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Event report
What should happen to your brain after you die?
Edinburgh International Science Festival
Friday 16 April 2010
More than 50 participants gathered at the Royal College of Surgeons for a three-hour public deliberative event organised by Gengage as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival 2010.
This lively event addressed issues around brain banking and brain donation for research. A series of presentations, given by experts in the field, were followed by facilitated round-table discussions. Participants were asked to deliberate and then vote on a number of questions, including...
• Should human brains be used for research?
• Would you want your brain to be used for research after your death?
• Should Scottish brain banks be responsible to a single authority, similar to the Human Tissue Authority in England?
• Should researchers be permitted to access other data, such as health, education or criminal records, about the individuals whose brains they are studying?
• Is brain donation for research different from the donation of other organs for transplantation?
• Should informed consent forms specify that the donated brain may be used for research that leads to commercial profit?
Professor Boyd introduces the event
Programme
The event was chaired by Prof Kenneth Boyd, Professor of Medical Ethics, The University of Edinburgh.
Panellists and presentations
What are brain banks and why do we need them? – Professor Jeanne Bell, Emeritus Professor of Neuropathology, University of Edinburgh, and founder of the MRC HIV Brain and Tissue Bank and the MRC Sudden Death Brain and Tissue Bank
The UK Brain Bank Network – working together to advance our understanding of brain diseases – Professor James Ironside, Professor of Clinical Neuropathology, University of Edinburgh, and Director of the MRC UK Brain Banks Network
Why multiple sclerosis research needs your brains – Professor Richard Reynolds, Professor of Cellular Neuroscience, Imperial College, London, and Scientific Director of the UK Multiple Sclerosis Tissue Bank
Post mortem tissue donation for research: experience of approaching bereaved families – Ms Tracey Millar, Research Nurse Co-ordinator, MRC Sudden Death Brain and Tissue Bank
Avoiding the commodification of human beings in brainbanking – Dr Austen Garwood-Gowers, Reader in Healthcare Law, Nottingham-Trent University
All that glitters: just how special is the brain? – Dr Martyn Pickersgill, Research Fellow, Community Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh
(L-R) Dr Austen Garwood-Gowers, Dr Martyn Pickersgill and Prof Kenneth Boyd
Facilitated Discussions
The facilitated discussions focused on the questions participants were asked to vote on, and raised a number of issues and areas of concern participants had.
Facilitated discussions in full swing
Voting results
After the facilitated discussions, participants were asked to vote on 15 different questions. The voting produced some very interesting results, which reflect much of what was discussed in the groups.
Evaluations
Those who attended the event provided very positive feedback. Of the 41 evaluation forms we received, 28 participants (68%) said they thought the event was ‘excellent’, while 13 participants (32%) said they thought the event was ‘good’. All 41 participants said they would recommend this type of event to others.
Participants also made some very valuable constructive comments for ways the event might have been improved and topics that might have been discussed or expanded upon. A number of suggestions were also made for future events
We greatly appreciate these comments and suggestions, and will bear them in mind for our next event.