@heidimertes
Associate prof in Medical Ethics at Ghent University. Bioethics Institute Ghent, bioethics.ugent.be, metamedica.ugent.be. Bioethics, ethics of reproductive medicine, (reproductive) genetics, disruptive innovation in healthcare (dime.ugent.be)
Iranians are experiencing a collective trauma. Thousands have been killed/injured in recent events, the economy is crippled & the threat of a wider conflict is real. This is especially difficult for those living in Iran, as many have lost (or fear losing) loved ones. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
💥 On April 9th 2026, we will be hosting the closing event of our @erc.europa.eu funded project #DIME on disruptive innovation in healthcare and medical ethics in Ghent.
📣 Call for Abstracts is now open! See: www.dime.ugent.be/sample-page/...
🙏 Thank you @pet-bionews.bsky.social and Cathy Herbrand from the #precas project for inviting me to speak at the #petconf25 in London on the ethical considerations involved in (expanded) preconception carrier screening.
Main take-away: if we want to do this well, we will need lots of counseling!
Can't tell how greatful I am for these last bits of sanity in America:
A Great Unraveling Is Underway www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/o...
📢 Metamedica UGent is hosting a free symposium on the topic of epistemic injustice in medical AI.
📆 11 March 2025, 16:00-18:00 CET
🏛 Library Labs, Rozier 44, 9000 Gent or 💻 online
Join us!
✏ details and registration: humanitiesacademie.ugent.be/epistemic-in...
Inexplicably, US administration has launched an unprecedented assault on science, on research institutions & on vital international organizations & initiatives.
An assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere; the global community must unite
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Tom Beauchamp, professor emeritus of philosophy at Georgetown University and a highly influential figure in biomedical ethics, has died.
A website has been started in response to the orders to take down references to women’s accomplishments in government offices. We are not going to let them erase us this time. womenrefusingtobeerased.org
🧵 Trump’s USAID funding freeze abruptly halted critical global health research, abandoning participants mid-trial. A gross ethical violation. @bachynski.bsky.social & I explain what happened and why it matters @bmj.com . ⬇️
www.bmj.com/content/388/...
"the scientific community needs to stand its ground" #scientificintegrity
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Marie Curie, Physicist and chemist.
Today is International Day of Women & Girls in Science.
Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Her contributions have left an indelible mark on the world of science & health & continue to inspire generations of scientists & innovators. 🔬 #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
Hallo allemaal, kom donderdag naar Gent want we babbelen een avond vol over landschap, geheugen, geweld en natuur met @noreenmasud.bsky.social
“health, medical, &scientific communities have a vital role in advocating for their patients, defending programmes, & lobbying for policies &institutions that are good for health &wellbeing”
American chaos: standing up for health & medicine @thelancet.bsky.social
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
And here's me thinking that the Declaration of Helsinki is more than a scrap of paper.
It will take decades to rebuild the trust of vulnerable populations in US researchers.
“We are witnessing one of the worst and most costly foreign policy blunders in U.S. history.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/o...
If you are in danger unless you comply with a regime, you are in danger whether you comply or not
📣 Medical editors call for #action against the decisions being taken in the #USA undermining #medicine and #science, and international #coordination to preserve what has been built across borders.
#IDSky #Clinmicro #MedSky #Episky #publichealth #vaccines
www.cmi-comms.com/article/S295...
A rare and wonderful sight of a great UK philosophy job. Please spread widely to colleagues worldwide.
Area of Specialization: Ethics and/or Political Philosophy
Would be an advantage to be able to teach Ethics of AI
Tenure-track
Application deadline: 10th March 2025
#philsky
This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in North #Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid. 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including those on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital. The patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed and non-functional Indonesian Hospital. @WHO is deeply concerned for their safety. This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for WHO and partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October. Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal functional. The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care. This horror must end and health care must be protected. Ceasefire!
This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in North #Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid.
America’s IVF Failure: One out of every 50 babies born in the U.S. was conceived via IVF. Why is the industry so poorly regulated? | The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
📢 Vacancy for Lecturer with background in critical (e.g. feminist, queer, postcolonial) theory & methods, interested in teaching AI students critical perspectives on AI. We encourage candidates from historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply 🌈
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Marcia Inhorn: "In this book, I aim to answer Heidi Mertes's important question." Very flattered (for receiving too much credit) and happy that judgemental stereotyping of women freezing eggs is on its way out! #eggfreezing #internationalwomensday
Alabama Supreme Court ruling could end IVF treatments in state: The state’s high court ruled Friday that frozen embryos outside the womb are children. 19thnews.org/2024/02/ivf-...
grayscale photo of round blastocyst at 5 days which looks like a weirdly scaled discoball and not a teeny weeny bitty baby. Picture reads "THIS is what the Alabama Supreme Court is calling 'an extrauterine child' and 'minor'" Also should be noted this picture is massively blown up because we are talking head of a pin size right now.
Reminder: "embryo" refers to any point in development from fertilization to 8 weeks development. But those used in IVF are pre-implantation, meaning they are only a few DAYS old. Every news story should be obligated to show what development we are REALLY talking about.
Very exited to be hosting a Brocher workshop this week on "Shifting responsibilities in healthcare due to disruptive innovation: ethical, legal, and social implications", as part of our ERC-funded DIME project. Updated programme through the link on our project website: www.dime.ugent.be/news/
Bioethicists on the market? Do consider applying for a post-doc here at NUS CBmE, we've just opened a new call for a job working on AI Ethics. We've got a great and growing team, feel free to send me any related queries: careers.nus.edu.sg/NUS/job/YONG...
As I'm new on this platform, perhaps I should introduce myself. I'm a Belgian bioethicist with a track record in the field of reproductive medicine, reproductive genetics, embryo research, fertility awareness, parenthood. Currently PI of ERC StG on disruptive innovation in healthcare: dime.ugent.be