Resources
Interested in more library materials? Try these searches:
- creative nonfiction
- science writing
- cell culture
- hela cells
- stem cells
- women in science
- equality health aspects
- health care reform
- health services accessibility
- bioethics
- human experimentation in medicine
- informed consent
- medical ethics
- African Americans medical care
- discrimination in medical care
- Hispanic Americans medical care
- minorities medical care
- Native Americans medical care
- eugenics
- involuntary sterilization
- Tuskegee syphilis
- communication in science
- technical writing
- donation of organs, tissue - ethical aspects
- procurement of organs, tissues - ethical aspects
Books
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Blum, Deborah, and Mary Knudson. A Field Guide for Science Writers: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.Top science writers share their expertise and talk about what’s involved in science writing.
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Carney, Scott. The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers. New York: William Morrow, 2011.An investigative journalist explores the shadowy but lucrative global marketplace for blood, bones, and organs. He argues that part of what makes these transactions ethically troubling is the role different social classes play in the whole operation.
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Gerard, Philip. Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life. Long Grove, Ill: Waveland Press, 2004.From concept to character to craft, Gerard offers instruction, advice and personal experience to help aspiring creative nonfiction writers create compelling, engaging stories.
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Goliszek, Andrew. In the Name of Science: A History of Secret Programs, Medical Research, and Human Experimentation. New York: St. Martins Press. 2003.The eugenics movement and radiation experiments are among the abuses described in this account of medical experimentation in 21st century America.
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Gornick, Vivian. Women in Science: Then and Now. New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 2009.The author draws from interviews with about 100 women to describe their experiences as scientists, and “opens the discussion about women’s diverse problems and ambitions in science.”
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Gutkind, Lee, and Hattie F. Buck. Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009.The author is the founder and editor of the literary journal Creative Nonfiction.
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Hart, Jack. Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011.Jack Hart, a former managing editor at the Oregonian, shares guidelines for writers of nonfiction including such topics as story theory and structure, scene establishment, point of view, and preparing work for submission.
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Jones, James H. Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. New York: Free Press, 1993.This history details the mistreatment of African Americans as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment.
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Kluchin, Rebecca M. Fit to Be Tied: Sterilization and Reproductive Rights in America, 1950-1980. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. 2009.Examines the evolution of forced sterilization of poor women, especially women of color, and contrasts it with demands for contraceptive sterilization made by white women and men.
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Nelson, Alondra. Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical
Discrimination. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011.The author describes how the Black Panther Party demanded and provided accessible health care for African Americans while challenging abusive and discriminatory care.
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Nourse, Victoria F. In Reckless Hands: Skinner V. Oklahoma and the Near Triumph of American Eugenics. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2008.In the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of men and women were sterilized at asylums and prisons across America because it was believed that mental illness and criminality were inherited. Skinner v. Oklahoma was a 1942 U.S. Supreme court case dealing with compulsory sterilization.
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Park, Alice. The Stem Cell Hope: How Stem Cell Medicine Can Change Our Lives. New York: Hudson Street Press, 2011.A science writer analyzes the history, the controversies, and the future of stem-cell research.
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Patel, Kant, and Mark E. Rushefsky. Health Care in America: Separate and Unequal. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2008.This book examines the root causes of the inequalities of the American health care system and discusses various policy alternatives.
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Skloot, Rebecca, Floyd Skloot, and Jesse Cohen. The Best American Science Writing, 2011. New York: Ecco, 2011.This title features articles from a broad spectrum of science disciplines and a variety of publications, providing an overview of some of the year's most compelling and relevant scientific discoveries.
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Veatch, Robert M, Amy M. Haddad, and Dan C. English. Case Studies in Biomedical Ethics: Decision-making, Principles, and Cases. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.Fundamental ethical questions emanating from real situations faced by health professionals and patients are explored via more than 100 case studies.
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Washington, Harriet A. Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself, and the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future. New York: Doubleday, 2011.Washington's exhaustive review of medical research examines "everything from the testing of patients without informed consent to the shadowy appropriation and marketing of Americans' tissues to the biocolonialism that governs the appropriation of everything from seeds and plants to genes from poor people in the developing world."
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Washington, Harriet A. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on
Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. New York: Harlem Moon, 2006.This history details the mistreatment of African Americans as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment.
Reports
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"2010 National Health Care Disparities Report." Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2011.
This annual report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality documents progress and opportunities for improving health care quality and reducing health care disparities.
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"'ETHICALLY IMPOSSIBLE' STD Research in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948". Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, 2011.
This recent report recounts the medical abuses involved in a study of Guatemalans who were purposely infected by syphilis or other sexually transmitted diseases so that physicians could study the effects of antibiotics on the treatment of venereal diseases. These experiments were funded and carried out by the U.S. Public Health Service.
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"HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: A NATION FREE OF DISPARITIES IN HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE." The Office of Minority Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011.
This report outlines goals and actions HHS will take to reduce disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. It will "promote integrated approaches, evidence-based programs, and best practices to reduce these disparities".
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Hill, Catherine, Christianne Corbett, and Andresse St. Rose. "Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics." AAUW Research. American Association of University Women, Feb. 2010.
This report presents "research findings that point to environmental and social barriers – including stereotypes, gender bias and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities – that continue to block women's participation and progress in science, technology, engineering, and math."
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"Moral Science: Protecting Participants in Human Subjects Research." Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, Dec. 2011.
This reports concludes that current rules and regulations "provide adequate safeguards to mitigate risk" but also recommends 14 changes to current practices to better protect research subjects and calls on the federal government "to improve its tracking of research programs supported with taxpayer dollars."
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National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. United States. National Institute of Health, 1978.
The objective of the Belmont Report is "to provide an analytical framework that will guide the resolution of ethical problems arising from research involving human subjects."
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"National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity." National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Apr. 2011.
A product of the National Partnership for Action, this plan provides "a common set of goals and objectives for public and private sector initiatives and partnerships to help racial and ethnic minorities – and other underserved groups – reach their full health potential."
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"Research Brief: Health Equity." Oregon Health Authority. Oregon.gov Home Page, May 2011.
This recent report gives an overview of health inequities in Oregon.
Articles
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"An Open Statement to Fans of The Help." Association of Black Women Historians. 2011.
This statement "provides historical context to address widespread stereotyping presented in both the film and novel version of The Help."
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"Achieving Equity in Health." Health Affairs: Health Policy Brief. Oct. 2011.
An overview of health care inequities faced by racial and ethnic minorities, with policy recommendations to further progress against disparities.
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Bartlett, Donald L. Steele, James B. "Deadly Medicine." Vanity Fair 605 (2011): 56. MasterFILE Premier.
The authors investigate the globalization of pharmaceutical industry and the increasingly common practice of U.S. companies conducting clinical trials overseas, where they can find "drug-naive" patients and where there is scant regulatory oversight.
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Bordchart, John K. "Markets Abound For Science Writers." Writer 124.9 (2011): 46. MasterFILE Premier.
This article offers tips and advice to authors on science writing. Topics discussed include choosing article topics, developing interview skills, explaining scientific discoveries to readers, and relating scientific research to industrial issues.
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Buchanan, A. "Judging The Past. The Case of the Human Radiation Experiments." Hastings Center Report 26.3 (1996): 25-30. Academic Search Premier.
In reviewing the radiation experiments of the 1940s and 1950s, the author stresses that we can and should make retrospective moral judgments that can also deter future wrong doings.
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C. Christopher Hook, et al. "The Science And Ethics Of Induced Pluripotency: What Will Become Of Embryonic Stem Cells?" Mayo Clinic Proceedings 86.7 (2011): 634-640. Academic Search Premier.
"Human embryonic stem (hES) cell research has been a source of continued debate, leading to differing policies and regulations worldwide. This article briefly reviews current stem cell platforms, looking specifically at the two existing pluripotent lines available for potential therapeutic applications: hES cells and induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells."
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Dobbs, David. "How Rebecca Skloot Built The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." TheOPENNotebook. 22 Nov. 2011.
This interview with Rebecca Skloot focuses on how she built the structure of the story and her decision to put herself in her book.
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Gould, Stephen Jay. "Carrie Buck's Daughter: A Popular, Quasi-Scientific Idea can be a Powerful Tool for Injustice. (This View of Life)." Natural History July-Aug. 2002: 12+. Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources.
Carrie Buck was sterilized against her will under a Virginia statute which allowed the compulsory sterilization of anyone who was deemed feeble minded, an imbecile, or an epileptic. This Virginia statute was upheld in a 1927 Supreme Court Case, Buck V. Bell. The Virginia State sterilization law was finally repealed in 1974.
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Gourley, Catherine. "Use The "5 R's": How To Write Creative Nonfiction." Writing 26.1 (2003): 4. MasterFILE Premier.
Real life and reflection, 'riting in scenes, research and reading are the "5 R's" described in this article about writing creative nonfiction.
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Harmon, Amy. "Where'd You Go with My Dna?" New York Times 25 Apr. 2010.
Two decades ago, Arizona State University researchers collected hundreds of blood samples from Havasupai tribe members, in connection with diabetes research. According to the Havasupai, without their consent or knowledge, the samples also were used in DNA studies that conflicted with Havasupai cultural beliefs, identity and privacy.
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"Informed Consent." Encyclopedia of Bioethics. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004. 1271-1313. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
This overview article covers the history, meaning and elements, consent issues in human research, and legal and ethical issues of consent in healthcare.
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Jones, Cynthia M. "The Moral Problem Of Health Disparities." American Journal Of Public Health 100.S1 (2010): S47-S51. Academic Search Premier.
The author presents a moral basis for the elimination of health care inequities.
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Khandan Keyormarsi, Nuala O'Leary, Arthur B. Pardee, "Cell division," Access Science. McGraw-Hill, 2008.
The basics of cell division, with links to related articles and animations, are explained in this article from the Access Science database.
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Kwate, NH 2010, 'The Myth of Meritocracy and African American Health', American Journal of Public Health, 100, 10, p. 1831.
The authors argue that in the context of racism and other barriers to success, meritocratic ideology may act as a negative health determinant for African Americans.
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Reiter, Keramet. "Experimentation on Prisoners: Persistent Dilemmas in Rights and Regulations." California Law Review 97.501 (2009): 501-66.
The author argues that the calls for greater oversight of prisoner experimentation in the 2006 Institute of Medicine Report represent a necessary and welcome reform. However, the suggested risk-benefit framework for evaluating future experimental protocols fails to account for current prison conditions and does not provide adequate protections to prisoners.
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Rennie, Stuart. "Viewing Research Participation as a Moral Obligation: In Whose Interests?" Hastings Center Report 41.2 (2011): 40-47. Academic Search Premier.
According to the author, "a moral paradigm has been proposed for participation in health-related research. It's not just a praiseworthy option, some say; it's a social obligation. Recasting research participation in this way would have global ramifications, however. Who ultimately stands to gain the most from it, and who has the most to lose?"
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Shields, Alexandra E. et al. "Racial Categories in Medical Practice: How Useful Are They?" Plos Medicine 4.9 (2007): e271-1428.
Is it good medical practice for physicians to "eyeball" a patient's race when assessing their medical status or even to ask them to identify their race?
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Skloot, Rebecca. "Henrietta's Dance." John Hopkins Magazine Apr. 2010.
Rebecca Skloot relates how Henrietta Lacks' cell are alive--and multiplying--in labs the world over, though Henrietta herself never travelled further than from Virginia to Baltimore.
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Skloot, Rebecca. "Taking the Least of You." New York Times Magazine 16 Apr. 2006.
The author contends that most of us have tissue or blood samples on file somewhere, but what we don't typically know is what research they are being used for and how much money is being made from them. Who should own blood and tissue samples?
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Stein, Ben P., and Aziza Baccouche. "Careers In Science Writing." AIP Conference Proceedings 991.1 (2008): 119-121
A brief introduction to the profession of science writing and possible routes that can lead to a science writing career are featured in the physics conference paper.
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Washington, Harriet. "'Medical Apartheid' Tracks History of Abuses." Interview. npr books. npr, 7 Jan. 2007.
Author Harriet Washington discusses the history of medical exploitation of blacks in this NPR interview.
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Woodson, Jacqueline. "Who Can Tell My Story." Horn Book Magazine 74.1 (1998): 34. MasterFILE Premier.
The author describes her experience as an African American writer.
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Zielinski, Sarah. "Henrietta Lacks' 'Immortal' Cells." Smithsonian.Com. Smithsonian Institution, 22 Jan. 2010.
Rebecca Skloot's book and the enormous impact of Henrietta Lacks' "immortal cells" on modern medicine is discussed.
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Zimmerman, Janet F. "The Belmont Report: An Ethical Framework for Protecting Research Subjects." Monitor (Fall 1997).
This article describes the Belmont Report, published in 1979 by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, which provides the moral framework for understanding U.S. regulations on the use of humans in experimental research.
Magazines
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Creative Nonfiction
Every issue contains essays by respected authors, conversations with writers and editors about the genre, a column on craft, and new work from narrative blogs. Issues of this paper magazine may be checked out.
Websites
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"Careers in Science Writing." Resources for Students. Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.
Advice for aspiring science writers and an interview with veteran science writer Dave Perlman are featured on the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing’s website.
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"The Cell." Big Picture. Wellcome Trust, Jan. 2011.
This website features secrets of the cell, visuals, a Q & A with Rebecca Skloot, and an article on HeLa cells.
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Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
This online exhibition relates the history of Nazi Germany's campaign to "cleanse" German society of individuals viewed as biological threats to the nation's "health." Documents, photographs, profiles, and historic film footage are included in this instructive collection.
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The Hastings Center - Bioethics and Public Policy.
An independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit bioethics research institute founded in 1969, the Center's mission is to address fundamental ethical issues in the areas of health, medicine, and the environment as they affect individuals, communities, and societies.
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Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement. Dolan DNA Learning Center Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
This online archive contains photos, articles, reports, charts, and other resources from the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Laboratory, which was the center of American eugenics research from 1910 to 1940.
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Medical Experimentation. Democracy Now.
A series of interviews with experts on the history of medical experimentation in the United States and abroad. Topics include radiation experiments in the 50s, Tuskegee and Guatemalan syphilis experiments, AIDS experiments, Holmesburg Prison experiments, and more.
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National Assocation of Science Writers.
This website from the NASW includes articles and science writers resources.
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NIMHD National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The mission of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities is to promote minority health and to lead, coordinate, support, and assess the National Institute of Health effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities.
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Oregon Career Information System
Search for information on a specific science occupation.
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Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
This advisory commission works with the goal of identifying and promoting policies and practices that ensure scientific research, health care delivery, and technological innovation are conducted in an ethically responsible manner.
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State of Oregon: Office of Equity and Inclusion." Oregon.gov Home Page.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI), formerly the Office of Multicultural Health and Services, serves as a leader and catalyst in helping to promote equitable health and human services for communities of color, Indian tribal governments, and other multicultural groups. A State of Equity Report which presents demographic and geographic data analyzed by race and ethnicity is featured at http://www.oregon.gov/OHA/oei/soe/docs/state-of-equity- report.pdf