We would like to announce the first meeting of the new OZSW study group Ethics of Biomedical Technology. This study group focuses on the ethics of biomedical technology, including (but not limited to) ethical topics related to medical AI, exposome research, genetic technologies, and 3D bioprinting. We welcome both theoretical and empirical approaches to these topics. The study group aims to create a network of academics working on the ethics of biomedical technologies, providing an overview of the work being done on this topic within the Netherlands. Within this network, people can share their research and obtain feedback on ongoing work. Further, we aim to promote collaborations. We will meet at least once a year to exchange ideas and research output on ethical topics related to current developments in biomedical technology.

Our first meeting will be on Wednesday the 11th of October from 11:00 to 13:00 in the John Snow room (7.118) of the Julius Center at the Stratenum, UMC Utrecht: https://juliuscentrum.umcutrecht.nl/en  

We will start with a round of (brief) introductions by the coordinators of the study group. After, we will move to the presentation by guest speaker Alex John London and the discussion. We will discuss his influential paper “Artificial Intelligence and Black-Box Medical Decisions: Accuracy versus Explainability,” available at https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.973 

The agenda of the meeting will be as follows: 

11:00-11:20 Kick-off study group and round of introductions 

11:20-11:50 Introduction of and presentation by Alex John London 

11:50-12:00 Short break 

12:00-13:00 Discussion on Alex John London’s paper 

Please let us know if you will join the meeting by sending an email to c.w.safarlou@umcutrecht.nl. We will provide sufficient lunch based on the responses that we receive. Please note that the meeting will only take place in person. 

We hope to see you on the 11th, 

Caspar Safarlou, Jojanneke Drogt, Karin Jongsma, Lieke Baas