Roger Brownsword chairs the UK Biobank Ethics and Governance Council (EGC). He replaced Professor Graeme Laurie, who reached the end of his four-year term at the end of 2010.
The EGC was established in 2004 as an independent body to advise UK Biobank on rigorous standards of ethical, legal, and social consideration, as set out in the project’s Ethics and Governance Framework (EGF). The Council also reports publicly on the conformance of UK Biobank’s activities with the Framework and with the interests of participants and the public.
From September 2003 until his retirement in 2010, Roger Brownsword was Professor of Law at King’s College London. In 2001- 2002 he acted as a specialist adviser to the House of Lords’ Select Committee on Stem Cells and, more recently, to the House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee for its report on hybrids and chimeras in 2007.
Professor Brownsword is an Honorary Professor in Law at the University of Sheffield and served as a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics from 2004 – 2010.
At the time of his appointment, Professor Roger Brownsword said: “The EGC has played a key role in building a robust and ethically sensitive governance framework for the operation of UK Biobank. As we enter a new and important phase of the research, it is vital that governance is geared to maintaining the trust and confidence of UK Biobank’s stakeholders, not least the trust and confidence of the 500,000 participants. I am looking forward to joining the EGC at this challenging time.”
Further information about the Ethics & Governance Council can be found at its website.