UNESCO Chair Fellow Participates in the 7th Annual Pisa Days of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology

Prof. Fr. Alberto Carrara, LC, Fellow of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights and Coordinator of the Italian Research Group in Neurobioethics (GdN) participated in the 7th Annual Meeting – Pisa Days of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology titled: Psychiatry: time for change, which took place in the Galilei Hotel in Pisa (Italy) on June 16-18, 2014.

Prof. Carrara gave a plenary lecture dealing with the contemporary application of neuroscience in psychiatric practice, with a particular focus on psychiatric patients as vulnerable members of society. The lecture was titled: Neuroethics in Psychiatry, and took place on June 18, 2014, at the end of the meeting.

Carrara noted that psychiatry has greatly changed with the advances in research. The remarkable increase in neuroscientific research in recent decades has corroborated the notion that “mind” and “brain” largely correspond and that psychiatric symptoms also result from brain disturbances. Neuroscientific research has opened new horizons to psychiatric interventions, thanks to the development of treatments such as psychotropic drugs.  Today we can affirm that we know much about the pathophysiology of mental disorders, we can control most psychiatric disorders and symptoms and, in an increasing number of cases, we can even restore normal equilibrium. Likewise, psychological practice has become more scientifically-oriented with some techniques showing reliable effectiveness, to the point that the combination of both drugs and focused psychological treatment can be decisive in some patients.

Moreover, diagnostic instruments have become more accurate and more widely applied: They constitute a sort of common language that undergoes continuous refining on the basis of bedside feedback and the ever-growing support of biological findings.

Although it is true that the mind is rooted in the brain and that the understanding of the brain in molecular terms will promote great advancements, it is also plausible that the mind is something more complex, escaping even our current attempts to define or delimit it. Although we can dissect psychiatric disorders into distinct symptoms or symptom clusters to understand better their molecular and/or neurological bases, such progressive dissecting of complex phenomena will not lead us to reach the fundamental point of Psychiatry.

Indeed, at this point, we need to incorporate all data deriving from neuroscientific research (which cannot be neglected nowadays even by the most traditionally-oriented psychoanalysts), into more exhaustive and comprehensive models, including the challenges deriving from the environment. Psychiatry is a discipline which is linked to and, at the same time, is the reflection of social urges, demands, problems and fears, to such a degree that the individual may be considered as the result of a constant interaction between brain and environment.

For these reasons, in his lecture Prof. Carrara proposed a proper anthropological vision that could help psychiatric clinics and operators in order to prescribe not just the optimal treatment of mental disorders to the restoration of a deranged brain equilibrium, but also to consider its social component and, consequently, the effects that a single individual may have upon society.

We must therefore look for other ways of thinking about the brain, the mind, its functioning and disturbances, so as to start courageously propose new hypotheses that go beyond the currently accepted paradigms.

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UNESCO Chair Fellows Participate in the 4th European Conference on Religion, Spirituality and Health in Malta

Prof. Fr. Joseph Tham, LC and Prof. Fr. Alberto Carrara, LC, Fellows of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights participated in the ECRSH14, the 4th European Conference on Religion, Spirituality and Health that took place in the Mater Dei’s Hospital in Malta Island From the 22nd to the 24th of May 2014.

The conference, organized by Prof. Dr. Donia Baldacchino (Educating Health Care Professionals on Spiritual Care, University of Malta), focused on the integration of religion and spirituality into clinical practice. The keynote speakers approached the topic from their specific professional background. The Malta Lecture was held by Prof. Harold G. Koenig, an expert in this field from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

The ECRSH14 was sponsored by the Research Institute for Spirituality and Health, Langenthal/Switzerland, in collaboration with Malta University, and was titled: Integrating Religion/Spirituality into Clinical Practice: Focus on Health Care Professionals.

Prof. Fr. Joseph Tham, LC and Prof. Fr. Alberto Carrara, LC also met Malta’s President during the opening congress event on the 22nd of May in the Presidential House (see image below).

The speakers came from different countries around the world: Prof. Dr. med. Arndt Buessing (Universität Witten/Herdecke, Germany), Rev. Prof. Christopher Cook, MD PhD (Dep. of Theology and Religion, Durham University, UK), Prof. Farr A. Curlin, MD (Program on Medicine and Religion, The University of Chicago, IL, USA), Prof. George Fitchett DMin, PhD (Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Il, USA), Rev. Dr. Ewan Kelly (NHS Education for Scotland, National Health Service, Edinburgh, UK), Dr. Piotr Krakowiak (Nicolaus Copernicus University Torun, Poland), Prof. Dr. Christina Puchalski (George-Washington-University Washington, DC, USA), Rev. Prof. John Swinton (King’s College University of Aberdeen, UK), and Dr. Jackie Watts (The Open University, London, UK).

You can find more information here. http://www.ecrsh.eu/

You can download the congress’ program here. http://www.ecrsh.eu/mm/ECRSH14-First-Announcement-Sep-6.pdf
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Progress Report 2012-2014

Executive Summary

Some of the chief outcomes of our commitment to promote  an integrated system of research, training, information, and documentation on bioethics and human rights are the following:

  • Improvement of communication regarding the project of the UNESCO chair, its mission, and its activities within the organization and to the public (particularly through our internet site: www.unescobiochair.org and periodical newsletters)
  • Design, launching, and consolidation of some academic programs and activities in collaboration with our UNITWIN partners in Mexico and Angola
  • Strengthening of the Neurobioethics Research Group (through ongoing monthly meetings)
  • Continuation of a forum of diverse bioethics thought leaders through the organization of our 3rd International Workshop on Bioethics, Multiculturalism and Religion in Hong Kong (Dec 2013), which offered a framework to guide the application of bioethical principles with regards to various religious traditions. Preparation has begun for the 4th Workshop on the Principles of Social Responsibility and Health in collaboration with Anahuac University in Mexico City (Nov 2014).
  • Innovative involvement of artistic community in bioethics issues through the organization of our 2nd International Bioethics Art Competition focusing on cultural diversity and the protection of future generations (May 2013) and preparation of the 3rd edition of the same competition.
  • Increased interest and involvement of new scholars and students from our host institutions (UER-APRA).  Some have volunteered as fellows and interns, making possible the consolidation and development of our activities.

Read the full report here.

UNESCO Chair Director receives COEBIO award in bioethics in Mexico City

The COEBIO (Council for the Recognition of Bioethically Responsible Businesses) awarded UNESCO Chair Director Dr. Alberto García with a prize for his work in the field of bioethics in a March 27 day in honor of various Mexican business characterized by bioethical responsibility held in Mexico City.  Upon accepting the award, García delivered a brief talk on “The importance of being a bioethically responsible business.”

“The value of a bioethically responsible business is measured by its contribution to the common good and not only in its balance sheet and income statement,” noted García in his talk.

The ceremony recognized the commitment to respect life, dignity, moral values, health and the environment in the following organizations:. Refrigeración Ojeda, Hospital de la Mujer Médica Sur Lomas, Grupo Zapata, Red Queen Technology, Comedor Santamaría, Metro Producciones, Laboratorio Clínico Biomédica de Referencia y el Instituto Las Águilas.  The business Citelum México is also in the process of being recognized for a similar comitment to bioethical responsibility.

“Our mission is to empower businesses to implement a bioethical culture among its employees, as well as to support companies in restructuring their code of ethics”, explained Lorena Malpica, General Director and  founding partner of COEBIO.

“This entrepreneurial attitude or virtue that cares and is concerned with bioethics does not diminish, but rather increases the sensitivity and identification of employees with the business’s mission.  It also stimulates job security and productivity by providing greater awareness of the social value of  the fruit of one’s labor, increases one’s interest in training to provide better services, creates or promotes more harmonious relations that are more open to collaboration,” explained García.

COEBIO seeks to promote these noble ideas by training companies and institutions through courses that enable them to live bioethical values ​​in their daily activity.  The courses are taught by a team of specialists in bioethics (doctors, lawyers, philosophers) that offer an interdisciplinary approach.  A council of experts also assures that the business accords with high standards in their code of ethics.

“Bioethics is applied in all business sectors because the person is the center in all these areas.  It is about transforming a business by transforming the people of whom it consists,” added Malpica.

“Therefore, bioethics in a business is not an expense, but rather an income,” concluded García.

For more information, please visit the organization’s official website: www.coebio.org.

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