The Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics in

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Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

and Health System. It is dedicated to the study of complex moral and policy issues in biomedical science, health care, and health policy. Established in 1995, the Institute seeks answers to ethical questions by promoting research in

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, m ...

and encouraging moral reflection among a broad range of scholars, professionals, students, and citizens. Contributing to its mission are four divisions of the University: the

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General information

The goals of the Institute are declared in its mission statement: conducting cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research; training the next generation of leaders in bioethics; helping to prepare students and trainees for the ethical challenges of professional and civic life; informing the public about bioethical issues; and contributing to more ethical public policies and practices. The Institute is named after Phoebe Rhea Berman, who established an endowment for the Institute, saying, "The work that is being done there has great meaning for me and can make a real difference in society." She and her husband, pioneering surgeon and best-selling author Edgar Berman, most notably went to French Equatorial Africa to work with

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...

as extended volunteers. His work inspired her, and her commitment to the need for ethical considerations in medical and scientific decision-making was reaffirmed and strengthened.
Jeffrey Kahn
is the Andreas C. Dracopoulos Director of the Berman Institute, a position he assumed in July 2016. From 2011, he has been the inaugural Robert Henry Levi and Ryda Hecht Levi Professor of Bioethics and Public Policy. He works in a variety of areas of bioethics, exploring the intersection of ethics and health/science policy, including human and animal research ethics, public health, and ethical issues in emerging biomedical technologies. The founding director of the Institute is

Ruth Faden Ruth R. Faden is an American scientist, academic, and founder of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. She was the Berman Institute's Director from 1995 until 2016, and the inaugural Andreas C. Dracopoulos Director from 2014 to 2016. Fa ...

, Ph.D., M.P.H. Dr. Faden is the author and editor of numerous books and articles on biomedical ethics and health policy including ''Social Justice, the Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy; A History and Theory of Informed Consent; AIDS, Women and the Next Generation; and HIV, AIDS and Childbearing: Public Policy, Private Lives''. She has served on several national advisory committees and commissions, including the President's Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, which she chaired. Johns Hopkins University president

William R. Brody William Ralph Brody (born January 4, 1944) is an American radiologist and academic administrator. He was the President of The Johns Hopkins University, a position which he held from 1996 to 2009 before becoming the President of the Salk Institute ...

had the following to say about the Berman Institute of Bioethics: “The Berman Institute of Bioethics is the intellectual crossroads of the University and a wonderful resource for the nation. It is at the Institute that our diverse and specialized paths of inquiry intersect. No collective undertaking is more vital to the future of Johns Hopkins.”

Programs

Research and educational programs are the foundations of the Institute's activities. The Institute's programs are divided into five main areas of focus: biomedical research and discovery; ethics of clinical practice;

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

ethics and health policy; research ethics and global health ethics and research.

Biomedical Research and Discovery

The Institute focuses on two main Biomedical programs: The Stem Cell Policy and Ethics Program and The Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences. With support from the Greenwall Foundation, the Institute'
(SCoPE) Program
in collaboration with th

focuses on ethical issues in the transition from stem cell science to clinical research, and from clinical research to clinical practice
Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences
is formed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute, and focuses on the careful analysis ethical and social issues of revolving around brain sciences.

Clinical Practice

Th
Program on Ethics in Clinical Practice
(PoECP) has been established to promote education, research, and service into ethical issues in clinical and medical practice at Johns Hopkins Institutes and beyond. Research in clinical ethics focuses on ethics at the end of life, ethics and palliative care, and improving the process whereby organs are solicited and procured. The Program is funded b
Freeman Family Scholars Program
and The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

Research Ethics

The Program in Research Ethics addresses difficult ethical challenges in research involving human subjects in the U.S. and worldwide. In partnership with faculty of the Brain Sciences Institute, the Bioethics Institute seeks to define ethical questions in the exploration of the structure and function of the brain.

Public Health and Health Policy

Building on Johns Hopkins’ leadership in public health and health policy, Institute faculty contribute to ethical and public policy questions related to

HIV-AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

and other infectious diseases, rationing and the allocation of scarce medical resources, intervention in unhealthy life styles, and disparities in health outcomes among ethnic groups and globally. The Levi Leadership Program seeks to inspire intensive moral discussion about critical issues in health and social policy among those responsible for their resolution. The Institute works with the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian

Biodefense Biodefense refers to measures to restore biosecurity to a group of organisms who are, or may be, subject to biological threats or infectious diseases. Biodefense is frequently discussed in the context of biowar or bioterrorism, and is generall ...

Strategies to explore ethical questions in alternative responses to the threat of

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...

, with a focus on

smallpox vaccine The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

policy.

Academic Training

The Institute also develops and evaluates innovative methods for providing young clinicians with an ethics education, and performs research in clinical ethics. The Berman Institute mentors trainees through the following programs
PhD concentration in bioethics and health policy
th
Greenwall Fellowship Program
th
Johns Hopkins-Fogarty African Bioethics Training Program
th
Arts and Sciences minor in bioethics
th
bioethics certificate
and various summer intensive courses in bioethics.

References

* "Astonishing Opportunities, Unprecedented Challenges." ''Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University.'' * Freeman, J., & McDonnell, K. (2001)
Tough Decisions: Cases in Medical Ethics
Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. * Powers, Madison, and Ruth Faden
Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy.
Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. * Sugarman, Jeremy, ed
20 Common Problems: Ethics in Primary Care.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

External links

The Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns Hopkins Berman Institute Of Bioethics Berman Institute Bioethics research organizations Research institutes in Maryland