2023 MRM Talks: Dr. Ubaka Ogbogu and Stanislav Birko

The MRM Network presents: the MRM Talks. Join us every fourth Thursday at noon to learn more about stem cells and regenerative medicine. The webinar series will feature leading scientists in the field, including MRM Principal Investigators and external guest speakers.

For each seminar, we will also highlight the work of one MRM Trainee, who will present alongside our guest speaker.

In this edition of the MRM Talks:

About the speakers:

Ubaka Ogbogu is a Professor and the Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Law. He is also the Chair of the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board 2 and the Katz Research Fellow in Health Law and Science Policy. Dr. Ogbogu is a recipient of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations Distinguished Academic Early Career Award. He holds a doctorate in law from the University of Toronto, a Master of Laws degree from the University of Alberta and undergraduate degrees in law from the University of Benin, Nigeria and the Nigerian Law School. Ogbogu’s scholarly work is focused broadly on the ethical, legal and societal implications of novel and emerging biotechnologies and associated research. His publications have explored a diverse range of issues in this field, including the ethical and legal issues associated with stem cell research, gene and engineered cell therapies, biobanks, germline gene editing and assisted reproductive technologies. As a multidisciplinary scholar, his teaching and research activities explore and cut across various fields, including health law, bioethics, science policy, science and technology studies, public health, legal history and legal philosophy. He has led or been involved in many prominent national and international biotechnology policymaking activities and writes and comments frequently in the popular press on matters relating to the impacts of biotechnology and science on society. Ogbogu has served as the Chair of the University of Alberta’s Research Ethics Board No. 2 and as a member of numerous boards and councils, including the Health Quality Council of Alberta, Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Somatic Gene and Engineered Cell Therapies, the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Stem Cell Oversight Committee, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Governing Council’s Standing Committee on Ethics, and the International Society for Stem Cell Research Task Force on Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation.

Stanislav Birko is an academic associate at McGill’s Centre of Genomics and Policy with an interest in feminist bioethics, child ethics, disability studies and gen-ethics. At the CGP, they are currently working primarily in the areas of the ethics of pediatric health research, of gene editing, stem cell clinical trials, reproductive ethics, questions of race in health research, the limits of the ‘human’, and public engagement on health science and technology. Stanislav is also a doctoral candidate at the programme of bioethics at the Université de Montréal. Their doctoral thesis approaches ethical questions surrounding selective reproductive technologies conceiving of health, illness, and disability relationally. Stanislav is section editor at the Canadian Journal of Bioethics and coordinator of the International Association of Bioethics.

We want to hear from you, and we welcome your suggestions for speakers!
If you are interested in hosting an invited speaker, please get in touch with us.