Gregory Stock

Gregory Stock is a biophysicist, best-selling author, biotech entrepreneur, and the former director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA’s School of Medicine. His interests lie in the scientific and evolutionary as well as ethical, social and political implications of today's revolutions in the life sciences and in information technology and computers.

Life, written works, and business career

Education

He received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1987, where he was a Baker Scholar and won the Freund-Porter Entrepreneurship award. Stock completed a doctorate in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University in 1977, where he received a BS and MS in 1971.[1]

Biotechnology and its impact on society

He has written extensively on the implications for society, medicine and business of the human genome project and associated developments in molecular genetics and bioinformatics. The Storefront Genome,[2] the symposium he convened in January 2003 to consider the broad challenges that cheap, easy access to our genetic constitutions drew wide media attention, and his 1998 look at the possibilities of manipulating the genetics of human embryos, the first major public discussion of this issue among distinguished scientists, opened a global debate on this then taboo topic.[3]

Biotech entrepreneur

Stock was the CEO of Signum Biosciences.[4] Signum Biosciences is a private biotechnology company dedicated to developing small-molecule therapeutics derived from its Signal Transduction Modulation (STM) platform to modulate signal transduction imbalances. Through research on protein networks that control biological systems, Signum is developing therapeutic candidates for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, diabetes, asthma and certain skin conditions. Signum’s STM technology provides many opportunities for the development of novel consumer products and pharmaceutical candidates. Signum was founded on the science derived from basic research studying cellular signaling at the Princeton University laboratory of ww.molbio.princeton.edu/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=240 Dr. Jeffry Stock

He sits on the editorial board of the American Journal of Bioethics and is in the department of Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine.[5] He is a member of the Board of Directors of Napo Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in San Francisco.[6] He sits on the California Advisory Committee on Stem Cells and Reproductive Cloning and serves as the associate director for the Bioagenda Institute and the Center for Life Science Studies at the University of California at Berkeley.

Dr. Stock has been an invited speaker to many academic, government and business conferences. He makes regular appearances on television and radio, and has appeared on CNN, PBS,[7] NPR and the BBC in shows including Talk of the Nation, Charlie Rose,[8] Oprah Winfrey, Biotech Nation and Larry King.

Public policy and activities

Stock was an early force in considering the implications of human germline engineering and human enhancement. Through the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society, which he founded at the UCLA School of Medicine, he organized an influential 1998 conference at UCLA: "Engineering the Human Germline," which included a panel of James Watson, French Anderson, Lee Hood and other major figures in the life sciences. The event, which attracted considerable media attention and opened up broad debate on what was then a largely taboo topic, was covered on the front page of the New York Times.[9] Through another seminal UCLA conference, Milestones on Aging, he organized, Stock helped legitimize research to significantly extend human longevity.[10] The event led to a follow conference he co-hosted at UC Berkeley with Bruce Ames and Aubrey de Grey, who went on to found the Methuselah Foundation, an organization that has aggressively promoted research on life extension. The activity of the MTS Program was also critical in establishing UCLA’s Center on Society and Genetics, which actively explores broad policy issues in the genomics arena.

Stock is now primarily engaged in the development of new therapeutics at Signum Biosciences, a biotech company he co-founded in 2003, but he remains active in the policy arena through UCLA's MTS Program, which he still directs, and the BioAgenda Institute,[11] which he is the associate director of, and through various public appearances and debates. Stock has presented diverse keynotes ranging from “The Coming Era of Personalized Medicine” at Medco, “Trends in Health, Science and Nutrition” at the American Dietetic Association, "The Future of Genomics and Healthcare" at Johnson and Johnson, "The Coming Healthcare Revolution" at HIMS (Healthcare Information Management Society) and "The Evolution of the Biotech Revolution" at Applied Biosystems to "21st Century Opportunities and Challenges" at the World Future Society, "Beauty, Health and Biotech: A Look Ahead" at Fashion Group International, "Redesigning Humans: Best Hope, Worst Fear" at the TED (Technology, Education and Design) Conference, and "From Pharmacogenomics to Genetic Design" at the World Transhumanist Society. He has also been involved with broadcast media through guest appearances on shows such as the PBS documentary "Religion and Ethics: The Challenge and Ethics of Strong Biotechnology," debates on NPR's Talk of the Nation and Charlie Rose, via an online multimedia documentary he produced with funding from the Greenwall and Sloan Foundations entitled "Human Germline Engineering: Implications for Science and Society"(www.germline.ucla.edu), and in an ARTE documentary examining key figures in Biotechnology.[12] (he also has a nephew named Jake Posl)

Stock's expertise in biotechnology, genetics and public policy in the life sciences led to his appointment on the California Advisory Committee on Stem Cells and Reproductive Cloning, Dept. of Health Services, State of California.[13]

Debates

Stock has always been a strong advocate for the aggressive implementation of new technology in the life sciences and he has publicly debated many leading figures in the bioethics community, including Francis Fukuyama, Jeremy Rifkin, Leon Kass,[14] George Annas, Dan Callahan,[15] Bill McKibben,[16] Michael Sandel,[17] William Hurlbut and Nigel Cameron.[18] In these appearances, he has consistently argued against restrictions on life science research including funding bans on stem cell research, moratoriums on cloning, overly protective pharmaceutical regulatory controls, and efforts to constrain anti-aging research. A fellow of the World Technology Council and World Academy of Art and Science, Stock's argues in favor of the positive benefits of new technology has on human life and the role it will play on our future.

Books


Dr. Stock has written works on the impact and significance of recent advances in technology and the life sciences, and several bestsellers on values and ethics. His Book of Questions series, which consists of four eclectic collections of provocative situational dilemmas, was designed to generate discussion and thought about value-laden issues. The series has sold more than three million copies in total, been translated into 17 languages, and spawned a host of imitations. The original Book of Questions was number 1 on the New York Times Bestseller's list for 8 weeks.

His books on technology, public policy and future human evolution are:

Redesigning Humans won the Kistler Award Kistler Prize for science writing. Stock has also written numerous articles and papers on these topics.

Stock currently serves on the editorial Board of Rejuvination Science, the International Journal of Bioethics,[19] the Journal of Evolution and Technology,[20] and the American Journal of Bioethics.[21]

Boards

Selected public appearances

Civil Liberties Research Center Keynote: Genomics and our Rights (Alberta);

Joint Investment Conference: Genomics and the Human Future (Marrakech); PBS: Religion and Ethics -

The Challenge of Strong Biotechnology;[24]

World Future Society Keynote: New Approaches to Healthcare;[25]

Contract Magazine: Design and Life - A dialogue with architect Lauren Rottet;

BioAgenda East Great Debate with Nigel Cameron: Should Human Germline Engineering be Banned?;

Therapeutic Insights: Exploring the Disconnect between Unmet Needs and Pharma Investment:[26] Keck Graduate Institute: The Rights of Redesigned Humans;

Fashion Group International: Beauty, Health & Biotech - A look Ahead; Women’s Technology Council, The Ethics of Human Enhancement;

Wheaton College: Genomics, Science Fiction and Ethics Collide;

The Ethics of Life Extension: A debate with Daniel Callahan, Canada;

American Dietetic Assoc Keynote: Trends in Health and Nutrition;

Medco Keynote: The Era of Personalized Medicine[19];

Applied Biosystems: The Evolution of the Biotech Revolution[;[27]

Auburn: Genomic Medicine & Ethical Constraints;

Forest Technology: Regenerative Medicine -A Look Ahead;

BioAgenda Institute: Chimeras and Synthetic Life;

Ernst and Young: From AI to Global Brain—the Merging of Human and Machine;

Foundation for the Future: Challenges of the Next Millennium;

NPR: Genetics and the Future of Medicine; World Transhumanist Society Keynote: From Pharmacogenomics to Genetic Design (Caracas);

Festival dei due Mondi: Biotechnology and the Human Future (Spoleto);

Price Waterhouse Cooper Showcase: A New Path Towards Therapeutic and Pharmaceutical Development;

FTI Annual Convention: Biotechnology and the Human Future;

BioAgenda Institute: Coming Biotech Challenges;[28]

Center for Public Policy: Germline Research Policy Options;

Princeton Univ: Stem Cell Research and the Human Future;

Economist Conference Keynote: The Future of Pharmaceuticals (Athens);

Royal Society: A Look at Our Reproductive Future (London);

TEDMED: Afflicted by the FDA—The Future & Pharma Regulation;

NPR: Human Error and Technology; Harvard Medical School: Genetics and Society – Coming Challenges;

Harvard Business School: The Economic Impacts of Biotech;

GlaxoSmithKline Keynote: Risk Assessment and Genomics;

UC Irvine Schneiderman Lecture: From Regenerative Medicine to Genetic Design;

NPR Point-Counterpoint on Human Enhancement with Michael Sandel;[29]

University of Texas LBJ Lecture: Genetics, Biomedicine and Healthcare;

Can You Really Extend Your Life? [30]

Selected articles

External links

References

  1. ↑ UCLA Website: Gregory Stock
  2. ↑ The Storefront Genome
  3. ↑ From Regenerative Medicine to Human Design: What Are We Really Afraid Of
  4. ↑ Signum Biosciences
  5. ↑ UCLA Center for Society and Genetics
  6. ↑ Napo Pharmaceuticals
  7. ↑ Gregory Stock on PBS
  8. ↑ Gregory Stock on Charlie Rose
  9. ↑ Gina Kolata for the New York Times. March 21, 1998 Scientists Brace for Changes In Path of Human Evolution
  10. ↑ Alliance for Aging Research
  11. ↑ The BioAgenda Institute
  12. ↑ Engineering the Human Germline Symposium
  13. ↑ Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee Information
  14. ↑ NPR Talk of the Nation Debate on Biotechnology with Leon Kass
  15. ↑ Edmonton Aging Symposium Presentation
  16. ↑ SAGE Crossroads debate
  17. ↑ Michael Sandel debate
  18. ↑ The BioAgenda 2007 Great Debate: Should the world permanently ban the genetic manipulation of human embryos – yes or no?
  19. ↑ Ethics and Medicine Editorial Board
  20. ↑ Journal of Evolution and Technology Editorial Board
  21. ↑ American Journal of Bioethics
  22. ↑ Signum Biosciences Inc Board of Directors
  23. ↑ Napo Pharmaceuticals Board of Directors
  24. ↑ net/religionandethics/week1051/c over.html PBS Religion and Ethics
  25. ↑ Gregory Stock at the World Future Society
  26. ↑ Gregory Stock At Therapeutic Insights Conference
  27. ↑ Medco's Drug Trend Symposium
  28. ↑ BioAgenda Institute
  29. ↑ The Case Against Perfection Michael Sandel and Gregory Stock debate
  30. ↑ ResearchChannel
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