morgridge Institute for Research will launch its Ethics@Discovery program on Thursday, May 31, at 2 p.m. with “Campus Conversation:  Biomedical Research and National Security—Learning from the H5N1 Influenza Story.”

The panel discussion will be held in the H.F. DeLuca Forum at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, 330 N. Orchard St. 

The panelists will address the central question:  “Is some research too dangerous to conduct because the knowledge produced is especially prone to misuse?”  The discussion features Yoshihiro Kawaoka, the UW–Madison virology researcher who authored one of the two papers that prompted a U.S. government advisory board to recommend redaction of parts of the publications due to national security concerns.

Joining Kawaoka on the panel are UW–Madison colleagues William Mellon, associate dean for research policy and professor of pharmacy, and Pilar Ossario, associate professor of law and bioethics.  Ossario, who also is serving as the Morgridge Institute’s ethics scholar-in-residence, coordinated the program and will moderate it. 

Seating is limited and registration required. The session will not be filmed or webcast.  Questions can be directed to Sandra Brekke at sbrekke@morgridgeinstitute.org.