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Louis Appignani was the dinner speaker at the "I.H.E.U. Appignani Center For Bioethics" inaugural conference held at the United Nations Plaza in NYC on April 22-23, 2005. The conference was entitled:

"Humanist Bioethics: Global Ethical Implications of Biotech Advances"

The Louis J. Appignani Foundation's grant of $150,000 was responsible for establishing the Bioethics Center, which has United Nations representation through the I.H.E.U.

A summary of the conference can be found below.

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) – Appignani Center for Bioethics at the UN will host a two-day bioethics conference on April 22-23, 2005.

The conference, which will occur at 777 UN Plaza in New York City, is titled "Humanist Bioethics: Global Ethical Implications of Biotech Advances."

"New advances in biotechnology offer many possibilities for remaking our lives, our families and our society," said Ana Lita, Ph.D., director of the IHEU-Appignani Center for Bioethics at the UN. "Yet, current debates over the ethical implications of biotech advances owe much to the resurgence of conservative 'religious values.'"

At the conference, Humanist leaders and scholars will discuss how religious institutions are shaping the debate on various bioethical issues, and will question whether this should be so. The conference will reflect the international ethical debates on the following topics:

· stem cell research
· human cloning
· reproductive technologies
· human rights and family planning
· human genetic engineering
· organ markets
· transhumanism, biopolitics and the New Rights Paradigm
· euthanasia and abortion in light of recent scientific developments

Leading national and international experts in bioethics, as well as founders of bioethics center, will address the conference.

Speakers include:

• Professor Glenn McGee, Conference Chairman John A. Balint Endowed Chair in Medical Ethics, Albany Medical School, Editor-in-Chief, The American Journal of Bioethics;
• Professor Aubrey de Grey, founder, Methusaleh Mouse Project, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge;
• Robert Buckman, medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Hospital, and a full Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Chair of the Advisory Board of the IHEU-Appignani Humanist Center for Bioethics;
• James Hughes, Executive Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies;
• Kathryn Hinsch, founder, Women’s Bioethics Project;
• Bernard Siegel, founder, Genetics Policy Institute,
• Louis Appignani, principal founder, IHEU-Appignani Center for Bioethics.