CADTH Lecture Series – A “Revolution”? — The Limits of Personalized Medicine

The CADTH Lecture Series provides prominent scholars and opinion leaders with a forum to discuss pressing issues facing health technology assessment (HTA) and health care today.

Timothy Caulfield, LLM, FRSC, FCAHS
Canada Research Chair in Health Law & Policy
Trudeau Fellow and Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health
Research Director, Health Law Institute, University of Alberta
@CaulfieldTim

The idea that we are in the midst of a genetic revolution has been with us for decades. The latest iteration of this promise of paradigm-shifting transformation comes in the guise of “personalized medicine” — which, we are consistently told, will revolutionize our health care system and reduce the burden of chronic disease. But can personalized medicine live up to the hype? Will it really result in more healthy Canadians? In this presentation, Mr. Caulfield will argue that there are reasons to be skeptical and that, in fact, the constant hype can hurt public perceptions of science, patient care, and health policy.

Timothy Caulfield is a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, and Research Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. Over the past several years, he has been involved in a variety of interdisciplinary research endeavours that have allowed him to publish more than 300 academic articles. He is a Fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and principal investigator for a number of large interdisciplinary projects that explore the ethical, legal, and health policy issues associated with a range of topics, including stem cell research, genetics, patient safety, the prevention of chronic disease, obesity policy, the commercialization of research, complementary and alternative medicine, and access to health care. Professor Caulfield is and has been involved with a number of national and international policy and research ethics committees. He has won numerous academic awards and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He writes frequently for the popular press and is the author of two recent national bestsellers: The Cure for Everything!: Untangling the Twisted Messages About Health, Fitness and Happiness (Penguin 2012) and Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?: When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash (Penguin 2015).

Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST
Location: 2nd Floor Council Chambers, 865 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario

There is no fee to participate, but advance registration is required.

Fill in the post-event evaluation form for a chance to win a signed copy of Tim Caulfield’s book, Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? When Celebrity Culture And Science Clash. We’re giving away one book to an in-person attendee and one to an online attendee.

Registration is now closed.