ANN ARBOR—Law professor Carl Schneider will speak on the patient’s role in making medical decisions March 9 to kick off the spring cycle of a University of Michigan public lecture series focusing on developments in the life sciences.

Due to a scheduling conflict, Schneider will replace Matthew Boulton’s originally scheduled lecture on the West Nile Virus. The University’s Life Sciences, Values and Society Program sponsors the Sunday afternoon lectures featuring U-M experts discussing recent developments in the life sciences. Law professor Rebecca Eisenberg, a specialist on biotechnology and intellectual property, will continue to moderate the series.

Lectures include:

March 9 – “Autonomy and its Discontents: Should Patients Make Their Own Medical Decisions?” by Carl Schneider, professor of law and professor of internal medicine. Schneider has written extensively in bioethics, professional ethics, professional education, family law and constitutional law. He has published a book examining the division of power between doctors and patients in medical decisions as well as the role of autonomy in American culture. Carl Schneider, Faculty Bio >

March 23 – “Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome: Genetic Analyses and Cancer Risk Management,” by Sofia D. Merajver, director of the U-M Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, and associate professor of internal medicine. Merajver is a physician-scientist whose research focuses on genetic signatures of aggressive types of breast cancer (especially inflammatory breast cancer); strategies to control new blood vessel growth in tumors (angiogenesis); and clinical risk evaluation and genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility genes. Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph,D. profile >

March 30 – “Genetics of Hypertension,” by Sharon Kardia, assistant professor of epidemiology and a faculty member in the interdepartmental concentration in public health genetics. Kardia’s research focuses on the genetics of common chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and, more recently, cancer. Her work also looks at interactions among genes, and between genes and the environment. Sharon LR Kardia , PhD profile >

April 6 – “Pharmacogenomics: Dilemmas and Challenges,” by Gus Rosania, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences.
Rosania’s research seeks to discover ways to incorporate individual genetic differences in the search for cancer drugs. The hope is that this research will help develop drugs that are more effective and less toxic than those currently used. Gus R. Rosania, Ph.D. profile >

April 13 – “New Perspectives on Human Cancers: Genomics and Proteomics,” by Gil Omenn, professor of internal medicine, human genetics, and public health. Omenn’s research focuses on cancer proteomics, chemoprevention of cancers, public health genetics, science-based risk analysis and health policy.
Gilbert S. Omenn, M.D., Ph.D. profile >

All lectures are scheduled for 4-5:30 p.m. in room 100, Hutchins Hall, U-M Law Quad, State and Monroe streets, Ann Arbor. Informal discussion and refreshments will follow. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Lectures are videotaped for broadcast on UMTV, Channel 22. UMTV, Channel 22 calendar > For more information about the life sciences at Michigan, an initiative that builds on U-M’s long tradition of groundbreaking advancements with major investments in new facilities and faculty, visit www.lifesciences.umich.edu/. To learn more about the Values and Society Program, visit www.lifesciences.umich.edu/values/index.html. To join an LSVSP mailing list to learn about other upcoming events, send an email to lsvsp1@umich.edu with “subscribe” in the subject line. For a full schedule of lectures this spring, visit: www.lifesciences.umich.edu/values/announcements.html#Outreach

For a map of U-M’s central campus: http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/ccamp.html