bioethics.com

Upcoming CLE Event: Filling out forms for life-sustaining treatment: Aids and Aggravations
2025-04-10 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online
This panel discussion will explore the purpose(s) of Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)/Portable Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST); how to utilize this tool to facilitate optimal end-of-life care; and how to avoid common pitfalls for patients and practitioners.
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 6:00-8:00 PM ET Online
Registration will be available soon on our website:
https://sps.columbia.edu/academics/masters/bioethics/events

Filling out forms for life-sustaining treatment: Aids and Aggravations
2025-04-10 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online
This panel discussion will explore the purpose(s) of Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST); how to utilize this tool to facilitate optimal end-of-life care; and how to avoid common pitfalls for patients and practitioners.
Speakers:
Patricia Bomba M.D., MACP, MOLST Statewide Implementation Program Chair, MOLST/eMOLST Program Director
Bradford D. Winters M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesiology and Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Maia Dorsett, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center
Moderator:
David Hoffman, J.D., Assistant Professor of Bioethics, Columbia University
Registered guests will receive a Zoom link prior to the event.
For further information, please contact Marie Gugnishev, mg4441@columbia.edu.
To obtain additional information about program offerings at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies, please contact an Admissions Counselor at inquire@sps.columbia.edu.
If you require closed captioning, sign-language interpretation, or any other disability accommodations, please contact Disability Services, disability@columbia.edu, at least 10 days in advance.
This event is open to individuals irrespective of identity and sex.

Are End-of-Life Forms Failing Us?
2025-04-10 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online
This panel discussion will explore the purpose(s) of Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST); how to utilize this tool to facilitate optimal end-of-life care; and considerations specific to end-of-life decision-making in emergency situations.
Speakers:
Patricia Bomba, M.D., MACP, MOLST Statewide Implementation Program Chair, MOLST/eMOLST Program Director
Virginia Brown, M.A., Ph.D., Research Scholar, Hastings Center
Maia Dorsett, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center
Bradford D. Winters, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesiology and Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Moderated By:
David Hoffman, J.D., Assistant Professor of Bioethics, Columbia University
Registered guests will receive a Zoom link prior to the event.
For further information, please contact Marie Gugnishev, mg4441@columbia.edu.
To obtain additional information about program offerings at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies, please contact an Admissions Counselor at inquire@sps.columbia.edu.
If you require closed captioning, sign-language interpretation, or any other disability accommodations, please contact Disability Services, disability@columbia.edu, at least 10 days in advance.
This event is open to individuals irrespective of identity and sex.

SUNY Upstate Center for Bioethics and Humanities: Surveilled Bodies: Reproductive Care at the Intersection of Medical Authority and State Control
2025-04-11 09:00 - 22:30 (America/Chicago) | Online
The Center for Bioethics and Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University is proud to present this year’s Reiss Lecturer in Ethics and Equity, Dr. Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, MSSP.

Jennifer James, a sociologist, bioethicist, and Black feminist scholar, will trace the history of reproductive care in the US, examining structural racism from the time of slavery to modern obstetric violence. Attendees will be asked to consider the role of healthcare workers in the criminalization of pregnancy and birth.

31st Annual Thomas A. Pitts Memorial Lectureship: "Disability and Ethics"
2025-04-11 10:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Hybrid, PA
The 31st Annual Thomas A. Pitts Memorial Lectureship: “Disability and Ethics” will take place on April 11, 2025. The event will be held in person and online; in-person limited to 70 people. In-person session will take place at MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital at 10 McClennan Banks Drive, Room 7010, Charleston SC 29425.
It’s free to attend unless you want CMEs, in which case it is $25.
Any question about this conference or the Institute of Human Values in Health Care should be directed to Grant Goodrich, Ph.D., at goodricg@musc.edu or 843-792-9652, or to Dana J. Zeelsdorf at zeelsdor@musc.edu.

Vaccines & Immunizations in a Time of Global Boiling & Anti-Science
2025-04-11 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | Online
You are warmly invited to attend the upcoming Special Edition of Ethics Grand Rounds, hosted by the Clinical Ethics Education Council at the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities. This live virtual event will feature a compelling discussion led by Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, DSc (hon), Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine.
Learning Objectives:

To report on the rise of pandemic threats and tropical infections due to climate change, urbanization, and deforestation.
To summarize efforts at our Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development to develop new vaccines for neglected diseases in low- and middle-income countries.
To summarize the origins of rising antivaccine sentiments and its recent shifts.
To create awareness on approaches to countering antivaccine activities.

CME Credits will be offered for live participation. The University of Colorado School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Certificates of Participation are available upon request.
Registration is required to attend. Click here to register!
Prof. Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc (hon) FAAP FASTMH is Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine where he is also Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine. He is also University Professor of Biology at Baylor University. Dr. Hotez is a vaccine scientist, biochemist, and pediatrician who has led or co-led the development of vaccines for parasitic infections-hookworm, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease-currently in clinical trials, and several coronavirus vaccines, including two low-cost COVID vaccines for global health so far administered to 100 million children and adults in India and Indonesia. He is also an ardent vaccine advocate and science explainer who combats antiscience and antisemitism in America, and globally.
Prof. Hotez has authored four single-authored books with Johns Hopkins University Press, including Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism, Preventing the Next Pandemic, and The Deadly Rise of Anti-science ,and in 2025 will co-author Science Under Siege(Public Affairs)with the climate scientist, Michael Mann. Dr. Hotez obtained his B.A. (phi beta kappa) from Yale University, M.D. from Weill Cornell Medical College, and Ph.D. from Rockefeller University. He obtained his pediatric residency and fellowship training from Massachusetts General Hospital and Yale School of Medicine.
Prof. Hotez is the author of more than 700scientific papers, and he is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received numerous awards. They include the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from AAAS, the Scientific Achievement Award from the AMA, the David E Rogers Award from the AAMC, the Science and Society Award from Sigma Xi, the Porter Prize in public health from the University of Pittsburgh, Winslow Medal from Yale School of Public Health, Mendel Medal in science and religion from Villanova University, Milton Popkin Award from the ADL Southwest, and LBJ Moral Courage Award from the Holocaust Museum Houston. He was named TIME MagazineHealth100 in 2024.
He has three honorary Doctor of Science degrees. Prof. Hotez served as US Science Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa in 2015-16,and he appears frequently on national media to explain biomedicine and pandemics.
For additional information or questions, please contact Gianna Morales .

Coercive Interventions in Pregnancy
2025-04-11 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Dr. Mary Faith Marshall, PhD, FCCM, HEC-C
Dr. Marshall is a bioethicist in reproductive ethics at the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics at the University of Virginia. She is the director of the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics and Director of the Program in Biomedical Ethics.
This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Tulane University Health Sciences Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

ELSI Friday Forum: Biogenome Science at an International Scale: Navigating ELSI Challenges
2025-04-11 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Description:
The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) aims to collect whole genome sequences from all eukaryotic species on Earth before 2028 and produce an open DNA database. The African BioGenome Project (ABP) is a pan-African effort to build capacity and infrastructure to generate, analyze and deploy genomics data for the improvement and sustainable use of biodiversity and agriculture across Africa. What are ELSI the issues associated with these projects? Can data and samples be collected, shared, and used in ways that appropriately recognize their provenance and potential? This session considers how the benefits of biodiversity genomics can be realized locally and internationally.
Speakers:
Melissa Goldstein, JD & Sally M. Katee Moderated by: Patrick Keolu Fox, PhD

Warming Planet, Cooling Confidence: Challenges of Responding to Emerging Infections in a Changing World
2025-04-11 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Denver) | Online
You are invited to attend the upcoming Special Edition of Ethics Grand Rounds, hosted by the Clinical Ethics Education Council at the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities. This live virtual event will feature a compelling discussion led by Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, DSc (hon), Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine.
Learning Objectives:

To report on the rise of pandemic threats and tropical infections due to climate change, urbanization, and deforestation.
To summarize efforts at our Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development to develop new vaccines for neglected diseases in low- and middle-income countries.
To summarize the origins of rising antivaccine sentiments and its recent shifts.
To create awareness on approaches to countering antivaccine activities.

CME Credits will be offered for live participation. The University of Colorado School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Certificates of Participation are available upon request.
Prof. Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc (hon) FAAP FASTMH is Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine where he is also Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine. He is also University Professor of Biology at Baylor University. Dr. Hotez is a vaccine scientist, biochemist, and pediatrician who has led or co-led the development of vaccines for parasitic infections-hookworm, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease-currently in clinical trials, and several coronavirus vaccines, including two low-cost COVID vaccines for global health so far administered to 100 million children and adults in India and Indonesia. He is also an ardent vaccine advocate and science explainer who combats antiscience and antisemitism in America, and globally.
Prof. Hotez has authored four single-authored books with Johns Hopkins University Press, including Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism, Preventing the Next Pandemic, and The Deadly Rise of Anti-science ,and in 2025 will co-author Science Under Siege(Public Affairs)with the climate scientist, Michael Mann. Dr. Hotez obtained his B.A. (phi beta kappa) from Yale University, M.D. from Weill Cornell Medical College, and Ph.D. from Rockefeller University. He obtained his pediatric residency and fellowship training from Massachusetts General Hospital and Yale School of Medicine.
Prof. Hotez is the author of more than 700 scientific papers, and he is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received numerous awards. They include the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from AAAS, the Scientific Achievement Award from the AMA, the David E Rogers Award from the AAMC, the Science and Society Award from Sigma Xi, the Porter Prize in public health from the University of Pittsburgh, Winslow Medal from Yale School of Public Health, Mendel Medal in science and religion from Villanova University, Milton Popkin Award from the ADL Southwest, and LBJ Moral Courage Award from the Holocaust Museum Houston. He was named TIME Magazine Health100 in 2024.
He has three honorary Doctor of Science degrees. Prof. Hotez served as US Science Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa in 2015-16,and he appears frequently on national media to explain biomedicine and pandemics.
For additional information or questions, please contact Gianna Morales .

How Music Heals and Fosters Connection at the Bedside and Beyond
2025-04-11 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Online
About the Talk
Dr. Sydelle Ross will share her story of using music to care for herself while battling burnout early in her career. Based on her experiences in community settings, she will discuss the ways in which music can be used to facilitate interpersonal connection, affirm personhood, and foster spiritual connection.
About the Speaker
Dr. Sydelle Ross is an anesthesiologist and pain specialist who practices hospice and palliative medicine. Dr. Ross received her medical degree from the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. She completed her residency in anesthesiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Campus, and later completed fellowship training in pain medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. As a classical vocalist, Dr. Ross incorporates music into her medical practice as a way of providing comfort to patients who are living with life-threatening illnesses. She also harnesses the power of music to mitigate the effects of burnout syndrome, thereby promoting resilience and improved self-efficacy among healthcare workers. Dr. Ross is a member of the Music and Medicine Committee of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), and is also a member of the International Association of Music and Medicine. She is a physician contributor to the book entitled Artists Remaking Medicine: The Practice of Imagination and the Power to Create a Better Healthcare Future.

Pediatric Ethics Grand Rounds: "Wearing Two White Coats: An Introduction to Pediatric Clinical Research Ethics"
2025-04-15 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | Online
Featured Speaker:
Brian Jackson, MD, MA, HEC-C
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Medical Director of Clinical Ethics, Children’s Hospital Colorado
Learning Objectives:

Contrast key differences between clinical and research ethics.
Describe historical events that have led to research ethics protections.
Identify processes that protect children who participate in clinical research.

Target Audience and Learner Outcomes:
This program is designed for CHCO team members who provide clinical care to our pediatric patients. After attending this event, participants will report increased knowledge and intent to change practice when navigating ethical challenges that occur during the care of pediatric patients.
Continuing Education Credit:
Attendance, sign-in and submission of the evaluation, including a written response to questions related to any change in practice that you may make as a result of learning that took place at this activity, are required for successful completion and receipt of the certificate of attendance.
Nursing: Children’s Hospital Colorado is approved with distinction as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Colorado Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. This offering for 1 nursing contact hour is provided by Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Medical: Children’s Hospital Colorado is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing education for physicians. Children’s Hospital Colorado designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Other: A general certificate of attendance will be provided for all other participants.
For further information, please contact Stacy Matson, BSN, RN, CPN stacy.matson@childrenscolorado.org

Trusting Each Other: Enhancing Trust in Health Care Relationships
2025-04-17 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | Online
You are warmly invited to attend the upcoming Ethics Grand Rounds, hosted by the Clinical Ethics Education Council at the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities. This live virtual event will feature a compelling discussion led by Hannah Scotch, Professional Research Assistant at the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities! Please feel free to share information about this event widely.
Learning Objectives:

Define trust and mistrust.
Describe the importance of bidirectional trust in patient-clinician relationships.
Discuss patient and clinician level factors that impact mistrust.
Review organizational factors that can increase trust.

CME Credit will be offered for live participation. The University of Colorado School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Certificates of Participation are available upon request.
For additional information or questions, please contact Gianna Morales .

Harnessing Narrative Power to Guide Pedagogical Innovation in Dental Schools
2025-04-22 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Please join us for a free lecture by Michelle Moncrieffe.
Michelle V. Moncrieffe, MA, CHES®, is a lecturer and interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Maryland College Park, where she holds a joint appointment with the College of Arts and Humanities, and the School of Public Health. She is the Principal Investigator and Director of the Narratives and Medical Education (NAME) project. Her research focuses on exploring how patient narratives influence clinical practice. As well as being a certified health education specialist (CHES®), Michelle was a health journalist for over two decades. Although Michelle has not lived in her hometown for many years, she still describes herself as a Londoner.

‘Charting the Future for Clinical Ethics: A Working UnConference’
2025-04-23 08:00 - 2025-04-25 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Hotel Kabuki, 1625 Post Street, San Francisco, 94115
Sutter Health’s Program in Medicine and Human Values is pleased to host ‘Charting the Future for Clinical Ethics: A Working UnConference’.
This 4th Clinical Ethics UnConference will bring together experienced clinical ethicists and ethics program leaders from healthcare systems across diverse settings and geographic areas to connect and problem-solve for the rapidly growing profession of clinical ethics.
Attendees will participate in sessions focusing on developing action-oriented innovations and creating solutions to challenges in clinical ethics practice and program development to effectively impact quality patient care.
Like previous Clinical Ethics UnConferences held at Cleveland Clinic, Houston Methodist – Baylor, and Wellstar, this UnConference will have no plenary didactics or traditional presentation formats.

The event includes:

Peer-to-Peer Solution-Sharing through structured and facilitated crowdsourcing
Targeted Lightning Talks on cutting-edge practices in clinical ethics
Idea Lab: A place to experiment with novel ideas, constructive engagement, collaborative partnerships, and ideating development

The event culminates in the creation of enduring work products including best practice guidelines and contributions to the literature.
For any questions regarding the Sutter Health Clinical Ethics UnConference, please email: ethics@sutterhealth.org

"Seismic shifts: US policy and impacts on science, public and global health, and health ethics"
2025-04-23 09:30 - 22:30 (America/New_York) | Online
Since the new United States President took office in January 2025 his administration has made major changes to government with seismic impacts on science, public health and global health policy. What do these changes mean for these fields, the professionals working within them, and the people they serve? With so many core principles and values now in question, how can and should bioethics institutions and people working in health ethics provide resources to these professionals? Are there other ways that people working in health ethics, individually and collectively, should be responding to the policy shifts inside and outside the US?
Four panelists will address these questions:
1 Gregg Gonsalves, PhD. Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health; Associate (Adjunct) Professor of Law, Yale Law School; Co-Director, Global Health Justice Partnership; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health.
2 Olusoji Adeyi, MD, MBA, DrPH. President, Resilient Health Systems; Senior Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Former Director of the Health, Nutrition and Global Practice and as Senior Advisor for Human Development, World Bank.
3 Lisa Eckenwiler, PhD. Professor of Philosophy, George Mason University; Former Vice-President, International Bioethics Association; Member, Independent Resource Group for Global Health Justice.
4 Sridhar Venkatapuram, PhD. Senior Lecturer in Global Health and Philosophy, Kings College London; Founder, Independent Resource Group for Global Health Justice.

April Ethics Grand Rounds
2025-04-25 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Speaker: Kelsey N. Berry, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Director, Foundations Course Sequence, Master of Science in Bioethics, Co-Chair, Organizational Ethics Consortium, Harvard Medical School.
Upon request, Zoom attendees will receive a Certificate of Attendance to apply for Continuing Education Units for their respective professions. We are not able to offer CEUs directly to attendees. Please note, you must attend a minimum of 75% of the talk to receive a certificate. Certificates of Attendance will not be given for watching the recording – only for those attending the zoom session.
Health professions students are eligible for IPE credit. IPE credit is available only to webinar attendees who are present for 75% or more of the talk and complete a written reflection form.

Whose Job Is It, Anyway? The Ethics and Management of Hospital Efforts on Social Determinants of Health
2025-04-25 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Hospitals and other health care organizations face myriad opportunities to advance their ethical commitments to health equity, including through activities that fall outside the bounds of their traditional role of caring for the sick. In recent years, for example, many hospitals have begun to fund housing programs, tackle food insecurity in their local communities, and undertake other initiatives to combat the social determinants of health inequity. As hospitals increasingly intervene on social determinants of health, how can they ensure that their entry into this space advances, rather than sets back, goals of social and health justice? This talk will focus on how hospitals and health organizations can reason through their commitments and responsibilities as ethical actors in the social realm.
Learning Objectives: After this webinar, attendees will be able to:

Identify conflicting ethical perspectives regarding hospital efforts on social determinants of health.
Appreciate the contributions of non-ideal justice theory to navigating these ethical conflicts.
Apply ethical insights to manage hospital efforts on the social determinants of health.

This is an event of the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs (OACA), hosted by the Center for Bioethics, and co-sponsored by the following U of MN Units: Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, School of Public Health; Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, College of Liberal Arts; College of Pharmacy; Medical School; Program in Health Disparities Research, Medical School; School of Dentistry; School of Public Health; School of Nursing; Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility; Rural Health Research Center; Business Advancement Center for Health (BACH), Carlson School of Management.
Speaker(s)

Kelsey N. Berry, PhD, is a Lecturer at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is the Director of the Foundations Course Sequence for the Master of Science in Bioethics and the Co-Chair of the Organizational Ethics Consortium at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. As a health policy researcher and ethicist, Dr. Berry employs empirical and normative methods to analyze health policy and support progress toward ethical systems of health and health care. The majority of her work addresses the intersection of health, population level ethics, and social justice. Special emphases of her research include the ethics of rationing scarce health resources, the distribution of responsibility for health and social determinants of health (SDOH), effective models for managing ethical questions in health care systems and organizations, and policy approaches to support the health of vulnerable populations. In tandem with her research, she educates future leaders in ethics and bioethics through her leadership of the Graduate Fellowship in Ethics at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics and her teaching in the Master of Bioethics program at Harvard Medical School. She also consults to organizations in the health sector regarding the values-based dimensions of the activities and decisions for which they are responsible and methods for making hard choices in the face of conflicting values.

2025 National Student Bioethics Association (NSBA) Conference
2025-04-25 16:00 - 2025-04-26 19:00 (America/New_York) | Online
The National Student Bioethics Association is hosting its 4th annual virtual conference for students, trainees, and early-career scholars to have opportunities to present their work. It is free to attend/present, with no registration fees. The virtual conference will take place on April 25 and 26th, 2025. The deadline for abstract submissions is March 3rd, 2025.
The abstract submission form can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/nsba2025abstractsubmission
Any student, trainee, and/or early-career scholar, regardless of education level, is welcome to submit an abstract as long as the topic falls within the scope of bioethics. We welcome all types of proposals whether they be peer-reviewed research, a term paper, internship project, doctoral thesis, or personal passion-project. Abstracts will either be accepted as a 15-minute oral presentation or a 3-minute poster presentation.
Registration form can be found here (free to attend/present): https://tinyurl.com/nsba2025conferenceregistration

No good can come of this knowledge: Why healthy older adults decline to learn their risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia
2025-04-29 17:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Hybrid, PA
BIO: Jessica Mozersky is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Washington University’s Bioethics Research Center and a Faculty Scholar at the Institute for Public Health. Dr. Mozersky conducts empirical research on the ethical and social implications of new biomedical and genomic technologies. Dr. Mozersky completed her PhD in Anthropology within the Institute for Human Genetics and Health at University College London, UK. She holds a Master’s degree in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mozersky received 4 years of postdoctoral training in bioethics and the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Click here to register for this talk! (Please note: the Zoom session will open at 5:00 PM, but the talk will not begin until 5:15 PM. Attendees will be in a waiting room until the talk starts.)

Practical Responses at the Intersection of Climate Change & Healthcare
2025-04-29 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Please join us for a vital conversation about practical ways in which students, health care workers, and healthcare systems are engaging the climate crises. Most of us know the severity of the problem, our discussion this year focuses on ways to get involved in solutions and resiliency.
Zoom link is here: https://iu.zoom.us/j/85801913258?pwd=[REDACTED]
Our panelists:
AMY COLLINS, MD
Senior Clinical Advisor For Physician Engagement
Health Care Without Harm
GAYLE KOUKLIS, MD
University of Colorado Climate Change & Health Science Policy Fellow
UCSF Fresno Emergency Medicine
Swedish Edmonds Medical Center
SISTER SARA TARANGO, CSJ
Environmental Stewardship Liaison, Southern California
Providence

No registration required.

Ethics Grand Rounds: "Why They Blow the Whistle: Exposing Abuses in Medical Research"
2025-05-01 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Dr. Elliot is professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota. He attended Davidson College, the Medical University of South Carolina and Glasgow University in Scotland. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award, the Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History at the Library of Congress, a resident fellowship at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy, and a Weatherhead Fellowship at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to his faculty position at the University of Minnesota, Elliott is an affiliate faculty member in the Bioethics Center at the University of Otago in New Zealand, where he previously completed a postdoctoral position. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, Mother Jones and American Scholar.
Talk Description: In popular culture, whilstleblowers are conscience-driven heroes who triumph against the odds. Yet when research abuse occur, medical institutions deny wrongdoing even when it is glaringly obvious, and rarely do mistreated research subjects or their families get any real justice. Whistleblowing is the exception, not the rule. In many scandles, doctors and other staff members remain silent for years while unwitting research subjects are abused. If abuses do come to light, the researchers are usually protected by the medical establishment while the whistleblowers are punished.

Learn More About Columbia's M.S. in Bioethics Program from Distinguished Faculty
2025-05-06 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Columbia University’s Master of Science in Bioethics program grounds students in interdisciplinary approaches and models to address the most pressing bioethical challenges. The Bioethics program prepares students to act as responsible and responsive leaders in this new and ever-growing field.
Join us for this session in which distinguished Bioethics faculty will provide you with insight into the program and answer any questions you may have about the courses they lead at Columbia University.
Speakers:
Robert Klitzman, M.D.
Program Director, Bioethics; Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
David N. Hoffman, J.D.
Assistant Professor of Bioethics, Columbia University
Arthur Kuflik, PhD
Lecturer, Bioethics
Barbra Bluestone Rothschild, M.D.
Lecturer, Bioethics
Anne Zimmerman, J.D., M.S., CIPP/US, CEET
Advisory Board Member, Bioethics; Editor-in-Chief, Voices in Bioethics; Founder and Chair, Innovative Bioethics Forum / Modern Bioethics; Chair, New York City Bar Association Bioethical Issues Committee
Karla Childers, MSJ, MSBE
Lecturer, Bioethics MS Program, Columbia University; Senior Director of Strategic Projects in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer at Johnson & Johnson
Mark Manansala
Assistant Director, Recruitment and Admissions

When a Patient Hopes for a Miracle: Toward Justified Responses
2025-05-08 12:00 - 17:00 (America/Denver) | Online
You are warmly invited to attend the upcoming Ethics Grand Rounds, hosted by the Clinical Ethics Education Council at the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities. This live virtual event will feature a compelling discussion led by Dr. Trevor Bibler, Associate Professor at the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine! Please feel free to share information about this event widely.
Learning Objectives:

Find a shared, basic vocabulary when engaging with patients who hope for a miracle.
Appreciate the complexity of a hope for a miracle—including its ethical, spiritual, and clinical dimensions.
Develop justified responses that balance patient autonomy with other ethical obligations.

CME Credit will be offered for live participation.
All of the planners, faculty, or individuals in control of content for this educational activity have no relevant financial relationships to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
The University of Colorado School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Colorado School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
CME certificates are distributed once a year to learners.
Certificates of Participation available upon request.
For additional information or questions, please contact Gianna Morales .

The ELSI of Social Epigenetics
2025-05-09 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Join us on May 9 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT for then next ELSI Friday Forum: The ELSI of Social Epigenetics with speakers Michael S. Kobor, PhD, Erika A. Waters, PhD, MPH, and Martine Lappé, PhD.
At the molecular level, social epigenetics elucidates the impacts of exposure to environmental pollutants, childhood adversity, and discrimination on the human body. In turn, it also offers insight into the biological mechanisms that determine how structural forces, such as environmental policy or exposure to violence, impact individual health across generations. However, social epigenetics also has the potential to reinforce logics of genetic determinism and biological racism. On top of this, it has the complex job of disentangling the causal mechanisms at play when determining how and why exposure to one pollutant or type of experience has specific outcomes when others do not. There are also a myriad of questions about how best to translate this work into public health, policy, and clinical care. This session will address how ELSI research of social epigenetics can address these issues and make social epigenetics more impactful.

'Terminal Anorexia' and decision-making capacity
2025-05-13 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Dr Anneli Jefferson will be presenting an online seminar on ‘ “Terminal Anorexia” and decision-making capacity’ at 9.30 a.m. British Summer Time on Tuesday 13 May.
Dr Jefferson is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Cardiff University. Her main research areas are philosophy of psychology and moral philosophy, while she also works in the philosophy of psychiatry.
We look forward to an interesting discussion and hope that you can join us. Please feel free to share this message with friends or colleagues who may wish to attend (those interested are encouraged to register at info@bioscentre.org or subscribe here to receive a reminder and other updates).

A Great Friendship: The Evolution of the Government-University Science Partnership in the United States
2025-05-13 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Online
Join us for May Ethics Grand Rounds on the history of federal funding of university-based research in the U.S. featuring Jonathan Engel, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Health Policy and Management, and moderated by Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, PhD, Chief of the Division of Ethics.
Abstract: The United States developed relationships with its research universities during World War II which produced the Manhattan Project (U. of California) and the Rad Lab (MIT), among others. In the years after the war, these relationships were enhanced and enlarged through the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Office of Naval Research, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation. These government-university relationships have been enormously fruitful for a variety of reasons. In this Grand Rounds, we will explore the unusual nature of these relationships and discuss the future of science funding in the United States.

What Would You Want? Navigating Life, Death, and Organ Donation When the Heart Stops
2025-05-20 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Donation after circulatory death (DCD) is one of the most promising methods for expanding the organ pool for transplantation. Yet realizing the promise of DCD depends on careful coordination of end-of-life treatment with organ donation authorization, organ preservation, and recovery. We will discuss ethical and legal considerations in prioritizing goals of care while also optimizing DCD in light of technical challenges, technological innovation, and the sociopolitical landscape of organ donation.
Learning Objectives: After this webinar, attendees will be able to:

Understand the legal frameworks which guide surrogate decision making at the end of life for both clinical treatment and for organ donation.
Appreciate the ethical challenge of prioritizing end of life clinical treatment decisions while also optimizing organ donation after circulatory death.
Recognize potential paths toward improving communication and maintaining trust in the context of controlled donation after circulatory death.

About the Series
Unpacking Bedside Bioethics is a quarterly professional development clinical ethics webinar series delivered by the Center for Bioethics. Speakers identify ethical dilemmas in clinical cases, and discuss how to apply bioethical concepts and frameworks to navigate those dilemmas.
Upon request, Zoom attendees will receive a Certificate of Attendance to apply for Continuing Education Units for their respective professions. We are not able to offer CEUs directly to attendees. Please note, you must attend a minimum of 75% of the talk to receive a certificate. Each talk will be recorded & posted with our other event recordings. Certificates of Attendance will not be given for watching the recording – only for those attending the Zoom session.
Health professions students are eligible for IPE credit. IPE credit is available only to webinar attendees who are present for 75% or more of the talk, participate in a short IPE breakout session immediately following the talk, and complete a written reflection form following that breakout session.
Speaker(s)

Brendan Parent, JD, is an associate professor and director of transplant ethics and policy research in the division of medical ethics with joint appointment in surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is a Principal Investigator on nonprofit and government funded grants studying ethics and regulation of transplant research. Parent serves as an independent living donor advocate, an advisory board member for the National Kidney Foundation, and a member of the national leadership council for The Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance. He provides ethics consultation for transplant programs across the globe. Professor Parent’s current work also focuses on ethics challenges surrounding determination of death by neurologic criteria, research on the deceased, and artificial intelligence in health research. He has published academic articles in peer reviewed journals spanning law, medicine, science, sports, and ethics, and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, The NY Times, Wired, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, and on NPR.

"(How) Do Reasons Matter? Weighing the Influence of Parental Reasons in Pediatric Treatment"
2025-05-20 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | Online
You are invited to join us for the next Pediatric Ethics Grand Rounds hosted by Children’s Hospital Colorado. This month’s session, titled “(How) Do Reasons Matter? Weighing the Influence of Parental Reasons in Pediatric Treatment,” promises to be an engaging and insightful discussion.
Featured Speaker:
Amy Caruso Brown, MD, MSc, MSCS, HEC-C
Interim Chair, Center for Bioethics and Humanities
Associate Professor of Bioethics and Humanities and of Pediatrics, SUNY Upstate Medical University
Learning Objectives:

Describe what is known and not known about the uses of reasons and reason-giving in pediatric decision-making practices.
Explore arguments for and against giving moral weight to families’ reasons for refusing medically recommended treatment or requesting potentially inappropriate treatment.
Analyze hypothetical cases in which the reasons given by a family in support of a particular decision are ethically concerning.

Continuing Education Credits will be offered. For more information, please contact Stacy Matson.

My well-being is tied to the well-being of the people who care for me’: Interdependence, Care, and Advocacy
2025-05-21 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Kentucky/Louisville) | Online
Part of the intellectual life of the Health Care Ethics program is our ongoing online lecture series. This themed series consists of free and open virtual lectures/discussions occurring monthly during the academic year. Presentations are attended by students, staff, faculty, health professionals, and the general public. All events are free and open to the public.
Presenter: Liv Mendelsohn, Executive DirectorCanadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence
Liv Mendelsohn, MA, MEd, is the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence where she leads innovation, research, policy and program initiatives to support Canada’s caregivers and care providers. A visionary leader with more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Liv has a been a lifelong caregiver and has lived experience of disability. Her experiences as a member of the ‘sandwich generation’ fuel her passion to build a caregiver movement in Canada to change the way that caregiving is seen, valued, and supported. Over the course of her career, Liv has founded and helmed several organizations in the disability and caregiving space, including the Wagner Green Centre for Accessibility and Inclusion and the ReelAbilities Toronto Film Festival. Liv serves as the chair of the City of Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee. She has received the City of Toronto Equity Award, and has been recognized by University College, University of Toronto, Empowered Kids Ontario, and the Jewish Community Centres of North America for her leadership. Liv is a senior fellow at Massey College and a graduate of the Mandel Institute for Non-Profit Leadership and the Civic Action Leadership Foundation Diversity Fellowship program.

Mediation Intensive Workshop
2025-05-29 09:00 - 2025-06-01 17:00 (America/New_York) | Inperson, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway,, Dayton,, OH, 45435, United States
The Penn Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy is pleased to announce the next in-person conflict management workshops: Thursday-Sunday, May 29-June 1, 2025.
This workshop is intended for nurses, physicians, clergy, social workers, clinical ethics consultants and members of ethics committees who face clinical ethics conflicts in their role in the healthcare system.
The 4-day workshop will be held at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and will run from 9:00-5:00 each day. The Penn Program in Clinical Conflict Management has offered over 150 workshops and conflict resolution seminars since the program’s launch in May 2010.
In this Intensive, students will:

Learn how to navigate and improve challenging clinical relationships (patient-provider, family-provider, inter-staff conflicts)
Learn the techniques of facilitation among a diverse set of stakeholders
Learn to effectively manage clinical disputes among and between caregivers, patients and surrogates through mediation
Discover to how to define problems and assess underlying interests to generate mutually acceptable options
Role-play in variety of clinical situations as both disputants and mediators
Practice mediation with professional actors
Use video-tapes of simulations to improve mediation techniques and strengthen interpersonal skills
Receive constructive feedback in a supportive environment

DESCRIPTION:
Professional mediators possess a unique skill set applicable to the facilitation of difficult conversations between individuals in emotionally laden situations. An effective mediation process can generate solutions that address the underlying interests of all disputants and resolve conflicts that appear intractable. This skill set has increasingly been recognized as invaluable to the work of clinical ethics consultants as they navigate conflicts between and among patients, families, surrogates and providers. Moreover, given wide-spread agreement that communication failures lie at the root of many clinical conflicts, mediation values and catalyzes the effective communication of individual concerns, values, perspectives and feelings — all of which are essential to the clinical ethics consultation process. This hands-on Workshop introduces the principal techniques of mediation through the use of simulated role plays with a focus on conflicts caused by communication breakdowns, highly charged value-conflicts, and cultural differences.
Instructor-Student ratio of 1:3. Space is limited. Students can earn Penn course credit or take the intensive as a workshop. Cost of the workshop is $2,500, which includes breakfast, lunch and materials. Tuition benefits can be applied for students taking it for credit.
Workshop Instructors:
Autumn Fiester, PhD | Director, Penn Program in Clinical Conflict Management; Associate Chair for Education
Aliza Narva, JD, MSN, HEC-c | Director, Clinical Ethics Consult Service, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Stacey Smith, MSN, MA, MSL, HEC-c | Lead Healthcare Ethicist, National Center for Ethics in Healthcare
Mary Walton, MBE, MSN, HEC-c | Emeritus Director, Clinical Ethics Consult Service, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
For more information, contact: fiester@upenn.edu
