07-3948. Public Meeting of the President's Council on Bioethics on September 6-7, 2007

AGENCY:

The President's Council on Bioethics, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The President's Council on Bioethics (Edmund D. Pellegrino, MD, Chairman) will hold its thirtieth meeting, at which it will (1) Discuss a projected “white paper” on the neurological standard for the determination of death; (2) continue the exploratory phase of a potential inquiry into the “crisis” of the healing professions with expert presentations and Council discussions; and (3) continue the exploratory phase of a potential inquiry into ethical issues associated with nanotechnology with expert presentations and Council discussions. Subjects discussed at past Council meetings (although not on the agenda for the September 2007 meeting) include: therapeutic and reproductive cloning, assisted reproduction, reproductive genetics, the ethics of health care, neuroscience, aging retardation, organ transplantation, newborn screening, human dignity, personalized medicine, and lifespan-extension. Publications issued by the Council to date include: Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry (July 2002); Beyond Therapy: Biotechnolody and the Pursuit of Happiness (October 2003); Being Human: Readings from the President's Council on Bioethics (December 2003); Monitoring Stem Cell Research (January 2004), Reproduction and Responsibility: The Regulation of New Biotechnologies (March 2004), Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: A White Paper (May 2005), and Taking Care: Ethical Caregiving in Our Aging Society (September 2005). Reports on the bioethical significance of the concept of human dignity and on organ procurement, transplantation, and allocation are forthcoming.

DATES:

The meeting will take place Thursday, September 6, 2007, from 9 am to 5:15 pm, ET; and Friday, September 7, 2007, from 8:30 am to 11:45 am, ET.

ADDRESSES:

The Carolina Inn, 211 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Phone [phone] or 1-800-962-8519.

Agenda: The meeting agenda will be posted at http://www.bioethics.gov.

Public Comments: The Council encourages public input, either in person or in writing. At this meeting, interested members of the public may address the Council, beginning at 11:30 am, on Friday, September 7. Comments are limited to no more than five minutes per speaker or organization. As a courtesy, please inform Ms. Diane M. Gianelli, Director of Communications, in advance of your intention to make a public statement, and give your name and affiliation. To submit a written statement, mail or e-mail it to Ms. Gianelli at one of the addresses given below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Diane M. Gianelli, Director of Communications, The President's Council on Bioethics, 1425 New York Avenue, NW., Suite C100 Washington, DC 20005. Telephone [phone]. E-mail [e-mail]. Web site: http://www.bioethics.gov.

Dated: August 6, 2007.

F. Daniel Davis,

Executive Director, The President's Council on Bioethics.