Robert Streiffer
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bio

Robert Streiffer's research includes bioethics (both medical and agricultural), ethical theory, metaethics, and political philosophy, with a focus on ethical and policy issues arising from modern biotechnology. He is currently working in two areas.The first is on ethical and policy issues arising from the creation of chimeras, organisms with parts from different species, through the xenotransplantation of human stem cells into animals that are in the embryonic or early fetal stages of development. The second is on ethical and policy issues arising from the application of biotechnology to animals in agriculture. He has served on the Health Sciences Institute Review Board and is presently serving on the UW Hospital  Ethics Committee, UW's Biotechnology Advisory Committee, and UW's Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee.

He is an associate professor with tenure at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He has a joint appointment in the Department of Medical History and Bioethics and the Philosophy Department, and affiliate appointments in the Department of Medical Sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine, in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and in the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. He received his Ph.D. in ethics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999.

new course in research ethics for science and engineering Ph. D. students

Robert Streiffer (Medical History and Bioethics; Philosophy) and Sara Patterson (Horticulture), and other participating faculty are teaching a new research ethics class targeting science and engineering Ph. D. students who are not already served by UW's existing biomedical research ethics courses. For now, it is listed as Medical History and Bioethics 999 Advanced Independent Study and Horticulture 875 Research Ethics. The course is being developed under the leadership of Gary Comstock at North Carolina State University and is supported by an NSF grant “The Model Curriculum for Land Grant Universities in Research Ethics (LANGURE)”.

The course objective is to enable students to understand the policies regulating research at land grant universities and the moral principles on which these policies are based. After completing the course, students should have the ability to explain (1) the research mission of land grant universities, (2) the ethical principles supporting research policies, (3) the policies that regulate research on such issues as mentoring and under-represented minorities and women in research, research misconduct, authorship and peer review, intellectual property, conflicts of interest and commitment, proper experimental design, data collection, and statistical interpretation, (4) discipline-specific issues chosen on the basis of current enrollment, and (5) the importance of life-long learning in research ethics and how to find updated information.

Modules on discipline-specific issues include modules on the following: nanotechnology; physics; computer science and engineering; chemical and industrial engineering; microbiology; nuclear engineering; field research in plant biology; agricultural biotechnology and sustainability; the use of animals for food, fiber, and research authority and power in social sciences research; agricultural extension (crops and expert advice); and ethical business communication.

For more detailed information, see the Land Grant University Research Ethics (LANGURE) website at http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/langure/.

recent materials

Iowa State University (03/23/07): Ethical Considerations in a Market-Driven University
PowerPoint Slides: Streiffer - Academic Freedom and AIRs (Expanded ISU Keynote).pdf

Isthmus Society Panel (12/06/06): Stem Cells, Embryos, and Ethics: Is There a Way Forward?
PowerPoint Slides: Streiffer - Evaluating the Argument for Altered Nuclear Transfer PPT Slides (Revised).pdf
Handout: Streiffer - Evaluating the Argument for Altered Nuclear Transfer Handout (Revised).pdf

National Academy of Sciences (11/07/06): Emerging Issues in Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
PowerPoint Slides (slightly revised): Streiffer - NAS Chimeras PPT Slides.pdf
Audio Recording of Presentation and Q & A: Streiffer - NAS Chimeras Audio.mp3 (25 MB)

PDF files require the free Adobe Reader, available at: http://www.adobe.com/

publications

1. Streiffer, Robert. Forthcoming. "Wittgenstein on the General Form of a Proposition." Analysis and Metaphysics. [abstract]
2. Streiffer, Robert (lead author) and Alan Rubel. Forthcoming. “Genetically Engineered Animals and the Ethics of Food Labeling." In The Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods, in Oxford University Press’s series Environmental Ethics and Science Policy. [abstract]
3. Streiffer, Robert (lead author), Alan Rubel, and Julie Fagan. 2006. "Medical Privacy and the Public's Right to Vote: What Presidential Candidates Should Disclose." The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 31: 417-439. [abstract]
4. Streiffer, Robert. 2006. "Academic Freedom and Industry-Imposed Restrictions on Academic Biotechnology Research." The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 16(2): 129-149. [abstract]
5. Streiffer, Robert. 2005. "At the Edge of Humanity: Human Stem Cells, Chimeras, and Moral Status." The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15(4): 347-370. [abstract]
6. Streiffer, Robert. 2005. "An Ethical Analysis of Ojibway Objections to Genomics and Genetics Research on Wild Rice." Philosophy in the Contemporary World, Special Issue on the Ownership of Common Goods 12(2): 37-45. [abstract]
7. Streiffer, Robert (lead author) and Thomas Hedemann. 2005. "The Political Import of Intrinsic Objections to Genetically Engineered Food." The Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 18(2): 191-210. [abstract]
8. Rubel, Alan (lead author) and Robert Streiffer. 2005. "Respecting the Autonomy of European and American Consumers: Defending Positive Labels on GM Foods." The Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 18(1): 75-84. [abstract]
9. Streiffer, Robert. 2005. "Book Review of Gary Comstock's Vexing Nature? The Ethical Case against Agricultural Biotechnology." Environmental Ethics 27(2): 213-216. [abstract]
10. Streiffer, Robert (lead author) and Alan Rubel. 2004. "Democratic Principles and Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food." Public Affairs Quarterly 18(3): 223-248. [abstract]
11. Streiffer, Robert (lead author) and Alan Rubel. 2003. "Choice Versus Autonomy in the GM Food Labeling Debate." AgBioForum 6(3): 141-142. [abstract]
12. Streiffer, Robert. 2003. "In Defense of the Moral Relevance of Species Boundaries." American Journal of Bioethics 3(3): 37-38. [abstract]
13. Streiffer, Robert. 2003. Moral Relativism and Reasons for Action. New York: Routledge. [abstract]

works in progress or under review

1. Streiffer, Robert. Biotechnology: The Ethical and Policy Issues. An anthology. [abstract]
2. Streiffer, Robert. At the Edge of Humanity: Human Stem Cells, Chimeras, and Xenotransplantation. A single-authored book project.  [abstract]
3. Streiffer, Robert. "The Welfare Argument for Diminished Animals." [abstract]
4. Streiffer, Robert and Jeffrey Burkhardt. "GM Foods, Consumer Sovereignty, and the Democratic Impulse: Is Consumer Acceptance the Wrong Criterion?" [abstract]
5. Streiffer, Robert. "Chimeras, Moral Status, and State Neutrality."
6. Streiffer, Robert. "Moral Status: Clarifying the Concept."

[ home page ] [ contact information ] [ courses ] [ curriculum vitae (doc/pdf) ] [ abstracts ] [ materials ] [ biotechnology links ] [ other links ]

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