R. Alta Charo, bio-ethicist and law professor at University of Wisconsin Law School

R. Alta Charo is a graduate of Harvard University in biology (A.B.) and of Columbia University in law (J.D.). She's currently the Elizabeth S. Wilson-Bascom Professor of Law and Bioethics and the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at the University of Wisconsin.

Ms. Charo will be in the Palo Alto/Stanford area next week to address two meetings under the auspices of the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee (ICOC), the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), established by the passage last year of Proposition 71.

On Monday, February 28, 2005, she will make an "Informational Presentation on Standards and Guidelines for Protections and Ethics" to those in attendence at an "Informational Meeting of the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee ("ICOC") to the the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine ("CIRM")" at the Palo Alto Sheraton hotel, near the intersection of University Avenue in Palo Alto and El Camino Real, across this thoroughfare from the main entrance to Stanford University, between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, PST.

The next day, Tuesday, March 1, 2005, she'll appear again, at the next regular meeting of the entire ICOC, which will take place in Fairchild Auditorium, at the Stanford University Medical Center, and, as the first item of official business following the roll call of ICOC members, once again make an "Informational Presentation on Standards and Guidelines for Protections and Ethics" to members of this governing board, charged with overseeing the expenditure of $3 billion for bio-medical research, and to members of the assembled public.

California Politics Today contacted Ms. Charo at her Madison, Wisconsin, office in hopes of conducting a brief phone interview with her in which she could preview her remarks to these meetings. Unfortunately, she was so swamped with work that this proved to be impossible. Fortunately, she was able to take a few minutes to put together a paragraph describing the topics she planned to cover in her presentations, which is here reproduced in its entirety:

"In short, I will be at the CIRM meeting to outline (as best I can within the time allowed) the range of ethical issues that would best be resolved before one begins funding, including detailed guidance on the role of existing committees (such as IRBs [Institutional Review Boards], IBCs [Institutional Biosafety Committees] and IACUCs [Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees]); consideration of whether additional oversight committees need to be created, and if so, where and how; the particulars of the consent process for obtaining somatic cells, eggs, sperm and embryos; maintenance of confidentiality of the donors' identities; the management of cell lines, including the use of cell banks; the limits, if any, on laboratory or animal research that is likely to be conducted with human embryonic stem cells; and anticipation of special issues related to the translational research that will lead to human clinical trials."

Ms. Charo added that "I do not plan to be addressing issues related to intellectual property, commercialization or conflict of interest."

She also sent along a cautionary reminder, in the form of a quote from Jane Addams (1860 - 1935), the founder of the social work movement, who said, "Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics."