Despite significant efforts, African Americans continue to experience excess rates of morbidity and mortality from all forms of cancer relative to individuals from other ethnic and racial groups. Research is now being conducted to the molecular basis of cancer through genetic-based studies and to translate this information into strategies for cancer detection, prevention, and treatment. African American reluctance to participate in cancer genetics research will significantly limit efforts to apply these approaches to address racial disparities in cancer outcomes.
This proposal requests funding to support an evaluation of existing regulatory frameworks and their appropriateness for the regulation of new probiotic products that are available in the market or will be available in the near future.
Learning more about the human microbiome is likely to change the way medicine is practiced. It may also have implications for our society and our legal system and important implications for how we conceive and address the ethics of medicine and biomedical research.
The ability to manipulate atoms and molecules at the nanoscale has catalyzed the emerging field of nanomedicine. While many biological phenomena occur at the nanoscale, "nanomedicine" denotes material fabricated at the scale of 1-100 nanometers (nm) to take advantage of novel properties (biological, optical, thermal, chemical, and mechanical) that manifest at the nanoscale. A focal area of development is nanodiagnostics and nanotherapeutics.
Ms. Christi Guerrini is research faculty in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). BCM is a premier academic health science center known for excellence in education, research, and patient care. The BCM main campus is located in the Texas Medical Center, which is the largest medical center in the world. The Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at BCM was established in 1982 and has created an academic culture defined by and supportive of collaborative research and teaching.