Bioethicist and 1979 Whitworth alumna Lisa Sardinia addresses "The Stem-Cell Debate: Science, Ethics and Public Policy" at the inaugural Whitworth Science & Society Lecture. The lecture series was established to increase public awareness and understanding of scientific issues that influence public policy, law, ethics, religion and business. Sardinia, J.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor of biology at Pacific University and co-investigator on a National Institutes of Health grant to develop a pilot community-education program on the ethical, legal and social implications of genetic technology in a faith-oriented community context. She encourages citizens to understand the stem-cell debate. "The consequence of failing to engage in this important public discussion is to surrender the decision to elected officials," she says, "a group who have shown themselves to be singularly unable to develop any coherent public policy."
