An elite team of surgeons and ethicists from across the globe will gather next week at an international conference co-coordinated by a Duquesne health care ethics expert to develop a clear set of ethical guidelines for clinicians performing face transplants.
Dr. Gerard Magill
The International Bioethics Conference on Face Transplants—which convenes from Tuesday, May 9, through Friday, May 12, in Geneva, Switzerland—is being coordinated by Dr. Gerard Magill and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Dr. Vijay Gorantla.
Magill, the Vernon F. Gallagher Chair for the Integration of Science, Theology, Philosophy and Law in the Center for Healthcare Ethics, said the conference is by invitation-only.
“There is no standard set of ethics right now as the science of face transplants is only about a decade old,” Magill said. “This conference brings together the top, elite experts in the world. Duquesne can have a major impact on this kind of care.”
The first partial face transplant was performed in France in November 2005 on a woman whose face was mauled by her dog. The transplant was successful.
The conference is funded by a grant from the Brocher Foundation, as well as additional funds from the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts and Provost Dr. Timothy Austin.
Magill said the group hopes to present their findings to the International Society of Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation Conference in Saltzburg, Austria, in October.