Dr. Cabrera will help guide ethical development and use of electrical-based psychiatric treatments

Laura Cabrera photoA team led by Center Assistant Professor Dr. Laura Y. Cabrera will examine the ethical concerns, beliefs, and attitudes of psychiatrists, patients, and healthy members of the public, including caregivers, regarding the development and use of psychiatric electroceutical interventions (PEIs).

The U.S. National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative has awarded a four-year, $1,414,478 grant to the Michigan State University team, which also includes Professor Aaron M. McCright (Sociology), Associate Professor Robyn Bluhm (Philosophy and Lyman Briggs College) and Associate Professor Eric Achtyes (Director of the College of Human Medicine Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine).

Using electrical stimuli to treat psychiatric conditions, PEIs offer great promise in addressing the profound suffering related to such disorders. While PEIs have been available in various forms for years, divergent perceptions among medical professionals, patients, and the broader public have impeded their wider adoption in practice. Key stakeholders’ concerns, beliefs, and attitudes also might affect the future adoption of novel, more invasive PEIs. As new PEIs emerge in the neurotechnology landscape, it is urgent to understand such concerns and related social policy choices.

“This grant could not come at a better time, and we are grateful to the National Institutes of Health for recognizing the importance of this issue and supporting our proposal,” said Dr. Achtyes, who has seen firsthand the benefits of such treatments.

Cabrera-McCright-Achtyes-Bluhm
Pictured left to right: Laura Cabrera, Aaron McCright, Eric Achtyes, Robyn Bluhm.

Dr. Cabrera, whose research focuses on neuroethics and is leading the effort as the Principal Investigator, said, “I am delighted for this exciting opportunity to lead our team of experts and work together towards the sustained ethical development and translation of this type of psychiatric treatment.”

The significance of this work lies in anticipating potential future policy challenges in ways that will both effectively safeguard sustained ethical PEI development and translation, and benefit individuals affected by mental health disorders.

“One strength of our project is that we have experts from philosophy, neuroethics, psychiatry, and sociology working closely together. So, the insights we generate will likely transcend typical disciplinary boundaries and hopefully will be more meaningful to key stakeholders,” said Dr. McCright.

Please visit the Center’s website for updates on this project.

Coworker Stigma Towards Lactating Mothers in the Workplace

bogdanlovis-crop-facLibby Bogdan-Lovis, MA, Assistant Director of the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences, was recently awarded funding for the project “Coworker Stigma Towards Lactating Mothers in the Workplace” by Science and Society at State (S3). Ms. Bogdan-Lovis is a team member on the collaborative project.

The project’s team is led by Mary Bresnahan of the Department of Communication, and members include Steven Haider of the Department of Economics, Joanne Goldbort of the College of Nursing, and Jie Zhuang of the Department of Communication.

Learn more about “Coworker Stigma Towards Lactating Mothers in the Workplace” on S3’s 2016-2017 Funded Projects page.

S3 is an interdisciplinary research institution at Michigan State University. Learn more about their mission.

Learn more about Libby Bogdan-Lovis’ research.

Pharmacological and Neurosurgical Psychiatric Interventions: Through the Looking Glass

Laura Cabrera photoCenter Assistant Professor Dr. Laura Cabrera is the Team Leader on the project “Psychiatric Interventions: Values and Public Attitudes,” funded by the Michigan State University group Science and Society at State (S3). Dr. Cabrera’s team members are Dr. Robyn Bluhm of the Philosophy Department and Lyman Briggs College, and Dr. Mark Reimers of the Neuroscience Program and the College of Human Medicine.

home_1On October 28, 2016, Dr. Cabrera and team held the workshop “Pharmacological and Neurosurgical Psychiatric Interventions: Through the Looking Glass” as part of their S3 project. Participants included faculty, health professionals, researchers, and students from multiple institutions across the state.

The aim of the workshop was to bring together an interdisciplinary group of individuals with common interests, specifically in social and ethical issues within psychiatry. The workshop was useful as a way to obtain feedback regarding the pilot data that the team has been gathering and analyzing. Moreover, the workshop served as an opportunity to foster further collaborations and explore other grant proposal venues, as well as explore issues that need to be addressed regarding somatic psychiatric interventions.

The first session in the morning opened with two keynote presentations. First, Dr. Jed Magen, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, presented a talk entitled “Why We Don’t Know Much.” Dr. Magen addressed key issues related to pharmacological interventions in psychiatry, such as what the limits are of disease entities, the role of the pharmaceutical industry, and the importance of not only considering somatic psychiatric interventions, but also considering psychosocial approaches. The second presentation was by neurosurgeon Hayden M.K. Boyce of Spectrum Health, who spoke on “Ethical Considerations for DBS in Psychiatric Disorders.” Dr. Boyce’s presentation touched on five main issues: the complexity in deciding which areas to target, ethical treatment in trial, clinical trial design, issues connected to personality changes as well as issues around agency, and resource allocation.

During the question and answer session the discussion revolved around topics such as whether deep brain stimulation was particularly problematic in ways that pharmacological interventions where not, changes to self, and issues of uncertainty.

The second session presented the first part of the results of the project “Psychiatric Interventions: Values and Public Attitudes.” Dr. Bluhm talked about the aims, methods and results of the academic literature analysis. Session three covered the second part of the project results, in which Dr. Cabrera presented the aims, methods and results of the online public comment analysis. The final session transitioned to a large group discussion, in which the participants debated various relevant issues connected to somatic psychiatric interventions, such as the role of values and risk, the meaning of treatment refractory, and validation of the disorder. This last session also served as a space to discuss conceptual and practical issues related to how to move forward with the project.

To learn more about Science and Society at State and their funded projects, visit s3.msu.edu.

Psychiatric Interventions: Values and Public Attitudes

Laura-CabreraLaura Cabrera, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences and the Department of Translational Science & Molecular Medicine, was recently awarded funding for her project “Psychiatric Interventions: Values and Public Attitudes” by Science and Society at State (S3).

Dr. Cabrera’s team includes Robyn Bluhm, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Lyman Briggs College, and Mark Reimers, PhD, Associate Professor in the Neuroscience Program.

Learn more about “Psychiatric Interventions: Values and Public Attitudes” on S3’s 2015-2016 Funded Projects page.

S3 is an interdisciplinary research institution at Michigan State University. Learn more about their mission.

Learn more about Dr. Laura Cabrera’s research.