This presentation focuses on the ethical problems with genetic screening for a rare and aggressive form of inherited thyroid cancer that is autosomal dominant and virtually 100% penetrant. The novel solution of newborn screening for the germline mutation in the RET proto-oncogene responsible for this cancer is proposed and analyzed.

M. Sara Rosenthal is Associate Professor, Bioethics, Departments of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Behavioral Science, and Director, Program for Bioethics at the University of Kentucky. She is Chair of the University of Kentucky Medical Center's Hospital Ethics Committee and directs the clinical ethics consult service. She is also ethics faculty for the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Kentucky; in this capacity, she does research ethics consults, also known as "benchside ethics" consults.

Serving on the ethics advisory boards of the American Thyroid Association and the Endocrine Society, she is the author of several peer-reviewed publications, over 30 consumer health books, and has delivered over 100 scholarly presentations nationally and internationally. She has been quoted by the science and health media such as Discover Magazine and CNN; she has appeared on popular shows such as Dr. Phil, and has done over 500 media interviews across North America. Dr. Rosenthal has provided commentary on controversial cases such as Terri Schiavo and the California Octuplets, as well as "hot topics" in women's health issues such as the ethics of bioidentical hormones.

The lecture will be held on October 13, 2010 at 12:00 p.m. It will be in room 1130 of the HITS Building. For more information contact Eva Jackson at 278-4034 or e-mail evajacks@iupui.edu.