31 Jan 2002: After Tuskegee: Communities of Color Address Ethical and Social Implications of Genetic Research
The notorious Tuskegee Syphilis Study (http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/tuskegee/) 
cast a legacy of mistrust of medical research for the black community and it is one explicit reason why all communities of color need to be well-informed about the Human Genome Project (http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/HGP/) . The consequences of decoding the human genome raise crucial and controversial ethical and social issues for people of color and for the poor-including regulation of human cloning, potential racial profiling, threats to personal privacy, and public funding of genetics research. On February 4, these issues will be addressed by the nation's leading scientists, policy makers, and community advocates at a national conference and community dialogue sponsored by West Harlem Environmental Action (http://www.weact.org/) .
The conference, "Human Genetics, Environment, and Communities of Color: Ethical and Social Implications," (http://www.weact.org/genetics/index.html) will kick off Black History Month 2002, and is co-sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (http://www.niehs.nih.gov) (NIEHS), the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health (http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/niehs/) in Northern Manhattan at Columbia University, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov) .
A press conference will be held at noon, featuring the conference's primary speakers: Kenneth Olden, PhD (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/pastdirectors/kennetholden.cfm), Director of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Troy Duster, PhD (http://sociology.berkeley.edu/faculty/duster/) , influential sociologist and author; Paul Steven Miller (http://www.eeoc.gov/) , Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Peggy Shepard (http://www.weact.org/staff/peggy_shepard/index.html) , Executive Director, West Harlem Environmental Action; Charmaine Royal, PhD, National Human Genome Research Center at Howard University; Marcy Darnovsky, Center for Genetics and Society, and Debra Harry, MA, Indigenous People's Council on Biocolonialism.
- DATE: Monday, February 4, 2002
- TIME: 12:00 p.m.
- PLACE: Alfred Lerner Hall,
Columbia University 115th Street & Broadway
- CONTACT: David Wheeler, 212-575-4545
Linden, Alschuler & Kaplan Public Relations
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