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Dr. Mary Catherine Beach promoted to the rank of Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Posted June 09, 2008
Dr. Mary Catherine Beach, a core faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, was just promoted to the rank of Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins School Medicine. Dr. Beach’s promotion is based on her accomplishments as a researcher, ethicist, educator and clinician. She is currently conducting research on the theoretical foundations of respect and the impact of physician attitudes, and patient-physician communication on patients in the primary care setting, in the treatment of HIV, and in the treatment of sickle cell disease. Dr. Beach is also a core faculty member of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research and has a joint appointment in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Congratulations Dr. Beach!
Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics’ Dr. Andrea Sutherland to address the Maryland HPV Vaccine Task Force
Posted June 09, 2008
The state of Maryland’s HPV (human papillomavirus) Vaccine Task Force invited the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics’ Andrea Sutherland, MD, MPH, MSc, to brief task force members on the ethical implications of HPV vaccination on June 24th at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Sutherland’s areas of interest include infectious diseases and vaccines. She did her residency in General Preventive Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University and just accepted a position at the United States Food and Drug Administration, as a medical officer in vaccine safety surveillance. Sutherland is also a Greenwall Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Through her fellowship program, Sutherland is focusing on ethical challenges that are at the heart of many vaccine policy conundrums including, what constitutes an acceptable risk profile for a new vaccine, whether, or under, what conditions the HPV vaccine should be made mandatory for children, and access to new vaccines, in the context of social justice.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are about 40 types of HPV that affect the genitals or sex organs of men and women. Some HPV types can cause genital warts. Other types can infect a woman’s cervix and lead to cervical cancer over many years. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, 11,070 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S. A vaccine can now protect females from the four types of HPV that cause most cervical cancers and genital warts. The vaccine is recommended for 11 and 12 year-old girls. It is also recommended for girls and women age 13 through 26 who have not yet been vaccinated or completed the vaccine series.
The Maryland HPV Vaccine Task Force was created by the Maryland General Assembly in 2007 after a proposed bill to require middle school girls be vaccinated was shelved following several objections and concerns, including possible health risks, the potential the vaccine might encourage promiscuity, and questions over policy efforts to introduce the bill by the company that sells the vaccine. The task force is charged with, among other things, recommending whether the state should mandate that the HPV vaccine be a school entry requirement for all female middle school students.
The Greenwall Fellowship Program in Bioethics and Health Policy provides an unparalleled opportunity for fellowship and faculty development training in bioethics and health policy. It is a collaborative effort of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Georgetown University (GU). Together, JHU and GU constitute one of the largest and most diverse faculty in bioethics anywhere. At JHU, Greenwall Fellows work with faculty of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, the Philosophy Department, the School of Medicine, and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. At Georgetown, Fellows work with faculty of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, the Philosophy Department, and the Law Center.
Link to Maryland HPV Vaccine Task Force
http://www.fha.state.md.us/cancer/cancerplan/html/hpv.cfm
The Johns Hopkins Bloomerg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics offer a new course
Posted March 07, 2008
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics are pleased to offer a one-week intensive summer course entitled, “Ethics Issues in Human Subjects Research in Developing Countries.” The course is offered as part of the Johns Hopkins Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Course enrolment is open to any interested practitioner, researcher, funder, faculty member, or student. Enrollees need not be affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.
Course dates: June 16 - June 20, 2008 (1:30 pm - 5:00 pm)
Location: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.)
Course summary:
Ethics Issues in Human Subjects Research in Developing Countries
(340.667.11) M, T, W, Th, F
This course will introduce those enrolled to ethical principles and formal codes of ethics, to key ethical issues that arise in international research. Ultimately, the course will be case-based to enable course participants to work through ethical challenges posed by research conducted in developing countries. Each daily session will be divided between a formal lecture and a case discussion. Case studies will be discussed in small groups and will be based on actual research projects in developing countries, including both clinical and epidemiological/observational research. The course is geared towards U.S. and international faculty, researchers, and students who conduct or fund research in developing country settings and to those who sit on IRBs/research ethics boards. Student evaluation is based on case study exercises and class participation. (2 academic credits)
Course faculty:
Nancy Kass, ScD, Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health & Deputy Director, Berman Institute of Bioethics;
Andrea Ruff, MD, Associate Professor, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
For more information:
Contact:
Ayesha Khan Coordinator Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 615 North Wolfe Street Room W6508B Baltimore, MD 21205 Phone: (410) 955-7158; Fax: (410) 955-0863 Email: akhan@jhsph.edu
Berman Institue's Dr. Jeremy Sugarman has been appointed to ISSCR Task Force on the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells
Posted February 18, 2008
The ISSCR has convened a multinational task force to establish international guidelines for the clinical translation of stem cells and their direct derivatives. The ISSCR Task Force on the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells will define the scientific, clinical, regulatory, ethical, and societal issues that must be addressed to ensure that basic stem cell research is responsibly transitioned into appropriate clinical applications for treating patients. Berman Institue's Dr. Jeremy Sugarman has been appointed to this taskforce.
Dr. Ruth Faden to speak at NASI's 20th Annual Policy Conference
Posted January 31, 2008
"NASI’s 20th annual policy conference will focus on achieving affordable health coverage for all Americans. Taking place in the midst of the early Presidential primaries, the conference will bring together the major participants in the health coverage debate to frame the problem, compare specific policy proposals, and identify ways of overcoming the obstacles to reform." http://www.nasi.org/calendar_reg3634/calendar_reg_show.htm?doc_id=501818
Dr. Faden will speak on the first day of the conference January 31, 2008. She will speak during Session III on the topic "Ethical Implications of Policy Choices in Health Insurance."
Upcoming Embryonic Stem Cell Panel
Posted January 22, 2008
Sponsored by the Bioethics Student Interest Group
6:00 pm
Mountcastle Auditorium, Preclinical Teaching Building at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Dinner will be provided just prior to the event.
Everyone is familiar with the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells, but in the past few years, significant new scientific advances and increasing financial support from state governments have changed the political and ethical landscape of this issue. Here at Hopkins, many individuals continue to participate on a professional level in stem cell policy, research and regulation.
The Student Interest Group in Bioethics will be presenting a panel of Hopkins faculty on Tuesday, January 22 at 6pm in Mountcastle Auditorium, in the Preclinical Teaching Building of the School of Medicine. Our purpose is twofold: to provide a current update on stem cell science, policy and ethics and to directly expose members of the Hopkins community to the ongoing ethical dialogue.
Speakers will address a number of topics, ranging from an explanation of the new science of induced pluripotent stem cells to the story behind the Maryland Stem Cell Act of 2006.
Participants include:
John Gearhart, PhD, Co-Director, Stem Cell Biology Program, Institute for Cell Engineering (JHSOM)
Curt Civin, MD, PhD, Professor of Oncology and Samuelson Professor of Cancer Research, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Paul McHugh, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Member of the President’s Council on Bioethics
Debra Mathews, MPH, MA, Assistant Director for Science Programs, the Berman Institute of Bioethics
Moderator: Ruth Faden, PhD, MPH, Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Executive Director, the Berman Institute of Bioethics
PLEASE RSVP IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND to: mailto:j3ddy1@jhmu.edu.
Check your email for further details in the coming weeks. We hope to see you there!
PhD Candidate Wins International Health Student Award
Posted October 17, 2007
Lori Uscher-Pines, MSc, a PhD candidate in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has won a 2007 International Health Student Award from the American Public Health Association (APHA) for her work with Bloomberg and Berman Institute researchers. The APHA's International Health Section recognized Lori's work with Patrick Duggan, AB, Joshua Garoon, MPH, Ruth Karron, MD, and Ruth Faden, PhD, MPH, to produce Disadvantaged Groups in Pandemic Influenza Planning: An Analysis of National Plans.
Background
Evidence from previous disasters suggests that socially and economically disadvantaged groups suffer the greatest burdens both within and across countries. The potential for an influenza pandemic to create new or exacerbate existing social inequalities suggests the need to consider a pandemic not only as an urgent public health matter, but also as an urgent ethical and social justice issue. Aims/Methods: Thirty-seven national influenza pandemic plans were reviewed by three researchers to assess how countries addressed the needs and encouraged the participation of disadvantaged groups, in accordance with the recommendations of an international group of experts convened in July 2006. A data extraction instrument was developed to guide textual analysis and keyword searching. Results: Only three plans (8%) noted particular difficulties likely to be encountered by poor persons, and less than one-third of plans (all from high-income countries) made mention of socially disadvantaged groups such as ethnic minorities. Three (8%) plans specifically discussed policies to engage socially or economically disadvantaged groups in the planning process. Plans rarely addressed barriers such as assess to information that disadvantaged groups might face in the implementation of public health interventions. In general, the concept of “vulnerability” present in 20 plans (54%) suggested biological susceptibility to disease rather than to social or economic disadvantage. Conclusions: As plans are further developed, planners should take specific steps to ensure that disadvantaged groups receive appropriate consideration and should incorporate principles of social justice in planning. Furthermore, larger questions of global justice that arise between countries require further discussion and research, as they are likely to prove the most pressing if we hope to avert the most serious injustices that could result from a pandemic.
Learning Objectives:
Article © The Hastings Center. Reprinted with permission. This article originally appeared in the Hastings Center Report vol. 37, no. 4 (2007).” (www.thehastingscenter.org).
The award will be presented during the APHA's 135th annual meeting and exposition (November 3-7, 2007).
NEW - Risk Assessment Minor includes bioethics courses
Posted September 19, 2007
The Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology recently announced the development of a "Risk Assessment" minor into its curriculum. The new minor will likely involve a suite of courses on topics such as risk science and public policy; nanotechnology ethics, law and policy; environmental engineering; emerging environmental issues; environmental health; public health; and public health toxicology. Many of the faculty members who will develop or teach the courses are affiliated with the Berman Institute of Bioethics.
Bioethics and Health Policy Certificate
Posted August 16, 2007
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Berman Institute are now offering a certificate in Bioethics and Health Policy. The certificate is open to any Johns Hopkins students enrolled in a degree program in any division of Johns Hopkins University. The new certificate’s educational objectives are to:
1. Develop students' ability to recognize and analyze a moral problem in public health practice, research, and health policy;
2. Develop students' ability to further public policy debate concerning moral problems in public health practice, research, and health policy.
The certificate program is open to students enrolled in any graduate degree (Masters or Doctoral) program at any division of Johns Hopkins.
Learn more.
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