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BSMS > About BSMS > Contact us > Staff > Professor Bobbie Farsides

Professor Bobbie Farsides

Bobbie Farsides web 2015

Professor Bobbie Farsides (BSc, PhD)

Professor of Clinical and Biomedical Ethics
E: B.Farsides@bsms.ac.uk
T: +44 (0) 1273 877630
Location: Medical Teaching Building, Rm 3.04, BSMS, University of Sussex, BN1 9PX

DA: Lisa Costick/Ellen Thomas
E: MedicineAnatomyDA@bsms.ac.uk
+44 (0)1273 877890

Areas of expertise: Medical ethics
Research areas: Medical ethics and humanities; neuroscience

Biography

  • Professor of Clinical and Biomedical Ethics, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, 2006-present

  • Senior Lecturer in Medical Ethics, Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, King’s College London, 1999-2006

  • Lecturer in Medical Ethics, Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, King's College London, 1996-1999

  • Director, Centre for Contemporary Ethical Studies, Keele University, 1992-1996

  • Permanent Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Keele University, 1990-1996

  • Temporary Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Keele University, 1986-1990

  • Research Assistant, 1985-1986

  • Lecturer (PT), Department of Government and Department of Social Science and Administration, London School of Economics, 1982-1986

Education

  • PhD, London School of Economics, 1992

  • BSc (Economics), London School of Economics, University of London, 1978-1981

  • Professional committee membership

Current

  • Member, British Medical Association Ethics Committee, 2006-

  • Trustee and Board Member of Institute of Medical Ethics, 2008-

  • Member of Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust (BSUHT) Clinical Ethics Committee, 2001-

  • Member of BSUHT Organ Donation Committee, 2008-

  • Member of UK Donation Ethics Committee, 2010-

  • Member of MRC Brain Bank Network Steering Committee, 2010-

  • Member of Emerging Science and Bioethics Advisory Committee (ESBAC), 2012-

  • Member of HFEA's National Donation Strategy Group, 2012-

  • Member of SaBTO's Cell based Advanced Therapies working Group, 2013-

  • Chair, Nuffield Council for Bioethics Working Party Children and Medical Research: finding a way forward, 2013-

Other information

  • PhD external examiner

Editorial and other responsibilities

  • Clinical Ethics (Co-Editor), Founder editor (with Dr Sue Eckstein) of a new Royal Society of Medicine journal, Clinical Ethics, 2006-2011

Research

Ethical issues relating to healthcare, especially ante-natal screening and testing, reproductive technologies, palliative care and issues around death and dying.

Recent funding/grants

  • 2011-2014 Wellcome Trust Biomedical Ethics in Developing Countries Doctoral scholarship for Dr Adamu Adassie, 'Adoption of rapid ethical appraisal as a practical method of assessing ethical issues relating to biomedical research projects in Ethiopia', Co-Supervisor with Dr Gail Davey (BSMS)
  • September 2009 NIHR Programme Grant, Increasing the Acceptability and Rates of Organ Donation Among Ethnic Groups, PI: Prof Morgan (KCL), with Prof Jones (KCL), Dr Sque (Southampton), Prof Grieve (KCL), Prof Newton (KCL), Prof Rhandawa (Bedfordshire), Prof MCGuire (LSE), Dr Scoble (Guys and St Thomas’s)
  • 2009-2014 Wellcome Trust Biomedical Ethics Strategic Award, The ethics of translational research: from ‘unnatural entities’ to experimental treatments, LABTEC - London & Brighton Translational Ethics Centre, with Prof Williams (KCL) Prof Cribb (KCL), Prof Michael (Goldsmiths), Dr Minger (KCL), Prof Salter (CBAS), Prof Scott (KCL), Prof Seale (QMUL), Prof Shaw (KCL) & Prof Wainwright (CBAS)
  • 2007-2009 Wellcome Trust, A framework for the acquisition of embryos for research, with Prof Clare Williams (KCL), Dr Sue Avery (Birmingham), Prof Sarah Franklin (LSE)
  • 2004- 2006 ESRC Stem Cell Programme, Mapping stem cell innovation in action, Co-applicant with Dr Clare Williams (Nursing, KCL), Mr Nigel Heaton, (Head of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital); Professors Cribb (Public Policy, King’s College) and Michael (Sociology, Goldsmith’s College); and Dr Wainwright (Nursing, KCL)

Active collaborations

  • Dr Gail Davey, BSMS
  • Professor Melanie Newport, BSMS
  • Dr Catherine Will, Department of Sociology, University of Sussex
  • Professor Clare Williams, Brunel University
  • Professor Rosamund Scott, King's College London
  • Professor Myfanwy Morgan, King's College London

Teaching

Ethics - The General Medical Council requires that ethics is a 'continual stream' through the undergraduate medical curriculum. Bobbie is responsible for this element of the BSMS curriculum and shares teaching and development responsibilities with a number of BSMS and BSUH colleagues.

Selected publications

Farsides B. Respecting wishes and avoiding conflict: understanding the ethical basis for organ donation and retrieval. British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2011;108(suppl 1):i73-i79.

Ehrich K, Farsides B, Williams C, Scott R. Constructing an ethical framework for embryo donation to research: Is it time for a restricted consent policy?. Hum Fertil (Camb). 2011;14(2):115-121.

Ehrich K, Williams C, Farsides B. Fresh or frozen? Classifying ‘spare’ embryos for donation to human embryonic stem cell research. Social Science & Medicine. 2010;71(12):2204-2211.

Tekola F, Bull S, Farsides B, Newport M, Adeyemo A, Rotimi C et al. Tailoring Consent to Context: Designing an Appropriate Consent Process for a Biomedical Study in a Low Income Setting. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2009;3(7):e482.

Ehrich K, Williams C, Farsides B. The embryo as moral work object: PGD/IVF staff views and experiences. Sociology of Health & Illness. 2008;30(5):772-787.

Cribb A, Wainwright S, Williams C, Farsides B, Michael M. Towards the applied: the construction of ethical positions in stem cell translational research. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. 2007;11(3):351-361.

Scott R, Williams C, Ehrich K, Farsides B. The appropriate extent of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis: health professionals' and scientists' views on the requirement for a 'significant risk of a serious genetic condition'. Medical Law Review. 2007;15(3):320-356.

Wainwright S, Williams C, Michael M, Farsides B, Cribb A. Remaking the body? Scientists' genetic discourses and practices as examples of changing expectations on embryonic stem cell therapy for diabetes. New Genetics and Society. 2007;26(3):251-268.