Program – 5th Meeting of the World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research

Pubblicato il da Ass. Luca Coscioni

Provisional Agenda

5th Meeting of the

World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research

11 to 13 April 2018

European Parliament, Rue Wiertz, Brussels

“SCIENCE FOR DEMOCRACY: towards the human right to science”

 Wednesday, 11 April

(Room A5E-2)

14:00 – 17:00: “Scientific method and liberal-democracy”

Political issues on the top of the agenda: public health, artificial intelligence, migration, global warming, need policies based on facts that should be evaluated upon results. Politicians should engage scientist and patients, while scientists should interact with society and decision-makers.

Chair:  Marco CAPPATO, Treasurer, Associazione Luca Coscioni (ALC), Former MEP

  • Brando BENIFEI, MEP, ESP Group, Italy
  • Michele DE LUCA, Center for Regenerative Medicine University of Modena, co-President,ALC
  • Mikel MANCISIDOR, vice-Chair of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
  • Giulia DEL BRENNA, Deputy Head of Cabinet, on behalf of EU Commissioner Carlos MOEDAS, Research, Science and Innovation.
  • Tracey BROWN, Director, Sense for Science
  • Jessica WYNDHAM, Director, AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program
  • Alberto ALEMANNO, Jean Monnet Professor of European Law, Founder of “The Good Lobby”
  • Deborah LIPSTADT, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, Georgia: “Holocaust Denial: A prototype for scientific denialism“
  • Walt ORENSTEIN, former director of the United States’ National Immunization Program: “The impact of anti-vaccine movements on personal and public health“
  • Guido SILVESTRI,  Chief of the Division of Microbiology & Immunology at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Professor and Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine, Georgia: “AIDS research and AIDS denialism: when pseudo-science kills“
  • Michał BONI, MEP, EPP, former Minister of welfare and digitisation, Poland: “Multidimensional phenomenon of ‘Fake news’”
  • Carl HART, Columbia University, “Science and politics”

Thursday, 12 April

(9:00 to 12:00, Room A5E-2)

Introduction: Filomena GALLO, Secretary, Marco GENTILI, Co-President, ALC

9:00  to 12.00: “Human genome editing, embryos and regenerative medicine: Better understanding for Better regulation”

Chair: Stephen MINGER, Director, SLM Blue Skies; Marisa JACONI, Geneva University

  • Andrea BOGGIO, Bryant University, Board ALC
  • Cesare P.R. ROMANO, Loyola Law School, Board ALC
  • Toni CATHOMEN, director Medical Center – University of  Freiburg Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy
  • Giovanni BUTTARELLI, European Data Protection Supervisor
  • Malin PARMAR, Lund University
  • Pete COFFEY, UCL, London
  • Giulio COSSU, Manchester University
  • Beatriz BECERRA, MEP ALDE Group, Spain
  • Emma BONINO, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy
  • Mirella PARACHINI, Gynaecologist, Board ALC
  • Rebecca GOMPERTS, MD, MPP, PhD Founder and director Women on Waves

(14.00 to 17.30, Room A3G2)

14:00 – 17:30: “Modern agricultural biotechnology calling”

Chair: John BRENNAN, Executive Director, EuropaBio; MEP (tbc); Marco PERDUCA, Board ALC, former Senator

14:00 Welcome, Key Note Speech: “Challenges in evaluating risks in food“

  • Vytenis ANDRIUKAITIS, European Commissioner for Health and for Food Safety:

14:30 “State of play of genome editing and modern agri-biotech”

What is genome editing, and why use it in agriculture? What do the scientific institutions say about risks and opportunities, and which steps towards legal certainty?

  • Janusz BUJNICKI, Professor,Member of the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism
  • Joachim SCHIEMANN, Professor, on behalf of the European Academies of Science Advisory Council (EASAC)

15:00 “The CRISPR era”

Genome editing techniques like CRISPR are opening up new possibilities in many fields including plant breeding. When will and should the innovation reach farmers and consumers?

  • Rene CUSTERS, VIB – Flemish Institute of Biotechnology
  • Paul TEMPLE, UK Farmer
  • Nora ALONSO, CEO of Iden Biotechnology
  • Arnaud SCHWARTZ, France Nature environment, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee( EESC)

16:15 “Innovation, precaution and democracy: A right to science?

Scientific evidence is one factor in EU decision making, but there are ‘other legitimate factors’. Should a democracy stop unpopular innovation?

Chair: Roberto DEFEZ, National Council of Research, Italy

  • Andrea BOGGIO, Bryant University, Board ALC
  • Dirk HUDIG, Secretary General, European Risk Forum
  • David ZARUK, The risk monger
  • José Miguel MULET, Author and Professor of Biotechnology, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia

Friday, 13 April

(09.00 to 13.00, room A3G2)

9:00 to 11.30: “Research on psychotropic substances: knowledge vs prohibition = treatment“

Chair: Tania RE, UNESCO Chair, Genoa; Marco TRAUB, CEO of TransEuropeanStemCellTherapyConsortium (TESCT), Switzerland

  • Rick DOBLIN, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies: “Scientific Freedom for Psychedelic and Marijuana Research”
  • Tomas PÁLENÍČEK, MD, PhD, National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic
  • Raphael MECHOULAM, Hebrew University of Jerusalem | HUJI · Institute for Drug Research, Cannabis
  • Ben SESSA, Psychiatrist, co-founder of the Breaking Convention: “Psychedelics, MDMA, Trauma and Addictions: Bold Steps Forward for the Future of Psychiatry”
  • Carl HART, Chair of the Department of Psychology, Columbia University: “Bias against marijuana”
  • Amanda FEILDING, Beckley Foundation, London: “Why Science Needs Psychedelics: A Paradigm Shift for Psychiatry”

11.30 to 13:00: “Conclusions: initiatives for the right to science”

Chair: Marco CAPPATO and Marco PERDUCA