Laurence O’Connell

Laurence J. O’Connell is President and CEO of The Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith and Ethics in Chicago. He serves concurrently as the Chief Ethics Officer of Advocate Health Care, one of the largest health care delivery systems in the Chicago area and the country. He serves or has served on the boards and committees of various health care and ethics organizations in the U.S. and Europe, including the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education; the Institute of Medicine-Chicago; the National Alzheimer’s Association; the International Association of Law, Ethics and Science in Milazzo, Italy.

O’Connell is also an international advisor to the Commission of the European Community, the Council of Europe, the ministry of health in Rome, and the scientific committee of San Raffaele School of Medical Humanities in Milan.

What is the appropriate contribution of religious traditions and communities in the public debate on embryonic stem cell research?