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Fall 2008 Seminars

• Human Health and Disease (Full)
• Bioethics (Full)

Human Health and Disease (Full)

Douglas Steeber, Associate Professor

Recent scientific advances have increased our technological capacities to levels not thought possible just a few years ago. These technologies will potentially have tremendous impact on human health. At the same time, the amount of information readily available to the general public via the internet or other media has exploded. For the average person, sorting through new, often complex, information can be daunting. This seminar explores some of the most recent and compelling issues affecting human health. Some of these issues are controversial, such as stem cell research, genetic testing, cloning, new vaccines, and steroid and growth hormone use. Other topics such as the human genome project, organ transplantation, newly emerging diseases, and roles of genetic vs. environmental factors in diseases such as cancer and heart attack/stroke have the potential to impact a huge portion of the population.

Goals of the seminar include: gaining a better understanding of recent advances that have occurred in the area of human health and disease, developing an appreciation of the complex nature of these issues, and increasing confidence in researching and discussing such issues. The ultimate goal is to make students aware of the science behind the hype, and to have the analytic tools to assess new developments as they occur in the future. Seminars are question and discussion oriented, with appropriate reading material provided to focus the topic. Only a basic knowledge of biology is required.

Douglas Steeber grew up in Wisconsin and attended UW-Madison for both undergraduate and graduate study. After receiving his PhD he moved to North Carolina to do postdoctoral work in the Department of Immunology at Duke University. Being part of a large medical center really helped focus his research to the area of human health. When a position opened up at UWM for an immunologist it was a perfect opportunity to move back to the area and closer to family. At UWM, his lab continues to focus on issues important to human health such as vaccines and autoimmune diseases. Dr. Steeber is a big outdoor enthusiast and tries to take advantage of all the area has to offer.

Number: BIO SCI 194, SEM 001
Credits: 3 NS
Time: TR 3:30pm-4:45pm
Place: LAP 257
Class Number: 53336

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Bioethics (Full)

James Coggins, Professor

In 1997 Scottish scientists produced a lamb named Dolly from a single cell from an adult sheep. The breakthrough produced a predicted outcry from some and adulation from others. In the United States, a new National Bioethics Advisory Committee was convened to explore the implications of this new technology. Long-term cold storage of human ova, sperm or embryos, in vitro fertilization, use of surrogate parents, hormonal therapy, brokerage of human organs, organ transplantation from animals to humans, assisted suicide, stem cell research as well as a myriad of environmental issues all raise ethical and moral conundrums. Bioethics is the study of moral issues in the fields of medical treatment and biological research.

Birth, life, death and the use of natural resources all provide ethical dilemmas that confront society, political, religious leaders and policy-makers. New medical developments bring breakthroughs but also introduce new ethical dilemmas. The powerful new tools of modern biological research affect everyone in our society. New agents may cure cancer or fight AIDS but also may mark a person for life as a future Alzheimer victim or a carrier of a genetic disease. As the pace of science quickens and biological developments occur with increasing frequency, can bioethics help us decide what is right or wrong? This course will examine a selection of bioethical issues from the biological, medical, societal and legal perspective.

This course is intended to help you:

1. Appreciate the scope and impact of current bioethical issues.
2. Understand some essential bioethical theories.
3. Understand the principles of bioethics.
4. Understand methods of debating bioethical issues.
5. Describe and argue bioethical issues in a professional and unemotional manner.
6. Recognize some of the scientific approaches used in modern medical technology.
7. Evaluate the library, first year center and world-wide-web for resources and as a source of unbiased and truthful information.

Professor James Coggins received his undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina, earned his Ph.D. in Biology at Wake Forest University and did postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame. Since coming to the University of WisconsinBMilwaukee, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in biology and medical parasitology. He is the former Head of the Department of Biological Sciences. He has published many papers on subjects ranging from ultrastructure of human parasites to the ecology of parasitic worms from frogs.

Number: BIO SCI 194, SEM 002
Credits: 3NS
Time: MW 2:00pm-3:15pm
Place: LAP 252
Class Number: 60191

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