Biomedical Futures 2 Values, Responsibility, Critical Engagement with

Nanotechnology and Electromaterials

7 March 2019 The Galleries

John Niland Scientia Building UNSW, Kensington Campus

Image: Professor Paul Ehrlich and Doctor Hata. Process print, ca. 1913. Image inscription ‘Waging war against a disease "more ruthless than the destroying angel": Professor Paul Ehrlich, discoverer of "606"; with Dr. Hata, suggester of the preparation’. Wellcome Collection. CC BY

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Why a Symposium? Advances at the interface between the material and biological sciences, in fields such as bio-nano science and electromaterials, will pose profound ethical and social challenges for societies. At the same time, these techno-sciences are being shaped by social institutions in law, culture, healthcare, and politics. How should scientists understand the ways their fields are both shaped by and shaping society today? This symposium brings together collaborative innovations in biomedical research which address this shaping in disciplines of bioethics, science and technology studies (STS) and science communication. Focusing on research in nanotechnology and electromaterials – with an emphasis on the development of biomedical technologies, therapies and devices – in this symposium we will aim to foster careful dialogue about the social, political, and ethical dynamics of techno-sciences by enabling interdisciplinary exchange between social science, humanities and laboratory practitioners. Who is it for? The research symposium is designed for ECRs and PhDs in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology (CBNS) & ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES). We will focus on three core themes: Values, responsibility, critical engagement in nanotechnology and electromaterials. Through a series of presentations and panel discussions, the workshop will explore innovations in biomedical research and the potential offered by early critical engagement for translation. Speakers: will include Prof. Susan Dodds (Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, UNSW), A/Prof. Matthew Kearnes (School of Humanities and Langauges, UNSW), A/Prof. John McGhee (Director of the 3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, UNSW Art & Design), Dr. Eliza Goddard (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW), Dr. Declan Kuch (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Humanities and Languages, UNSW). Venue: The Galleries, John Niland Scientia Building (Map Reference G19), UNSW Kensington Campus (see: campus map) Metered parking is available at either Barker Street Parking Station (Gate 14, Map Reference N18) or Botany Street Parking Station (Gate 11, Map Reference H25). There is also limited free street parking around the University. The best drop-off point for taxi or private cars is to access via Gate 11 and drive through to the Post Office (Map reference G22).

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Symposium Programme 9:30 – 10:00am Tea/Coffee – arrival and registration 10..00 – 10.15am Welcome and Opening Remarks 10 – 11.15am Session 1 Debating the ethics

1. Prof. Sue Dodds - Democratic deliberation and emerging medical technologies: changing the way we think about public engagement

2. Dr. Eliza Goddard - Incorporating user perspectives in research and design of prosthetics:

why it matters

3. Dr Katrina Hutchison - Evaluating new interventions: knowledge, safety and risks of bias 11.15 -11.30am Tea/Coffee 11.30 – 12.30pm Session 2: Critical engagement

1. A/Prof. Matthew Kearnes - The Challenge of Responsible Research and Innovation: nanotechnology and beyond

2. Dr. Declan Kuch - Collaboration _as_ Impact

12.30 – 1.30pm Lunch 1.30 – 3.00pm Session 3: Interactive workshop discussion This session will be an interactive workshop discussion that will focus on participants reflecting on the social, ethical and regulatory questions raised by their own research. It will include brief ‘interviews’ with researchers from CBNS and ACES: Aria Maree Ahmed-Cox (UNSW), Genevieve Duche (UNSW), Jeremy Crook (UOW), Gerardo Montoya Gurrola (UOW) and Eva Tomaskovic-Crook (UOW). Questions asked will include: How have social, ethical and regulatory issues arisen in your research? What have you learnt reflecting on these issues? What would you recommend to other researchers about anticipating and responding to social, ethical and regulatory issues in their own work? 3.00 – 3.15pm Coffee/Tea 3.15 – 5.00pm Session 4: Visualising futures

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Paper Abstracts Democratic deliberation and emerging medical technologies: changing the way we think about public engagement

Prof. Susan Dodds ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Science University of New South Wales susan.dodds@unsw.edu.au The emergence of 3D bioprinting, nanomedicine, bionics and stem cell therapies hold a promise of completely new approaches to promoting health and tackling disease and impairment. These technologies also challenge some assumptions underpinning current health and medical policies relating to therapies, research and liability—in some cases they may generate significant public debate about the ethical limits of scientific research or of medicine. How should policy decisions be made on these issues? How should the concerns of the wider community be explored and engaged in the policy processes? This paper demonstrates some of the theoretical tools and values that can be drawn on to develop practical approaches to policy making that respect the diversity of values held in the community while working alongside the developing science.

Incorporating user perspectives in research and design of prosthetics: why it matters Dr Eliza Goddard Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) Faculty of Arts and Social Science University of New South Wales e.goddard@unsw.edu.au

Incorporating user perspectives in emerging health technologies research has both ethical and pragmatic components – it is something that should be done and there are practical benefits to both users and researchers alike in doing so. Increasingly researchers and funding bodies are recognising the importance of user inclusion to both inform and justify medical research and its translation. This paper will outline reasons for inclusion of user perspectives in research in the context of prosthetics, outlining the ethical issues researchers need to take into account and to demonstrate why user inclusion matters for societal participation, as well as uptake of prosthetics. Evaluating new interventions: knowledge, safety and risks of bias

Dr Katrina Hutchison Research Fellow Macquarie University Department of Philosophy, Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (CAVE) Macquarie University katrina.hutchison@mq.edu.au

Whereas there is broad agreement about what evidence based medicine and high quality evidence are in the pharmaceutical context, there is much less agreement on how best to safely and accurately evaluate interventional procedures, including non-biological and biological implants. In this talk I describe some of these challenges, taking note of both the epistemological (knowledge) and ethical aspects. Topics discussed will include the potential role and ethical challenges of placebo-controlled surgical trials; the difficulty of defining and replicating the intervention when a prototype

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or intervention is being developed; and risks that early studies will not reflect the diversity of the intended patient population.

The Challenge of Responsible Research and Innovation: Nanomedicine and Beyond

Matthew Kearnes

ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science & Technology (CBNS), School of Humanities and Languages, The University of New South Wales m.kearnes@unsw.edu.au In recent years, a range of international research agencies and science policy institutions have adopted frameworks for the governance of ‘responsible research and innovation’. These include the ‘Rome Declaration on Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe’, adopted by the European Commission, frameworks for responsible innovation adopted by UK research councils and major NSF-funded collaborative projects designed around new models of responsible innovation, interdisciplinary integration and the ‘anticipatory governance’ of research. Commonly, articulated through the principles of anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness – and the need to foster a broader engagement between the scientific community and the public – notions of responsible innovation increasingly form a core element of Australian research governance and science policy. In this presentation, I will explore the ways in which this emerging set of doctrines are likely to shape contemporary science policy, their implications for research in nano-medicine and opportunities for researchers in the field to develop new forms of public engagement and dialogue. Collaboration _as_ Impact

Dr. Declan Kuch Research Fellow ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science & Technology (CBNS), School of Humanities and Languages, The University of New South Wales d.kuch@unsw.edu.au Universities are increasingly mobilising Responsible Research and Innovation frameworks to connect arcane research to society. These frameworks challenge assumptions that communication to the general public will lead to acceptance of science and technology while providing new opportunities for impact. In this presentation, I argue that scientific practice and society should not be thought of as distinctive and separate domains, and, therefore, the former should not be thought of as ‘impacting’ the latter. Instead, I review three examples where scientists and social groups work together responding to each other: (1) a collaboration about a controversy in nanoscience; (2) patient groups working together with animal testing research and (3) an experiment with cooperative data ownership. These examples show the value of engaging ‘upstream’ in science.