Durham CELLS

Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences) is a research centre at Durham University, based in Durham Law School. It focuses on the legal and ethical issues raised by biological science, medicine and regulation: biolaw and bioethics. It was founded in December 2011^[1] and has members from anthropology, biology, law, medicine, philosophy, sociology and theology.^[2]

Durham CELLS

Formation	2011
Focus	To support excellence in academic research, innovative teaching and public dialogue on the ethical, social and regulatory issues raised by the life sciences
Location	Durham, United Kingdom
Parent organization	Durham University
Website	https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/ethics-law-life-sciences/

Durham CELLS is an established expert research centre in biolaw and bioethics.^[3][4] Its activities include:

• running a research blog on issues relating to the ethical, social and regulatory issues raised by the life sciences,^[5][6]
• running a blog on obstetric violence, supported by conferences and seminars,^[7][8][9]
• engaging school students with biomedicine and bioethics,^[10][11][12] and
• supporting ethics advisory committees.^[13][14]

Members

Director: Emma Cave

Founder: Shaun Pattinson (2011)

Members include:^[15]

• Deryck Belyeveld is an exponent of the moral theory of the late Alan Gewirth.
• Emma Cave chaired a Nuffield Council on Bioethics working group on Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models in 2024, setting out governance proposals.^[16][17] She also chaired the General Medical Council Good Medical Practice Advisory Forum, resulting in new good medical practice guidance in 2024.^[18] She is co-author of Medicine, Patients and the Law (7th ed., 2023).^[19]
• Richard Goldberg has addressed the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pandemic Response and Recovery on vaccine damage schemes and vaccine liability.^[20]
• Samantha Halliday is co-lead of the Northern Network for Medical Humanities: Narratives of consent and invisible women.^[21]
• Shaun Pattinson is author of several books including Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine (2023)^[22] and Medical Law and Ethics (7th ed., 2025).^[23]
• Camilla Pickles is a member of the International Platform in Obstetric Violence.^[24]
• Elizabeth Chloe Romanis is author of Biotechnology, Gestation and the Law (2024)^[25] and editor of Medical Law International.^[26]