From October 22-25, members of the Decision Lab attended the 2025 conference of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) in Portland, Oregon. Postdocs Valerie and Juliana presented ongoing research. Valerie’s presentation, entitled ‘Ableism in Neurotech: What Neurotechnologist Perspectives Reveal,” shared early findings from the lab’s Human-Centered Design Neurotechnology project. Juliana presented on possibilities and challenges for meaningfully incorporating patients into health AI governance at academic medical centers. Both presentations sought to scratch beneath the surface of calls for including diverse groups in technology design, digging into subtle power relations that complicate the work of avoiding tech-based harms and equitably distributing benefits. Lab director Winston Chiong and Chanel Matney, lab affiliate and UCSF Bioethics program manager, also attended and ensured that the Decision Lab was well-represented in Portland.

Reflecting on the conference, lab members highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of ASBH. While interdisciplinarity may complicate the task of creating a shared foundation for presenting research, the convergence of philosophy, social science and clinical expertise at ASBH was a strength of the meeting. It afforded opportunities to see one’s own work from new angles and explore intellectual conversations one may not otherwise encounter. For example, Juliana attended talks that considered if and how clinicians should attend to the reasons patients give for refusing treatments recommended by providers. This invited reflection on the links between the lab’s work on dementia decision making and philosophical scholarship on reasons and reasoning outside dementia contexts.

Chanel observed that several affinity groups and panels explored how to pursue bioethics research in the current political moment. A panel on abolitionist bioethics - which featured UCSF sociologist Jennifer James - called for courage and boldness amid risks of censorship, while highlighting that what courage looks like may differ based on one’s positionality.Last but not least, Winston, Chanel, and Juliana attended the UCSF Bioethics dinner, enjoying conversation about all things ethics and non-ethics (if there is such a thing as ‘non-ethics,’ that is) over delicious food and drink. Until next year, ASBH!