Lecture addresses social impact of medical advances

Medical advances and their social impact will be examined by Professor Paul Martin during an open lecture at the University of Kent on Wednesday 10 October at 6pm.

The lecture, titled 'Biotechnology and human enhancement: prospects, promises and perils', will take place in Woolf College Lecture Theatre on the University's Canterbury campus. Admission is free and open to all.

Paul Martin is Professor of the Sociology of Science and Technology at the University of Sheffield and, until 2011, was Director of the Institute for Science and Society at the University of Nottingham. He has advised national and international organisations including the European Parliament, the UK Department of Trade and Industry and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. He is also a member of the editorial advisory boards of Sociology of Health and Illness and New Genetics and Society.

Professor Martin's research focuses on the ethical, legal and social issues associated with emerging medical technologies, the commercialisation of biotechnology and expectation dynamics in medical innovation. Aided by major grants from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, his research has examined the development of gene therapy, genomics, pharmacogenetics, stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Contact: pressoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 1:22pm 4 October 2012