Alabama State University News June 18, 2015 Lecture Addresses Ethics and Abuse in Medical Research by Deonshay Danson Students and faculty from Alabama State University's College of Science, Mathematics and Technology filled the John Garrick Hardy Student Center theater today to hear a lecture delivered by renowned bioethicist and philosopher, John R. Stone, M.D., Ph.D. Titled "Do the Right Thing: The Ethics of Medical Research and Abuse," the lecture was hosted by the ASU-UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, a new partnership the two institutions developed to reduce cancer disparities and increase the number of minority cancer disparity researchers and health professionals. The lecture focused on the subject of bioethics (the ethical implications of biological research) and its impact upon health disparities in America and the world. Stone, who spent the day touring ASU's research facilities, spoke to the audience about the core values of ethics and research, which include factors such as good, harm, justice, respect, care and solidarity. He delved deeper into the importance of ethics in research by citing unethical occurrences throughout history, such as the Tuskegee Experiments involving syphilis patients. He also emphasized the importance of equality and efforts to relate to underrepresented demographics when conducting research. "My life doesn't matter any more than your life, and your life doesn't matter any more than my life, and if that's true then we have to treat everybody with equal and significant respect," Stone said. "And that means also that we can't use my life for a study, and then ignore my life and go help others, so that's a matter of respect." Karyn Scissum Gunn, Ph.D., associate provost for Academic Affairs at ASU and professor of microbiology, thanked Stone for sharing his knowledge. "We consider ourselves fortunate in having had our bioethics awareness enhanced on this day; this has been a really strong honor to have had you here today," Gunn said. Gunn also presented Stone with a placard to thank him and to commemorate his visit to ASU. Stone earned his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Brown University. He currently is a professor at the Center for Health Policy and Ethics, Creighton University School of Medicine. Prior to his work at Creighton, Stone taught at Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama and the Morehouse School of Medicine. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.