2022 Annual Distinguished Neuroethics Lecture: Dr. Patrick McDonald (March 15, 2022)

2022 Brain Awareness Week - Annual Distinguished Neuroethics Lecture
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
"Worlds Apart - Ensuring Equitable Access to Advances in Brain Health"
Patrick McDonald, MD, MHSc, FRCSC
Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Winnipeg Children’s Hospital
Head, Section of Neurosurgery, University of Manitoba
Faculty, Neuroethics Canada, University of British Columbia
Overview
Rapid technological advancements have led to the potential for significant improvements in brain health, expanding both the range of conditions treated and number of patients who can be helped. While these advancements hold great promise, they also come with considerable cost and a risk that they are not offered to all who may benefit from them, especially those in vulnerable populations. Advances in treating children with epilepsy and adults with movement disorders make equitable access to all ever more critical.
Patrick McDonald MD, MHSc, FRCSC
Dr. Patrick McDonald is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Winnipeg Children’s Hospital, Head of the Section of Neurosurgery at the University of Manitoba and a Faculty Member at Neuroethics Canada in Vancouver, BC. He is Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and Past President of the Canadian Neurosurgical Society. For twenty years he has combined a practice caring for children with neurologic illness with an interest in the ethical issues that surround that care. Collaborating with Professor Judy Illes, Director of Neuroethics Canada, he studies the neuroethical issues inherent in the adoption of novel neurotechnologies to treat brain illness.