Bio medical Discovery is at the heart of human progress. Throughout history, scientists and physicians have pushed back the barriers of what we believed to be medically possible. From the first blood transfusions to the first heart transplants, through the first test tube baby to the first stem cell lines, these advances have sought to alleviate human suffering and to further medical knowledge. However, wherever advances are made, serious ethical questions are raised about the morality, safety and consequences of biomedical discovery.
The Berman Institute is at the forefront of the academic and public policy debates surrounding these questions, framing the debate and leading the discussion towards ethical answers which further enhance biomedical discovery. Our research activities in this field are focused upon two major projects:
Stem Cell Policy and Ethics Program (SCOPE)
The Stem Cell Policy and Ethics Program (SCOPE) was first conceptualized early in 2002 as a formal and ongoing conduit for collaboration between faculty and staff of the Berman Institute of Bioethics and the Institute for Cell Engineering, both at Johns Hopkins University. Under the joint leadership of Ruth Faden and John Gearhart, SCOPE is designed to address the increasing importance, in both the conduct of research and the development of clinical applications, of interactions between the fields of stem cell science, ethics, and public policy. Learn More
Neuroethics Program of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
The Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences (PEBS), founded in July 2003, represents the first formal collaboration between the Brain Sciences Institute and the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, both at Johns Hopkins. The goal of this program is to ensure that research in brain science proceeds with an informed and sophisticated understanding of attendant ethical and social issues, and that philosophical and empirical analysis in brain research proceeds with an informed and sophisticated understanding of the science. Learn More
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