Institutional Financial Conflicts of Interest in
Research Universities

November 2, 2012

Wasserstein Hall
1585 Massachusetts Avenue
Milstein Conference Rooms, 2nd Floor
Harvard Law School

Conflicts of interest are on everyone's minds (and lips) these days, but most of the attention to date has focused on individual conflicts held by doctors, researchers, and others. Institutions can also face important conflicts as a result of their various interests and allegiances, and research universities in particular are at a crossroads. President Obama has called on these universities to collaborate with industry, investors, and agencies to bolster entrepreneurship, commercialize research results, and enhance economic development - and a number of universities have pledged to do so. Should this be a welcome development, or cause for concern? How will this new role for research universities influence their traditional mission to educate and promote reliable, unbiased knowledge?

Please join us at a symposium, co-sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard, to address a number of critical and timely questions regarding institutional financial conflicts of interest in research universities. With a world-class line-up of speakers who have grappled with these issues at some of the highest echelons in which they arise, this event is not to be missed.

Symposium Agenda