Kirstin R.W. Matthews
Title: Fellow in Science and Technology Policy
Email: krwm@rice.edu
Office Phone: (713) 348-4784
current project
My research focuses on ethical and policy issues related to biomedical research and development. Specifically, I am looking at regulation and ethical issues related to emerging biotechnology, including genetics and stem cell therapies, and the development of scientific research collaborations. In addition, I am part of a research team with senior fellow Neal Lane and postdoctoral fellow Kenneth Evans, researching the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, federal funding and use of science and technology research and development.
biography
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Ph.D., is a fellow in science and technology policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and a lecturer in the Department of BioSciences at Rice University. She is also a track advisor for the Wiess School of Natural Sciences’ Professional Science Master in Biosciences and Health Policy. Matthews manages the activities of the Baker Institute Science and Technology Policy Program, and the Center for Health and Biosciences’ Biomedical Research Program. Her research focuses on ethical and policy issues at the intersection between traditional biomedical research and public policy. Specifically, she focuses on regulation and ethical issues associated with emerging biotechnology, including vaccines, stem cells and genomic medicine. Matthews also leads a project to review scientific advice in and to the federal government, including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. Matthews has a B.A. in biochemistry from The University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
my research and publications
- 09/29/2015 - Diseases of Poverty in the U.S. & Mexico
- 02/24/2016 - Zika Virus Infographic
- 02/13/2017 - Science Advice in the Trump White House
- 10/05/2018 - What the Nobel Prize tells us
- 09/15/2016 - Turkey’s Scientists Under Pressure
- 03/31/2006 - Code Red: The Critical Condition of Health Care in Texas
- 03/20/2016 - Zika virus in the U.S. and Mexico
- 06/23/2015 - Umbilical Cord Blood Banking: Public Opinion and Awareness in Jordan
- 06/01/2015 - Ethical ambiguity in physics
- 02/15/2016 - Addressing NTDs in the U.S. & Mexico
- 09/12/2016 - Vital Role of White House S&T Policy
- 03/31/2009 - Health Policy Research Newsletter - March 2009
- 05/18/2017 - Neglected Diseases: policy priorities
- 06/10/2013 - More Than Oil and Uprisings: Current Developments in Cord Blood Banking in the Arab World
- 08/24/2018 - Science Advice to the President
- 10/31/2016 - Responding to Richard: Celebrity and (mis)representation of science
- 10/06/2014 - Cord Blood Banking in the United States
- 08/12/2014 - Texas Should Require HPV Vaccine
- 06/15/2016 - Cord blood banking in Jordan
- 07/10/2017 - Unproven Stem Cell therapies
- 12/05/2016 - The Vital Role of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in the New Administration
- 10/13/2016 - The Effect of Nonmedical Exemptions from School-Entry Vaccinations in Texas
- 09/12/2016 - Health Policy Newsletter – September 2016
- 07/29/2016 - With experimental drugs, 'right to try' can go wrong
- 05/24/2016 - Contrasting Views on Embryo Research and Funding
- 05/24/2016 - Unproven Stem Cell Interventions and Encouraging Collaboration Between Regulators and Desperate Patients
- 05/17/2016 - A "right to try" unproven drugs?
- 02/29/2016 - Ethical considerations for the creation of a national NTD Policy
- 02/08/2016 - Neglected tropical diseases and the U.S. South
- 12/16/2015 - Mosquito-Transmitted Epidemics in the United States and Mexico
- 12/16/2015 - Unproven stem cell therapies
- 12/01/2015 - A Need for Renewed and Cohesive U.S. Policy on Cord Blood Banking
- 07/01/2015 - Cord Blood Banking in the Arab World: Current Status and Future Developments
- 11/05/2015 - Unproven stem cell interventions
- 10/30/2015 - Fighting Chagas in the U.S. and Mexico
- 10/01/2015 - Raising Awareness of NTDs
- 07/06/2015 - Regulating Stem Cell Medicine
- 05/23/2015 - Unproven Stem Cell Treatments and Re-evaluating the Role of the U.S. FDA: Bringing the Lost and Desperate Back Home
- 05/23/2015 - Narratives of Research Integrity among Biologists and Physicists in the UK and India
- 08/01/2009 - Baker Institute Policy Report 44: Stem Cells: Saving Lives or Crossing Lines -- Qatar Stem Cell Workshop
- 03/04/2015 - Health Policy Newsletter — March 2015
- 12/02/2014 - Stem Cell Therapy and the NFL
- 11/17/2016 - The HPV vaccine saves lives
- 07/25/2014 - Why the MERS virus matters
- 07/08/2014 - The 2014 Doha Conference: Findings from the Student-led Public Diplomacy Program
- 06/16/2014 - New patenting guidelines are needed for biotechnology
- 10/31/2005 - Baker Institute Policy Report 32: Bridging the Gap Between Science and Society
- 05/01/2008 - The Grand Impact of the Gates Foundation
- 08/31/2006 - Bridging the Gap Between Science and Society: The Relationship Between Policy and Research in National Laboratories, Universities, Government and Industry
- 09/17/2012 - The 2012 Qatar Colloquium: Findings From the Student-led Public Diplomacy Program
- 06/05/2014 - How Should the National Football League Tackle Unproven Stem Cell Treatments?
- 06/01/2009 - Stem Cell Research in the Middle East
- 06/01/2010 - Stem Cell Research in the Greater Middle East
- 06/01/2011 - The Effects of International Collaborations and Policy Disparities on Stem Cell Research in the US and UK
- 06/01/2012 - Highlights and Themes from the Qatar International Conference on Stem Cell Science and Policy
- 04/22/2014 - Gene patents, patenting life and the impact of court rulings on US stem cell patents and research
- 06/25/2013 - Science and Technology Policy Program News -- Spring 2013
- 08/12/2013 - The 2013 Houston Colloquium: Findings From the Student-led Public Diplomacy Program
- 08/31/2005 - Baker Institute Policy Report 31: Stem Cells: Saving Lives or Crossing Lines
- 09/30/2006 - Baker Institute Policy Report 33: Lessons Learned: U.S. Embryonic Stem Cell Policies
- 08/08/2007 - Avenues for Advancement: Conference Summary
- 10/12/2007 - U.S. Stem Cell Policy - Unintended Consequences
- 10/19/2007 - Hot Topic: Innovation And Economic Competitiveness Through Science And Technology
- 12/07/2007 - Hot Topic: Stem Cell Controversy: Are Human Skin Cells Really the Breakthrough?
- 12/15/2008 - Conference Report - Beyond Science: The Economics and Politics of Responding to Climate Change
- 12/19/2008 - Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Recommendations for the Next Administration
- 12/23/2008 - Science and Technology: Recommendations for the Next Administration
- 02/14/2009 - Wanted: Federal Stem Cell Research Oversight
- 06/28/2009 - Baker Institute Policy Report 41: Sustainable U.S. Policy Options to Address Climate Change: Highlights of the Debate
- 08/17/2009 - Baker Institute Policy Report 42: Science Collaboration Across Borders
- 09/01/2009 - Stem Cell Research: A Science and Policy Overview
- 11/01/2009 - The President's Scientist
- 02/25/2010 - Stimulus Funds Creating Jobs for Houston Scientists
- 03/01/2010 - U.K. Stem Cell Policy - A Civic Scientist's Journey through Regulation
- 03/23/2010 - Stem Cell Policy in the Obama Age: Texas, U.S., and U.K. Perspectives
- 04/08/2010 - Making the Case for Civic Engagement in Schools
- 05/01/2010 - Stem Cell Research in the Greater Middle East: the Importance of Establishing Policy and Ethics Interoperability to Foster International Collaborations
- 05/12/2010 - Frequently Asked Questions: Stem Cells
- 10/12/2010 - C60 - A Model for the Future
- 01/01/2011 - Stem Cell Policy in the Obama Age: U.K. and U.S. Perspectives
- 01/18/2011 - Stem Cells and Biomedical Research in Texas
- 03/01/2011 - International Stem Cell Collaborations: How Disparate Policies between the United States and the United Kingdom Impact Research
- 03/08/2011 - International Stem Cell Collaboration: How Disparate Policies between the United States and the United Kingdom Impact Research
- 03/20/2011 - Science, diplomacy and international collaboration
- 07/22/2011 - U.S. Scientific Research and Development 202: A Critical Look at the Federal Research Development Funding System
- 11/01/2011 - Global Update 2011: USA
- 12/26/2011 - The Aging of Biomedical Researchers in the United States
- 01/24/2012 - Baker Institute Policy Report 50 -- Stem Cell Research in the Courts: Sherley v. Sebelius
- 05/06/2012 - The Importance of Science Advocacy
- 06/07/2012 - Highlights and Themes From the Qatar International Conference on Stem Cell Science and Policy
- 10/15/2012 - Baker Institute Policy Report 54 -- NASA's Relationship with Nanotechnology: Past, Present, and Future Challenges
- 10/28/2012 - Time to reinvest in Houston's greatest legacy
- 11/01/2012 - Global Update 2012: USA
- 02/15/2013 - Baker Institute Policy Report 56 -- International Stem Cell Science and Policy
- 03/08/2013 - Science and Technology: Ensuring America's Science Future
- 12/01/2013 - Why did the EU and US court systems define “research” differently?
- 11/30/2020 - Vaccine Legislation in Texas
- 11/09/2020 - Comparing the 2 available COVID-19 vaccines
- 08/17/2020 - International survey of embryoid research policies
- 10/22/2018 - Medical Freedom, Privacy, and Fear of Discrimination: The 2017 Texas Legislative Session Anti-vaccine Arguments
- 08/03/2020 - Latest updates on vaccine trials, policy responses
- 06/09/2020 - International scientific collaborative activities and barriers to them in eight societies
- 03/29/2020 - What health policy experts are reading
- 10/21/2019 - Representation and the Nobel Prize
- 09/17/2019 - Ethics of gene-editing embryos
- 09/08/2019 - Are we ready to gene-edit embryos?
- 02/03/2020 - Secularity and science
- 01/23/2019 - Human Embryo Research in the U.S.
- 12/18/2018 - Why Chagas May Go Undiagnosed
- 10/29/2018 - Improving the Flu Vaccine
- 10/23/2018 - Vaccine myths and challenges
- 09/06/2018 - Texas H.B. 810: Increased Access to Stem Cell Interventions or an Increase in Unproven Treatments?
- 09/06/2018 - Texas H.B. 810: Increased Access to Stem Cell Interventions or an Increase in Unproven Treatments?
- 09/06/2018 - Cultural and social factors in women's attitudes toward cord blood banking in Jordan
- 06/10/2013 - AMP v. Myriad Genetics: Gene Patents, Patenting Life, and the Impact on U.S. Stem Cell Research
- 09/19/2013 - Globalization of Stem Cell Science: An Examination of Current and Past Collaborative Research Networks
- 09/19/2013 - Considerations on U.S. Government Involvement in Stem Education and Early Childhood Interventions
- 02/26/2021 - Rethinking Human Embryo Research Policies