12/03/24 @7:30 pm

Nick Izzo will be leading this month’s discussion.

Over the years, Nick has heard many people question the ethics of putting patients in clinical trials on a placebo that has no hope of benefiting them. During his career, Nick has closely followed and has been involved in several clinical trials. Through a series of real-life examples, Nick will talk about the importance of placebo controls, safeguards that are put in place to protect patients, the perils that arise from the lack of placebos where they are needed, and special cases where placebos are not required. His topic will be both informative and interesting.

Nick Izzo has been a Unitarian Universalist since 1998 and a member of First Church since 2003. He has served in many roles in the church, including President of the Board of Trustees. He has a B.S. in Chemistry from Georgetown University and a Ph. D. in Pharmacology from the University of Virginia, and did postdoctoral studies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Nick has worked in several roles in pharmacology and biotech companies, including helping discover and put into clinical trials drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Lew Body Dementia, and age-related macular degeneration.