The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) announces the annual Gordon Cain Conference on Industry & Governance, to be held May 6th & 7th, 2010. We will explore the multiple meanings, practices and facets of personalized medicine.

Personalized medicine discussions are often focused on future scenarios and projected dangers. Conference speakers will challenge participants to engage with what’s happening now rather than what might happen in a more or less distant future. The program includes scholars from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan who will present empirical analysis of actual practices.

The keynote, featuring Sheila Jasanoff (Title: TBA), will be held the first day. The paper sessions are divided in the following way: the first session will explore the conditions of possibility for personalized medicine. The second will take a closer look at direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomics. The third will ask whether and how personalized medicine contributes to the reshaping of identities, engaging the tension that lies at the core of personalized medicine between the pretense of offering individualized results and the effective deployment of group diagnostic/prognostic categories. Finally, the last session will examine issues related to the socio-technical regulation of the practices that fall under the rubric of personalized medicine, as analyzed in the preceding sessions.

The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. For more information, updates to the conference program, and to register online, please go to our website: http://www.chemheritage.org/events/cain10/index.html.

For further information concerning conference content, please contact:
Pei Koay
Program Manager, Biotech History and Policy
Center for Contemporary History and Policy
Chemical Heritage Foundation
215-873-8227
pkoay@chemheritage.org

Alberto Cambrosio
Gordon Cain Conference Fellow, 2009-10
Chair, Social Studies of Medicine
McGill University
514-398-4981
alberto.cambrosio@mcgill.ca

For logistical information, please contact:
Nancy Vonada
Manager of Events and Stewardship
Chemical Heritage Foundation
Phone: 215-873-8226
Fax: 215-629-5226
nvonada@chemheritage.org