Background
Blank, Robert Henry was born on March 28, 1943 in Milwaukee. Son of Orville Albert and Sylvia (Linnemeier) Blank.
(This text provides an in-depth examination of policy issu...)
This text provides an in-depth examination of policy issues in biomedicine today. The critical issues discussed include human genetic and reproductive intervention, prenatal intervention, human organ transplantation, and AIDS. Blank examines the hard choices that must be made when creating a policy framework: rationing health care, personal responsiblilty, preventive medicine, and reforming the health care system.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0830413669/?tag=2022091-20
( New findings in neuroscience have given us unprecedente...)
New findings in neuroscience have given us unprecedented knowledge about the workings of the brain. Innovative research -- much of it based on neuroimaging results -- suggests not only treatments for neural disorders but also the possibility of increasingly precise and effective ways to predict, modify, and control behavior. In this book, Robert Blank examines the complex ethical and policy issues raised by our new capabilities of intervention in the brain. After surveying current knowledge about the brain and describing a wide range of experimental and clinical interventions -- from behavior-modifying drugs to neural implants to virtual reality -- Blank discusses the political and philosophical implications of these scientific advances. If human individuality is simply a product of a network of manipulable nerve cell connections, and if aggressive behavior is a treatable biochemical condition, what happens to our conceptions of individual responsibility, autonomy, and free will? In light of new neuroscientific possibilities, Blank considers such topics as informed consent, addiction, criminal justice, racism, commercial and military applications of neuroscience research, new ways to define death, and political ideology and partisanship. Our political and social institutions have not kept pace with the rapid advances in neuroscience. This book shows why the political issues surrounding the application of this new research should be debated before interventions in the brain become routine.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262018918/?tag=2022091-20
(Neural grafting, virtual reality, gene therapy, psychotro...)
Neural grafting, virtual reality, gene therapy, psychotropic drugs As startling new treatments emerge for disorders of the brain, new concerns are arising along with them. In the first book to examine the implications of the full range of revolutionary interventions now possible in the human brain, Robert H. Blank warns that while these new techniques may promise medical wonders, they also raise profound political questions. Our rapidly unfolding knowledge about the brain and the accompanying applications have three main policy dimensions: funding research initiatives, controlling individual use, and assessing social consequences. But underlying these aspects, Blank argues, are more disturbing issues that pose fundamental challenges to our conceptions of equality, autonomy, freedom, responsibility, and human nature itself. Brain Policy makes the key facts from the technical literature readily accessible to social scientists and general readers and points out the implications for our society. Blank first explains the structure and function of the nervous system and current theories of brain operation; he then assesses the uses and potential abuses of various intervention techniques. He identifies the public policy issues raised by discoveries in the neurosciences and calls for intensified scrutiny of the advantages and disadvantages of new technologies. Warning that the risks and dangers of the dramatic developments in neuroscience are potentially large, Blank offers a means of understanding these scientific advances and the philosophical and political issues they entail. This book will be of interest to social scientists, policy analysts, policy makers, bioethicists, scientists who want to see the bigger picture, and the informed reader with an interest in the implications of neuroscience for themselves and society.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0878407138/?tag=2022091-20
(Discusses organ transplants, treatment of seriously ill n...)
Discusses organ transplants, treatment of seriously ill newborns, reproductive technology, and fetal health, and looks at the policy changes which will have to be made because of the growing cost of health care.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/023106537X/?tag=2022091-20
( This volume is designed to provide a framework for stud...)
This volume is designed to provide a framework for studying the public policy implications of a broad range of biomedical technologies. Each chapter focuses on the policy issues and political activities surrounding a single technology. Contributors address such issues as new reproductive technologies, animal experimentation, contraceptive drugs, genetic markers and technology and the aging society.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313266298/?tag=2022091-20
(This thoughtful book grapples with the contentious issue ...)
This thoughtful book grapples with the contentious issue of fetal protection policy in the workplace, contrasting the right of the mother to control her life against the right of the fetus to occupy a risk-free environment. By describing the history of sex discrimination in the American workplace and examining current research on workplace dangers to reproductive health, Blank critically assesses fetal protection policies established by corporations in the last two decades. After explaining the U.S. government's response--both regulatory and judicial--Blank concludes that current means of redress for fetal injuries in the workplace are woefully inadequate. Blank argues for a practicable strategy that will maximize women's employment choices and reproductive health and at the same time keep to a minimum the risks associated with fetal harm. He turns to alternatives to exclusionary policies that are more likely to ensure the birth of children with sound minds and bodies. These include increased maternal leaves, guaranteed prenatal care, expanded research on workplace hazards, and an accidental compensation fund that relieves employers of the yet unrealized fear of liability for fetal harm. Fetal Protection in the Workplace confronts a controversial topic in biomedical policy, law, and women's studies, provides clear suggestions for future policy options, and explains this ongoing conflict involving women's rights and employment and concern for the needs of the unborn.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0231076940/?tag=2022091-20
( Written by experts, this first encyclopedia about U.S. ...)
Written by experts, this first encyclopedia about U.S. biomedical policy since the 1970s covers a broad array of key issues and developments in human genetics, reproduction, neonatal intensive care, organ transplantation, intervention in the brain, and medical interventions at the end of life. This easily accessible reference describes court cases, legislation, public policies, technologies, issues, key government agencies, and private organizations dealing with the complex economic, cultural, social, and political context for biomedical decisionmaking today. A chronology, directory of major organizations, carefully selected sources for further reading, and index further enrich this interdisciplinary guide designed for students; teachers; policymakers; public administrators in college, university, and institutional libraries; and general readers in public libraries. This easily accessible reference describes court cases, legislation, public policies, technologies, issues, key government agencies, and private organizations dealing with the complex economic, cultural, social, and political context for biomedical decisionmaking today. A chronology, directory of major organizations, carefully selected sources for further reading, extensive cross references and index further enrich this interdisciplinary guide designed for students; teachers; policymakers; public administrators in college, university, and institutional libraries; and general readers in public libraries.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313286418/?tag=2022091-20
Blank, Robert Henry was born on March 28, 1943 in Milwaukee. Son of Orville Albert and Sylvia (Linnemeier) Blank.
Bachelor of Arts, Purdue University, 1965; Master of Arts, University Maryland., 1969; Doctor of Philosophy, University Maryland., 1971.
Professor, U. Idaho, Moscow, 1971-1986;
chairman political science Department, University Idaho, Moscow, 1977-1982;
senior Fulbright lecturer, United States Education Foundation, Taiwan, 1976-1977;
scholar-in-residence, Center for Biopolit. Research, DeKalb, Illinois, 1979-1980;
summer fellow, Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California, 1978;
state supervisor, NBC News Elections, Moscow, 1974-1978;
professor political science department, Northern Illinois U., since 1986;
associate director program for biosocial research, Northern Illinois U. Member of advisory panel on neuroscience research Office of Technology Assessment, United States Congress, 1988-1991.
Senior Fulbright lecturer U. Canterbury, Christchurch New Zealand, 1985, professor political science, since 1991.
(This thoughtful book grapples with the contentious issue ...)
(Discusses organ transplants, treatment of seriously ill n...)
(Neural grafting, virtual reality, gene therapy, psychotro...)
( This volume is designed to provide a framework for stud...)
( New findings in neuroscience have given us unprecedente...)
(This text provides an in-depth examination of policy issu...)
( Written by experts, this first encyclopedia about U.S. ...)
Served to Lieutenant United States Navy, 1965-1967, Vietnam. Member American Political Science Association, Western Political Science Association (executive council 1981-1983), Pacific Northwest Political Science Association (president 1984-1985), Association of Politics and the Life Sciences (member editorial board 1982-1986, member executive county since 1991), Policy Studies Association Kappa Phi, Phi Sigma Alpha.
Married Mallory Scott, July 15, 1967. Children: Jeremy, Mai'Ling, Maigin.