PEOPLE

University of Zurich

The SYBHEL research team is comprised of researchers from five different institutions

  1. The University of Bristol in the United Kingdom (Coordinator)
  2. The University of Zurich in Switzerland
  3. The Knowledge Society Foundation in Hungary
  4. The University of Deusto in Spain
  5. The Rathenau Institute in the Netherlands

University of Bristol
Ainsley Dr Ainsley Newson (Coordinator)Ainsley Newson has degrees in Science and Law and a PhD in Medical Ethics. She has research interests in genetics and biotechnology, human reproduction, clinical ethics and public health ethics and she has published on these issues in a range of academic journals and monographs. Ainsley is Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Ethics at the Centre for Ethics in Medicine, where her responsibilities include coordinating undergraduate and Masters-level courses in health care ethics. She is a member of numerous national and international committees relevant to ethics, including the Management Committee of the Synthetic Components Network in Bristol.
ruudtermeulen Professor Ruud ter MeulenRuud ter Meulen is a social scientist and ethicist and Director/Chair at the Centre for Ethics in Medicine. He Directed the Institute for Bioethics at the University of Maastricht (1995-2005). He has research interests in autonomy and elderly care, resource allocation, ethics committees and ethical pluralism; and he has published on these issues in a range of academic journals and monographs. He sits on a range of national and international committees in medical ethics and is actively involved in training and consultancy in health care ethics.
nikola_biller-andorno Prof Dr med Dr phil Nikola Biller-AndornoProfessor Nikola Biller-Andorno studied medicine at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg as well as philosophy and social sciences at the University of Hagen, Germany. Multiple scholarships and awards allowed her to pursue her research interests at prestigious institutions such as the Hastings Center (1994), Yale University (1997) and the Harvard Medical School (1997-98). After her “habilitation” in ethics and theory of medicine at the University of Göttingen, Germany, she worked as Ethicist at the World Health Organization (2002-2004). In 2004 she was appointed Professor of Medical Ethics at the Charité, Joint Medical Faculty of the Free and Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. In October 2005 she joined the University of Zurich as Full Professor of Biomedical Ethics. She serves as temporary advisor to the WHO and as deputy editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics.
agomoni_ganguli Agomoni Ganguli MitraAngomoni Ganguli Mitra studied Cellular and Molecular Biology at University College London (2000-2003). She then completed a Masters in Medical Ethics at Imperial College London (2003-2004). In 2004-2005, she worked as a junior research fellow at the WHO with Prof. N. Biller-Andorno and Prof. A. M. Capron. Since 2005, she has been a doctoral student in Bioethics at the University of Basel, with Prof. C. Rehmann-Sutter. She has also been working with Prof. N. Biller-Andorno since 2005, as a research fellow in Bioethics and has been involved in various projects, including one with the WHO. From 2007-8 she was associated with SYNBIOSAFE (EU Framework 6).
Deplazes Anna Deplazes – ZempAnna Deplazes studied Molecular Biology, Zoology (Genetics and Developmental Biology) at the University of Zurich (1998-2003). She did her PhD at the Institute of Biochemistry at the ETH, Zurich (2003-2007). Since 2007 she has a fellowship of the Graduate Programme for interdisciplinary Research in Ethics of the URPP Ethics (University Research Programme in Ethics) at the University of Zurich, where she is working on a project on ethical issues raised by synthetic biology. From 2007-8 she was associated with SYNBIOSAFE (FP6). Besides her work on ethics of synthetic biology she studies Philosophy at the University of Zurich.

Knowledge Society Foundation, Hungary
imre szebik Dr Imre Szebik Dr Szebik is a physician who has also gained a Masters in Bioethics from McGill University in Canada and a PhD in Bioethics from Semmelweis University in Budapest. He is a Research Fellow at the Knowledge Society Foundation and also an Associate Professor at Semmelweis University. Dr Szebik has 12 years of experience in research and education in bioethics and has undertaken research fellowships in bioethics and clinical ethics in Canada and the United States.
Kovacs Professor József KovácsProfessor Kovacs is a physician, philosopher and bioethicist. He is head of the Department of Bioethics in the Institute of Behavioural Sciences at Semmelweis University. Professor Kovacs has published widely in bioethics in a range of languages.
Zsófia Clemens Dr Zsófia ClemensDr Clemens is a biologist who works at the National Institute of Neurosurgery. Presently Dr Clemens researchers on epilepsy and sleep disorders, but has also previously been involved in laboratory research. She has an interest in SynBio.

University of Deusto
Carlos Romeo Maria Casabona Professor Carlos María Romeo Casabona Professor Carlos Maria Romeo Casabona is a Dr. in law, Professor of Criminal Law. Director of the Interuniversity Chair in Law and the Human Genome. Member of several international institutions devoted to the study and evaluation of legal and ethical issues of biotechnology. Expertise on international, European and national biolaw.
Inigo de Miguel Dr Iñigo de Miguel Iñigo de Miguel is a Researcher and Member of the Interuniversity Chair in Law and the Human Genome. He has expertise in international, European and national biolaw, in particular: cloning, genetic engineering, patents and regenerative medicine.
pilar_nicolas1 Dr Pilar NicolásPilar Nicolás is a Researcher and Member of the Interuniversity Chair in Law and the Human Genome. She has expertise in international, European and national biolaw, in particular: use of human material for biomedical research, biobanks and patients’ rights.

Rathenau Institute
Stemerding-1 Dr Dirk StemerdingDr Stemerding is a biologist with expertise in the field of science & technology studies (STS). He is a senior researcher in Technology Assessment at the Rathenau Institute (RI) and is involved at the University of Twente in STS research focussing on genomics in health care. At the RI he works on societal aspects of SynBio, biotechnology, genomics and the biobased economy.
Rinie van Est Dr Rinie van EstDr Rinie van Est is a physicist and political scientist. He is coordinator of Technology Assessment at the Rathenau Institute as well as a lecturer in Technology Assessment and Foresight at the Technical University Eindhoven. He has a PhD in Political Science and now works on SynBio, nanotechnology, brain sciences and converging technologies.