The Nuffield Foundation, together with Wellcome and the Medical Research Council, is pleased to announce the appointment of a Chair and two new Members of the Governing Board of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB).
The new Chair is Professor Jane Macnaughton, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor of Research and Professor of Medical Humanities at Durham University. She is a doctor and former Dean of the Medical School and has been closely involved in governance issues around research ethics.
The two new Members are Dr Sarion Bowers, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Sanger Institute, Cambridge, and Professor Adam Hedgecoe, Professor of Sociology of Science (with a particular focus on genetics), at Cardiff University. Professor Hedgecoe is also on the Ethics Advisory Committee at Genomics England.
They join the existing members of the Governing Board – Dr Katherine Littler, co-lead of the Global Health Ethics & Governance Unit at WHO, and representatives from the NCOB’s tripartite funders – the Nuffield Foundation, Wellcome and the Medical Research Council (MRC).
The NCOB launched a new five-year strategy earlier this year, sharing an ambition to place ethics at the centre of decisions regarding biomedicine and health so that we all benefit.
The Governing Board holds the principal governance function of the NCOB. It is responsible for reviewing and challenging its work and providing assurance that the NCOB is operating within its remit, and spending in line with the terms of its grant and the goals of its Strategic Plan. The Governing Board oversees topic selections, the budget and annual work plans, as well as the NCOB’s risk management and financial operations.
The Governing Board is distinct from the Council which is the deliberative body that drives the intellectual function of the NCOB by deciding on its future work programme, direction, function, and membership. In particular, the Council is responsible for developing the five-year Strategic Plan; for keeping abreast of developments in relevant areas of research; for identifying and prioritising topics for inquiry; and for approving reports and other outputs of the NCOB as part of its quality control mechanisms.
It is a fantastic privilege to have been appointed to this role and I am excited to support the Nuffield Council, its Chair and Director, to deliver their new strategy and to work closely with the funders to oversee this new phase in the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ development.Professor Jane Macnaughton, Chair of the Governing Board
Exploring new advances in biomedicine is vital in order to understand where they may take us. This requires courage to embrace new technologies as well as robust ethical assessment. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is at the forefront of this, and it will be wonderful to be involved ensuring sound leadership of this work both nationally and internationally.
Nuffield Foundation CEO Tim Gardam said: “The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has recently been awarded a further five years’ guaranteed funding and I am confident Professor Jane Macnaughton and her fellow members of the Governing Board will work closely with the Council and its Chair, Professor Cunningham Burley, to ensure the Nuffield Council on Bioethics delivers its ambitious remit and strategy.”
