The mission of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics is to conduct advanced scholarship on the ethics of clinical practice, biomedical science, and public health, both locally and globally, and to engage students, trainees, the public, and policy-makers in serious discourse about these issues. We are committed to the following: (1) conducting cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research; (2) training the next generation of leaders in bioethics; (3) helping to prepare students and trainees for the ethical challenges of professional and civic life; (4) informing the public about bioethical issues; and (5) contributing to more ethical public policies and practices.

Established in 1995, the Berman Institute is now one of the largest centers of its kind in the world. Today, the Berman Institute consists of more than 30 core and affiliated faculty from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. Faculty work collaboratively on scholarship and teaching in the Institute's five areas of focus: biomedical research and discovery, ethics of clinical practice, public health ethics and health policy, research ethics, and global health ethics and research.

The Berman Institute mentors trainees through the Ph.D. concentration in bioethics and health policy, the Greenwall Fellowship program, the Johns Hopkins-Fogarty African Bioethics Training Program; the Arts and Sciences minor in bioethics; the bioethics certificate, and various summer intensive courses in bioethics. The Institute also provides policy advice for government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private sector organizations.

The Institute has been funded by private foundations, public research grants, and philanthropic contributions.

About Our Namesake

Phoebe Rhea Berman believed there was no better place than Johns Hopkins to address the ethical dilemmas raised by advances in medical discovery. "With all the complexities of modern life - new discoveries in science, changes in medicine and medical care - medical professionals and policy makers are faced with very difficult decisions. There is a need for the teaching of ethics in our society."

To underscore this conviction, Phoebe Berman established an endowment for the Institute, saying, "If you have more money than you need, you should give some of it away, shouldn't you? And what better to support than the Bioethics Institute? The work that is being done there has great meaning for me and can make a real difference in society." Mrs. Berman earlier established the Edgar Berman Professorship in International Health and the Edgar Berman and Hubert Humphrey Fund in International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health to honor her husband, Edgar Berman, who was a pioneering surgeon, an outspoken social critic, and a best-selling author.

Phoebe Berman grew up on a farm and at a young age developed what she calls a reverence for life. Many decades later, the Bermans went to French Equatorial Africa to work with Albert Schweitzer as extended volunteers. Schweitzer’s work inspired her, and her commitment to the need for ethical considerations in medical and scientific decision-making was reaffirmed and strengthened.

One of Baltimore's most celebrated hostesses, she owned a thoroughbred racing stable, published a newspaper, and collected modern art. Mrs. Berman was also a dedicated supporter of the arts, contributing to the Peabody Institute, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Baltimore Symphony.

Phoebe Berman revered life. "You have to have a strong heart and great will to make the kind of difference someone like Dr. Schweitzer made. All I am doing is making a contribution in a way that is meaningful for me."

Phoebe's bequest was absolutely critical to the creation of the Berman Institute of Bioethics and we are indebted to her beyond measure. Phoebe had the deep conviction that questions of bioethics were essential to the future of humanity, and she expressed that conviction by entrusting us with her legacy.