[TAGC-Partners] Call for Genetics and Ethics cases for an upcoming case book

Dear TAGC colleagues,

We (Curtis Coughlin and Kelly Ormond) are co-editing a forthcoming casebook on genetics and ethics (we hope it will be available open access, too!).  In an effort to represent the ethical challenges and case management issues that arise globally, we are soliciting cases with a particular focus on trying to get case examples from non-Western countries and countries where medical genetics and/or genetic counseling practice is more of an emerging field.    You do not need any special ethics expertise to submit a case, nor will you need to do the ethical analysis — these are cases that are meant to provide course instructors globally with extra cases they can use to inspire discussion in their classes, or for an independent learner to read and consider on their own.  

We have a short page with 3 example cases (all less than 200 words) here that are early versions of cases that we will 'unpack' in the various chapters.  It may give you an idea of the sorts of details that might be involved, although for your case submissions, more details about the medical situation and/or social/political/health care context will probably be important in your submitted cases, as these were all written in a very general way that could apply in many countries around the world.    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KwMyn7W9EtpRvvM2IYfDhBioBub5vdNEVZo4U-63sjY/edit?tab=t.0

If you think you have a relevant case that we might include, please fill out the following short survey with your information and we will be in touch as we sort out the case options that we receive. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVfAZjIFS6dJ1hbgaYeoEWxccfqqTDD_JckyyaXe0B78sfmA/viewform?usp=publish-editor. It would be great to get the survey completed by March 23 (a little more than 2 weeks from now), so that we can make some determinations by early April about which cases we might include.  Our goal is to include something like 15-20 cases in total across the book.  

To those whose cases are selected, we can provide a short example of how we will want the cases formatted (essentially they will be 250-500 words maximum) and we would need the cases in draft form by early May, and in final revised form after receiving any comments at some point during the fall of 2026 so that the book can come out in 2027.  

We will happily acknowledge in the book all the co-authors of cases that are included if you desire (cases would not list names or countries directly unless it were a critical part of the case discussion).  

If you have questions or want to discuss further, please feel free to reach out to Kelly at this email.  

We look forward to your interesting cases,

Curtis and Kelly

Kelly Ormond
ABGC and EBMG Registered Genetic Counselor
Lecturer and Research Scientist, ETH-Zurich

Contact information:  

ETH Zurich

Health Ethics & Policy Lab
Department of Health Sciences and Technology
Hottingerstrasse 10,
8092 Zurich, Switzerland

[email protected]