Flagship Projects in 2012

I. Selling genetic tests online

    
Principal investigator:                           Principal investigator:     
Prof. Sally Wyatt                                  Dr Anna Harris

This project examines the intersection of two important emerging technologies: genetic testing and the internet. The latter provides consumers with direct access to genetic tests and personal genetic information, potentially unmediated by healthcare professionals. These developments raise critical questions about patient empowerment, ‘democratisation’ of science, organisation and regulation of healthcare, and the ability of consumers to make healthcare and lifestyle decisions, alone or together with healthcare providers. The availability of genetic tests for serious psychiatric disorders presents an important arena for examining these and related questions about the nature and impacts of direct-to-consumer (DTC) access to diagnostic and predictive individual genetic information.
This project is funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

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II. Nature’s Diplomats


Principal investigator:
Dr Raf de Bont

The VIDI project “Nature’s Diplomats” will explore the varied roles that ecological experts have played in international organisations with regard to the protection of species, habitats and landscapes. The project will take a long-term perspective, focusing on the period between the 1930s and today. The overall aim of this study is double: first, it will investigate how ecologists have historically combined the role of neutral expert with the explicit advocacy of nature protection; second, it will assess how the local roots of ecologists influence the ideas, approaches and values they defend at the international level.
The project is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek — NWO) under its prestigious Innovational Research Incentive Scheme (VIDI).

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