Genomics and Biodiversity: Applications and Ethical Considerations for Climate-Just Conservation.

Genomics holds significant potential for conservationists, offering tools to monitor species risks, enhance conservation strategies, envision biodiverse futures, and advance climate justice. However, integrating genomics into conservation requires careful consideration of its impacts on biodiversity, the diversity of scientific researchers, and governance strategies for data usage. These factors must be balanced with the varied interests of affected communities and environmental concerns.

Understanding the State and Local Policies Affecting Abortion Care Administration, Access, and Delivery: A Case Study in Virginia.

The patchwork of laws and regulations that affect abortion access in the United States has become increasingly complex since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that gave states the right to enact and enforce policies facilitating or restricting abortion access.

Consent and Assent in Pediatric Research.

Research involving pediatric populations has important ethical and regulatory considerations. As children generally cannot consent to research, there are special protections put in place to ensure that the decisional vulnerability is protected, including parental permission and often the child's assent. Assent is an ethically important part of the research because it allows the child to participate in the process of agreeing to research, develop their autonomy, and express their values.

Patients' perspectives on prenatal screening results that suggest maternal cancer: A qualitative analysis.

Objective: To explore patient perspectives after receiving non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) results that suggest maternal cancer.

Methods: Individuals who received non-reportable or discordant NIPT results during pregnancy and enrolled in a study were interviewed prior to and after receiving the outcome of their clinical evaluation for cancer. Interviews were independently coded by two researchers and analyzed thematically.

Genomic tools for health: Secondary findings as findings to be shared.

Purpose: Whether and how to disclose secondary finding (SF) information to children is ethically debated. Some argue that genetic testing of minors should be limited to preserve the child's future autonomy. Others suggest that disclosure of SFs can occur if it is in the best interests of the child.

"Who needs an app? Fertility patients' use of a novel mobile health app".

Objective: The number of couples experiencing infertility treatment has increased, as has the number of women and men experiencing infertility treatment-related stress and anxiety. Therefore, there is a need to provide information and support to both men and women facing fertility concerns. To achieve this goal, we designed a mhealth app, that provided men and women with tailored medical, psychosocial, lifestyle, and legal information.

The ethics of encouraging employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to hinder the ability of businesses to operate at full capacity. Vaccination offers a path for employees to return to work, and for businesses to resume full capacity, while protecting themselves, their fellow workers, and customers. Many employers reluctant to mandate vaccination for their employees are considering other ways to increase employee vaccination rates.

An mHealth App to Support Fertility Patients Navigating the World of Infertility (Infotility): Development and Usability Study.

Background: The experience of infertility and its treatment engenders considerable stress and is often described as an emotional rollercoaster. A mobile health (mHealth) app may be a novel solution to address the psychoeducational and psychosocial support needs of fertility patients because of its potential to reduce stress and increase patient empowerment. There are a few fertility-related apps that provide information and support to both men and women undergoing fertility treatment; however, none have documented their development and evaluation process.

Cultural health capital and the stratification of reproduction in Czech and Spanish egg donation markets.

This article explores the ways that fertility clinics in the Czech Republic and Spain attract international fertility clients for fertility treatment involving egg donation. I draw upon a content analysis of 18 fertility clinics' advertising materials and 31 in-depth interviews with fertility professionals in the Czech Republic and Spain, and Canadian fertility travellers to show how clinics use cultural health capital (CHC) to persist as popular destination sites for fertility travellers. I argue that the use of evidence-based medicine and patient-centred care combined with bioracial discourses are strategies by which clinics create a culture of fertility care that is legible to white, middle-class, hetero travellers.

Exploring the motivations of research participants who chose not to learn medically actionable secondary genetic findings about themselves.

Purpose: Proposals to return medically actionable secondary genetic findings (SFs) in the clinical and research settings have generated controversy regarding whether to solicit individuals' preferences about their "right not to know" genetic information. This study contributes to the debate by surveying research participants who have actively decided whether to accept or refuse SFs.

Methods: Participants were drawn from a large National Institutes of Health (NIH) environmental health study.

"I would want to pay her": Challenging altruistic egg exchanges in Canada through moral patchworks.

Studies surrounding egg donation often occur within existing legal marketplaces showing how language of altruism and gift is employed to uphold gendered standards of femininity and morality. This article examines how women negotiate those gendered and moral standards under the Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA), which prohibited the market exchange of eggs through the criminalization of paid egg donation. Through 71 in-depth semi-structured interviews with health care professionals (n = 51) and egg donation recipients (n = 20), I argue that participants in these exchanges use a patchwork of moral framings to question the ethicality of the act and the gendered links between altruism, morality and femininity.

Efficacy as safety: Dominant cultural assumptions and the assessment of contraceptive risk.

To reduce rates of unintended pregnancy, medical and public health associations endorse a contraceptive counseling model that ranks birth control methods by failure rate. This tiered model outlines all forms of birth control but recommends long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) to eliminate user error and increase continuation. Our critical discourse analysis of gynecology textbooks and medical recommendations examines how gendered and neoliberal ideas influence risk assessments underlying the tiered contraceptive counseling model.

Predictors of infertility-related concerns in a Canadian survey of men and women seeking fertility treatment.

Objective: To examine if and how factors associated with infertility-related concerns and opportunity to discuss concerns differ between male and female fertility patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 313 female and 254 male patients recruited from Canadian fertility clinics. An online survey asked about sociodemographic characteristics, psychological distress, the severity of psychosocial concerns on a scale of 0 (not concerned) to 5 (very concerned) related to fertility treatment, and their opportunity and desire to discuss concerns with healthcare providers (HCPs).

Searching the Internet for Infertility Information: A Survey of Patient Needs and Preferences.

Background: Given the complexity of infertility diagnoses and treatments and the convenience of the internet for finding health-related information, people undergoing infertility treatments often use Web-based resources to obtain infertility information and support. However, little is known about the types of information and support resources infertility patients search for on the internet and whether these resources meet their needs.

Objective: The aims of this study were to (1) examine what individual factors, namely, demographic characteristics and distress, are associated with searching the internet for different types of infertility-related information and support resources and (2) determine whether Web-based resources meet the needs of patients.

Constructing contentious and noncontentious facts: How gynecology textbooks create certainty around pharma-contraceptive safety.

Using critical discourse analysis, we examine how seven popular gynecology textbooks use sociolinguistic devices to describe the health effects of pharma-contraception (intrauterine and hormonal methods). Though previous studies have noted that textbooks generally use neutral language, we find that gynecology textbooks differentially deployed linguistic devices, framing pharma-contraceptive benefits as certain and risks as doubtful. These discursive strategies transform pharma-contraceptive safety into fact.

Masculinity, Mental Health, and Desire for Social Support Among Male Cancer and Infertility Patients.

By surveying men who are currently infertile ( N = 251) and men who are potentially infertile (i.e., men with cancer; N = 195), the mental health consequences of reproductive masculinity, or the cultural assumption that men are virile and should be fathers, were investigated.

Demarcating the dirty work: Canadian Fertility professionals' use of boundary-work in contentious egg donation.

The potential medical risks to egg donors, in addition to the concern over the commodification of life, has led to debates surrounding the ethics of paying donors. In Canada, payment for eggs is prohibited by law; however, what is considered payment is contentious and has yet to be defined. The lack of legislative clarity coupled with increased ethical concerns over paying a donor has shifted egg donation from a medically-controlled procedure to a legal and social endeavor involving multiple professionals.

Evidence for the use of complementary and alternative medicines during fertility treatment: a scoping review.

Background: Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are sometimes used by individuals who desire to improve the outcomes of their fertility treatment and/or mental health during fertility treatment. However, there is little comprehensive information available that analyzes various CAM methods across treatment outcomes and includes information that is published in languages other than English.

Method: This scoping review examines the evidence for 12 different CAM methods used to improve female and male fertility outcomes as well as their association with improving mental health outcomes during fertility treatment.