Bristol University - Dr Ainsley Newson

http://www.bris.ac.uk/ethicsinmedicine/staff/newson.html

Dr Ainsley Newson

Ainsley Newson is Lecturer in Biomedical Ethics at the Centre

Ainsley commenced as a Lecturer at the Centre in February 2006 and is contributing to

the Centre's undergraduate and post-graduate teaching programmes.
Prior to joining the Centre, Ainsley worked for three years as a Research Fellow in the
Medical Ethics Unit at Imperial College London. In this role she worked with the
London IDEAS Genetics Knowledge Park (http://www.londonideas.org) to develop and
deliver a range a clinical ethics support mechanisms for London's clinical genetics
community; including case consultations and ethics workshops.
Ainsley has qualifications in Medical Ethics, Law and Science, all of which were
obtained from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Her PhD research focused on
moral issues in behavioural genetic research and its applications. In taking her
LLB(Hons) degree, she majored in medical law and intellectual property. Her
BSc(Hons) degree majored in human genetics.
Ainsley has refereed for Journal of Medical Ethics, the Journal of Applied Philosophy
and Nature Reviews Genetics.
Research interests
Ainsley's research interests focus on genetic and reproductive technologies,
particularly clinical decision-making. She has worked on issues such as ethical issues
in predictive genetic testing, genetic enhancement, geneticisation, authenticity and
well-being.
Having worked to provide a pilot clinical ethics initiative in London's clinical genetics
community, she also has a broad interest in clinical ethics and mechanisms of ethics
support. She is also interested in the conflict between individualism and public health,
particularly as it pertains to the delivery of clinical genetics services.
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles

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Newson AJ. (in press) Should parental refusals of newborn screening be accepted?
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 15(2)
Duncan RE, Newson AJ (in press) Is a defense of unqualified confidentiality
sustainable in clinical genetics? American Journal of Bioethics.
Davey, A Newson AJ O'Leary, P. (forthcoming) Communication of genetic information
within families: the case for familial comity. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry.
Savulescu J; Hemsley M; Newson A; Foddy B. (forthcoming) Behavioural genetics:
Why eugenic selection is preferable to enhancement. Journal of Applied Philosophy
Ashcroft RE., Newson AJ, Benn PMW. (2005) Reforming research ethics committees:
Latest proposals are a missed opportunity for a radical review. BMJ 331: 587-88
Newson AJ. (2005) Research ethics and HIV clinical trials. HIV Nursing 5(4).
Newson AJ; Ashcroft RE. (2005) Whither authenticity? American Journal of Bioethics 5:
229-230
Newson AJ; Humphries SE. (2005) Cascade testing in familial hypercholesterolaemia:
how should family members be contacted? European Journal of Human Genetics. 13:
401-408
Newson AJ; Smajdor AC. (2005) Artificial gametes: new paths to parenthood? Journal
of Medical Ethics. 31: 184-186
Newson A. (2004) The nature and significance of behavioural genetic information.
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics. 25: 89-111
Kalitsis P; Fowler KJ; Earle E; Griffiths B; Howman E; Newson AJ; Choo KHA. Partially
functional Cenpa-GFP fusion protein causes increased chromosome missegregation
and apoptosis during mouse embryogenesis. (2003). Chromosome Research. 4, 11:
345-357.
Howman EV; Fowler KJ; Newson AJ; Redwaard S; MacDonald AC; Kalitsis P; Choo
KAA. Early Disruption of Centromeric Chromatin Organisation in Centromere Protein A
(Cenpa) Null Mice. (2000). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 3, 97:
1148-1153.
Newson A, Williamson R. (1999). Should we undertake genetic research on
intelligence? Bioethics. 13(3-4):327-342.
Kalitsis P; MacDonald AC; Newson AJ; Hudson DF; Choo KH. Gene structure and
sequence analysis of mouse centromere proteins A and C. (1998). Genomics. 1, 47:
108-114.
Fowler KJ, Newson AJ, MacDonald AC, Kalitsis P, Lyu MS, Kozak CA, Choo KH.
(1997). Chromosomal localization of mouse Cenpa gene. Cytogenetics and Cell
Genetics. 79(3-4): 298-301.
Chapters in Books
Newson AJ. Supplementing libertarianism: Genetic enhancements and the authentic
individual. In Holm S, Hayry M and Takala T (eds) A Life of Value: John Harris, his
arguments and his critics. Amsterdam: Rodopi. (2006, forthcoming)
Newson AJ.A first hand account of the experience of ethics support in the United
States.In A Practical Guide for Clinical Ethics Support. Eds: Johnston C; Slowther A;
Goodall; Hope. United Kingdom Clinical Ethics Network (2005)
Newson AJ. A Defence of 'motherless' Parentage tests: Why obtaining a mother's
informed consent for parentage testing should not be legally required.In: Breaking the
Code. Centre for Law and Genetics Occasional Paper no.5 (2004)
Newson A. Is there a cost associated with Genetic Enhancements? In Ethical Issues in
the New Genetics: Are Genes Us?. Eds: Parker, M.; Almond, B. Ashgate, Aldershot

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(2003)
Book Reviews in Refereed Journals
'From chance to choice: genetics and justice' by Allen Buchanan, Dan W. Brock,
Norman Daniels and Daniel Wikler. Journal of Medical Ethics (2002) 28(1): 60.
'Pure Selection: the ethics of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and choosing children
without abortion' by Christian Munthe. Bioethics (2002) 16(3): 300-303
Other Publications
Newson A.Tracking the smoking gene. The Times, 18 November 2005, p B4-5.
Newson AJ. Paternity Testing: How to Progress
http://www.bionews.org.uk/commentary.lasso?storyid=2702. BioNews, 15 August 2005
Newson A. From foetus to full term - without a mother's touch. The Times, 30 August
2005, p23.
Newson A. A justifiable alternative (commentary on PGD). The Times, 19 August 2005,
p3.
Newson A. Sex selection raises more questions than it can answer? The Times, 17
August 2005, p6.
Newson A. Often it is not worth all of the heartache (commentary on paternity testing).
The Times, 11 August 2005, p3.
Newson AJ. Ethics Support in London's Clinical Genetics Community. (2005). UK
Clinical Ethics Network website.
http://www.ethics-network.org.uk/Committee/functions/genetics-support.pdf
Newson, AJ. (2004) 'Consent to the publication of patient information: Incompetent
patients may pose a problem (letter).'BMJ 329:916.
Newson, A. & Ashcroft, R. (2004) 'Time to untangle ethical review of genetic research'
Invited Commentary: BioNews 276 (20 September 2004).
Newson, A. (2004) 'Antenatal screening for HIV and non-disclosure to sexual partners:
what should health professionals do?' Imperial Ethics Newsletter. Medical Ethics Unit,
Imperial College London.
Newson AJ; Ashcroft RE. Time to untangle ethical review of genetic research.
BioNews, (20 Sep 2004). http://www.bionews.org.uk/commentary.lasso?storyid=2280
Newson, A. (2003) 'Defending secrecy': why removing donor anonymity may not be a
good idea? BioNews commentary (commissioned opinion piece).
Conference Presentations and Seminars
Newson A. 'Ethical issues in personal genomics' Centre for Professional Ethics, Keele
University (November 2005)
Newson AJ. Genetic profiling before birth: how much information should parents have
access to? European Society for Philosophy and Medicine in Health Care, Barcelona,
Spain. (August 2005)
Newson AJ. Is there a role for clinical ethics support in medical genetics? 2nd
International Conference on Clinical Ethics Consultation, Basel, Switzerland. (Mar
2005)
Newson A. 'The Human Tissue Act' Practical Implications? Institute of Child Health,
London (May 2005)
Newson A. 'Genetics and risk' Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Centre, Newcastle UK
(January 2005)

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Newson A. 'Should parental refusals of newborn screening be accepted?' 7th World

Congress on Bioethics, Sydney, Australia (November 2004)
Newson AJ. Should parental refusals of newborn screening be accepted? 7th World
Congress on Bioethics, Sydney, Australia. (Nov 2004)
Newson A. 'Predictive genetic testing and access to insurance: is there a need for
regulation?' Clinical Genetics Unit, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge. (October 2004)
Newson AJ. 'Personal Genomics: The Future of Clinical Genetics?' European Society
for Philosophy in Medicine and Health Care annual conference, Reykjavik, Iceland,
(August 2004)
Newson A. 'Ulysses contracts and genetic decision-making'
Department of Clinical
Bioethics, Cleveland Clinic Foundation (May 2004)
Newson A. 'Capacity and competence in genetic family studies: The emerging concept
of familial interests' UK Forum for Healthcare Ethics, Newcastle (April 2004)
Newson A. 'Research Ethics: Should research participants be told about new
interpretations of results?' Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics, University College
London (December 2003)
Newson A. 'The Duty to warn of genetic risk: should competence make a difference?'
Institute of Child Health, London (July 2003)
Newson A. 'From eugenics to gene therapy: the changing nature of debates in gene
manipulation' Centre for Primary Care and Social Medicine, Imperial College London
(June 2003)
Newson A. 'Ethical and legal issues in paternity testing' Australian Institute for Health
Law and Ethics 8th Annual Conference, Newcastle (July 2002)
Newson A. 'Enhancements, an open future and authenticity' Centre for the Study of
Health and Society, University of Melbourne (August 2001)
Newson A. 'Is being intelligent good? ? Addressing questions of value in behavioural
genetics' 5th World Congress of the International Association of Bioethics, London
(September 2000)
External committees
Clinical Ethics Committee, St Mary's NHS Trust. Member. 2003 - 2006
Research Ethics Committee, Charing Cross Hospital. Member. 2005 - present
Expert Advisory Group, MRC Newborn Blood Spot Bank Project. Member. 2005 present.
University of Bristol, Centre for Ethics in Medicine,
Third Floor, Hampton House, Cotham Hill, Bristol BS6 6AU,
UK - Tel: +44 (0)117 33 10720

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