Box Office Bioethics: New judging panel for 2012-2013

We are delighted to announce an exciting panel of judges for the second year of the Council’s student film competition, Box Office Bioethics. This year’s panel includes five Council members and four special guest judges from a variety of backgrounds, with expertise in a wide range of subjects including film-making, bioethics and education.

Council members

Dr Rhona Knight Dr Rhona Knight is a General Practitioner in Leicester, and Senior Clinical Educator at the University of Leicester. She has an interest in making bioethical issues accessible and understandable to non-specialist audiences. Rhona is a Member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and is Chair of the Education Advisory Group. She is also Chair of the Council’s Working Party on Donor Conception. Professor Sian Harding Sian Harding is Professor of Cardiac Pharmacology at the National Heart And Lung Institute, a Division of the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London. She is a member of the Central Ethical Review Committee for Animal Studies and a Designated Person for administration of the Human Tissue Act. She has been a member of two of the Council’s Working Parties, on mitochondrial DNA disorders and on donation for medicine and research. Scientific interests include gene and cell therapy for heart disease. Professor Anneke Lucassen Anneke Lucassen is Professor of Clinical Genetics and Honorary Consultant Clinical Geneticist, University of Southampton Cancer Sciences Division and The Wessex Clinical Genetics Service. Her main clinical and research interests are cancer genetics, cardiogenetics and primary care genetics including social, ethical and legal aspects. She is co-chair of the Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust Clinical Ethics Committee and cofounder of the UK Genethics Club. She is also a member of the Education Advisory Group. Dr Geoff Watts Dr Geoff Watts spent five years in research before becoming a science and medical writer and broadcaster. He presented BBC Radio 4’s Medicine Now and its science programme Leading Edge. Professor Jonathan Wolff Jonathan Wolff is Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at University College London. His research interests include political philosophy, Marx and ethics. He has been a member of two of the Council’s Working Parties, on the ethics of animal research, and the ethics of personalised healthcare. He is also a member of the Education Advisory Group.

Guest Judges

Professor Andy Miah Professor Andy Miah is an ethicist, journalist, author and presenter. He is Director of the Creative Futures Research Centre at the University of the West of Scotland. Andy has published over 100 articles in journals, magazines, books and national media on subjects including digital media, medicine, technology, human enhancement and sport. http://www.andymiah.net/ Alom Shaha Alom Shaha is a film-maker, writer, and physics teacher. He has written, produced and directed a number of TV programmes on science and worked on BBC series including Horizon, Science Shack and What the Victorians did for Us. http://alomshaha.com Chris Wilmott Chris Wilmott is a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and a member of the Council’s Education Advisory Group. His main research interests include bioethics, education research and the use of multimedia in education Adam Wishart Adam Wishart is a writer and documentary maker. In 2011 his documentaries ‘Should I test my genes’ and ’23 Week babies: the price of life’ were broadcast on BBC2. His 2007 documentary, Monkeys, Rats and Me, won the Grierson Award for the best Science Documentary. http://www.adamwishart.info/

Box Office Bioethics is open to students in the UK and Republic of Ireland. We are inviting submissions of short films on contemporary bioethics issues. Winners will receive £200 in gift vouchers and their film will be shown at the Council's annual public lecture in London in May 2013. At the Council’s discretion, the winning films and runners up will also be published on the Council’s website.Submissions will be accepted until 28 February 2013.