Preparations

At this time (9:30am) in two days, I will be in JFK, preparing to board my flight! I'm first flying to Hong Kong (scene of past airport adventures) for a three-hour layover, then hopping on another plane that will take me to Bangkok. I've still got a few miscellaneous things to take care of -- locate my camera battery charger, exchange some money for Thai bhat -- but mostly I'm feeling excited and ready to go.

For the benefit of those who aren't quite sure what I'll be doing at this weird thing called BIOCEP, here is a bit more information, shamelessly lifted from the executive summary:

BIOCEP is a prototype for interscholastic cooperation designed to align students with modern international global issues in the area of bioethics. In this educational enrichment summer workshop, university students spend two weeks at Thailand with Mahidol University students engaged in lectures, discussions and on-site professional visits related to the challenges of bioethics and medical ethics. This comprehensive workshop is based on the extensive experience of Columbia University’s faculty in the areas of bioethics and public health education. This program focuses on how different cultures, religions, and governments respond to and resolve bioethical challenges including: emerging infections (SARS, avian flu, malaria), the integration of Western and Eastern medicines, medical tourism, stem cell research, abortion, public health, HIV, genetic testing, and reproductive medicine. BIOCEP’s interdisciplinary program aims to enrich students’ cross-cultural awareness and analytical skills concerning the ways in which different religions and cultures work to resolve complex issues in bioethics and Public Health. For the 2008 program, BIOCEP has opened up three slots for students from other American institutions of higher education. Students must have completed at one year of graduate studies to participate.

Thailand is an emerging country that is engaged in resolving a wide variety of bioethical issues. Thailand has a predominantly Buddhist-based culture that contrasts with the major religions that most students are exposed to in the United States. Both the United States and Thai governments recognize the value of biomedical research. Like Singapore, China, Japan, and Malaysia, Thailand has committed hundreds of million dollars over the next ten years to enhance biomedical research. These research funds will be provided to support stem cell research and combating major public health concerns such as malaria and HIV Thailand and the United States share common bioethical and medical ethical issues such as:

• How to allocate limited funds to support biomedical research and clinical programs,
• How to resolve bioethical issues related to stem cell research,
• How to balance religious and cultural values with biomedical research and clinical application of new biotechnologies,
• How to apply new biotechnologies in reproductive medicine within an ethical platform,
• How to resolve public health issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, drug abuse, smoking, and unwanted pregnancies.

There are also many ethical issues that Thailand faces that are unique to that region. These include:

• Medical tourism (cosmetic surgery, sex change operations, dentistry, and organ transplantation),
• Developing detection, educational, and treatment programs for emerging infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, avian flu and SARS,
• The integration of Western medicine with traditional Eastern alternative medical procedures and medications,
• Developing innovative educational and treatment programs for genetic based diseases such as Thalassemia.

Students will visit several biomedical research laboratories, private and public hospitals, public health clinics and rural medical facilities. These visits provide students with an opportunity to speak with researchers and physicians, and observe scientific research, biomedical research and health care in Thailand. Students will acquire first hand knowledge essential in understanding Thailand’s unique bioethical issues. For example, students would have the opportunity to visit clinics at Mahidol Institute for Tropical Diseases that has established sophisticated programs in the areas of emerging infections and controlling drug resistant pathogens. Students will also visit research laboratories such as the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Institute of Nutrition, “East meets West Clinic”, Thalessemia clinics, and malaria clinics. During the 2007 program many of the students were able to observe in vitro fertilization in Siriraj Hospital’s IVF clinic.

There's a whole bunch more information available here, if you're interested. I've been doing a bunch of reading on bioethics and biotechnology this summer in preparation for the trip (and, who am I kidding, for fun too). Recently, I found this great book online (do you love Google Books or what?) that was actually edited by a professor at Mahidol University, Pinit Ratanakul. I don't know if we'll be able to meet with him, but I certainly hope so. At any rate, the conference is shaping up to be a ton of fun!