We've started posting presentations from a number of our community talks to SlideShare. Our first one is entitled "The Genomics Policy Process: Forming Partnerships Between Citizens, Experts, and Policy Makers," by Drs. Fowler, Allison, and Garland at Translating ELSI: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Genomics, Case Western Reserve University, May 3, 2008.

Geneforum has added two new members to its Advisory Board - Victoria E. Navarrete Cruz and Fernando Anaya-Velazquez. Both head up the University of Guanajuato's bioethics center (Centro de Investigaciones en Bioethica (CIB) in Mexico.

Just wanted to introduce Kirk Allison to the Geneforum community. Kirk, Director of the Program in Human Rights and Health in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, has been involved with Geneforum since June of 2007 when I was a Visiting Guest Lecturer in the inaugural year of a three-week Public Health Genomics course as part of the offerings of the 2007 Public Health Institute at the University of Minnesota.

His research and writings in human rights and public values fueled an eventual collaboration which resulted in a co-authored paper, Technology and Citizenry: A Model for Public Consultation in Science Policy Formation soon to appear in the May 2008 issue of the Journal of Evolution & Technology. From May 1-3, 2008, Kirk and I teamed up to present a paper, The Genomics Policy Process: A Model for Partnering Citizens, Experts and Policy Makers at the Translating ELSI: Global Perspectives on Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Human Genome Research in Cleveland.