The Modern Family: The Science & Ethics of Reproduction and Fertility In a World of Choices
What families look like is expanding and evolving. People are having children older, fertility challenges are on the rise, and parental roles are shifting even as reproductive science is providing more choices for having babies. Opportunities unavailable to previous generations are exciting to some and controversial to others.
Our CureX Salon featured a lively discussion between award-winning science writer Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, whose new book is Reconceptions: Modern Relationships, Reproductive Science and the Unfolding Future of Family, and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg — plus talks by famed bioethicist Arthur Caplan and other expert speakers — along with a poetry reading by Alissa Quart.
Throughout the evening guitarist John Lehmann-Haupt played for our audience and Cure Chef Michael Smith provided delicious dishes and excellent wines.
PLAYBILL
6:00 PM: Reception
6:30 PM: Program
Music: Classical Guitar, John Lehmann-Haupt, writer and guitarist
Fireside Chat: Author Rachel Lehmann-Haupt interviewed by NY Times columnist Michelle Goldberg
Poems: Alissa Quart, writer and poet
Talk: Arthur Caplan, PhD, Professor of Bioethics, NYU Nicole Noyes, MD, Fertility Doctor, NYC Regional Medical Director, Kindbody
Music: John Lehmann-Haupt, writer and guitarist
8:00pm: After Party
Cure X: Fertility & Family
When: Wednesday, June 14, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Where: Cure, 345 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
Speakers: Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, Award-Winning Journalist and Author of Reconceptions: Modern Relationships, Reproductive Science and the Unfolding Future of Family. Michelle Goldberg, Op-Ed columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, The New York Times. John Lehmann-Haupt, Writer and Classical Guitarist. Arthur L. Caplan, Ph.D., Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor of Bioethics, Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. And Dr Nicole Noyes, NYC Regional Medical Director at Kindbody. Moderated by Seema Kumar, CEO of Cure.
Featured Speakers
About Rachel Lehmann-Haupt
An award-winning science journalist and author, and a leading expert on the future of family life, career timing, and the influence of science and technology on fertility, pregnancy and family. Rachel's work has appeared in the New York Times, the New York Observer, Newsweek, New York, Vogue, Outside, Wired and Neo.Life. Kirkus Reviews said her her first book, In Her Own Sweet Time: Unexpected Adventures in Finding Love, Commitment and Motherhood (Basic Books, 2009), "gracefully combines a revealing, engaging memoir with admirably nuanced social commentary.” She is also founder of StoryMade Studio, a boutique storytelling studio serving a wide range of clients, including the TED conference and the Mayo Clinic.
About Michelle Goldberg
Michelle Goldberg became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in 2017 and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues. She is the author of three books: “Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism,” “The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World,” and “The Goddess Pose: The Audacious Life of Indra Devi, the Woman Who Helped Bring Yoga to the West.” Her first book was a finalist for the Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, and her second won the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize and the J. Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Award. Previously she was a columnist at Slate. A frequent commentator on radio and television, Ms. Goldberg’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, Newsweek, The Nation, The New Republic, The Guardian and many other publications. She has reported from countries including India, Iraq, Egypt, Uganda, Nicaragua and Argentina. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children.
About Arthur L. Caplan, Ph.D.
Currently the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City.
Prior to coming to NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Caplan was the Sidney D. Caplan Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where he created the Center for Bioethics and the Department of Medical Ethics. Caplan has also taught at the University of Minnesota, where he founded the Center for Biomedical Ethics, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia University. He received his PhD from Columbia University.
About John Lehmann-Haupt, Guitarist
A New York-based guitarist and writer, John is known equally for his arrangements of popular and traditional songs and for his classical interpretations. He has released two acclaimed CDs, his arrangements have been published by Mel Bay, and his writings on music have appeared in The New York Times and several other publications. Since 2006, John has served on the Board of Directors of the New York City Classical Guitar Society.
About Alissa Quart
Alissa is the author of five acclaimed books of nonfiction including Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream (Ecco, 2023). They are Squeezed, Republic of Outsiders, Hothouse Kids, and Branded. She is the Executive Director of the non-profit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. She is also the author of two books of poetry Thoughts and Prayers and Monetized. She has written for many publications including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and TIME. Her honors include an Emmy, an SPJ award and a Nieman fellowship. She lives with her family in Brooklyn.
About Nicole Noyes, MD
Dr. Nicole Noyes is board-certified in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive endocrinology, specializing in treatments involving infertility and fertility preservation. She is currently employed at Kindbody, a private organization focused on enhanced access to high-quality fertility care. After graduating in the top 10% of her medical school class, she completed both her residency and fellowship at Weill Cornell – New York Hospital in NYC. She then worked as a specialist at Cornell and NYU, achieving full academic professorship in 2009. She was instrumental in directing and fostering the fertility preservation program at NYU and at Northwell Health and has frozen oocytes for more than 2,000 women while helping to create >200 babies from thawed eggs. During her 30-year academic tenure, Dr. Noyes trained over 30 reproductive medicine fellows along with hundreds of residents while publishing more than 60 manuscripts and providing over 90 guest lectures around the world on the topics of fertility and fertility preservation. She is a recognized leader in the field and is continuously voted one of New York’s top doctors in the treatment of infertility.
About Seema Kumar
Seema joined Cure Experience in 2022 as the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to Cure, Ms. Kumar spent nearly 20 years at Johnson & Johnson in senior leadership roles, including most recently as the Global Head, Office of Innovation, Global Health and Scientific Engagement, and served on J&J’s Innovation Strategy, Public health leadership and the COVID-19 vaccine steering committee, where she led the company’s external affairs efforts and public education program on COVID and vaccine literacy. Before her tenure at J&J, Ms. Kumar was the Chief of Staff to Dr. Eric Lander and the Chief Communications Officer at the Whitehead Institute/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Genome Research where she played a leadership role in the Human Genome Project. She also has held leadership positions at the U.S. National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institutes of Health, and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Ms. Kumar holds an M.S. in Science Journalism and Communications from the University of Maryland.
