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| International Activities
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The Berman Institute’s faculty coordinate or direct a number of international research and training efforts, including:
Research
Ancillary Care in Public Health Intervention Research in Resource-Limited Settings: Researchers’ Practices and Decision-Making
This research project involves the collection of preliminary data on ancillary care practices and decision-making from public health researchers in three South Asian countries. As public health research is often conducted in settings where adequate nutrition, clean water, and sanitation are lacking and access to health care services is limited, some participants in public health research suffer illness and death from medical conditions beyond the condition being studied. The Berman Institute’s Maria Merritt and Holly Taylor are determined to learn more about these ancillary care practices. Research began in 2007.
The International Injury Research Unit (IIRU) is a multidisciplinary and interdepartmental research center affiliated with the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Established in 2008, IIRU has been working in more than fifteen developing countries to reduce the global burden of injuries through research, teaching and advocacy. Berman Institute's Dr. Adnan A. Hyder is part of the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit team.
Conferences and Workshops
Sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bellagio Meeting brought together an international group of experts in public health, animal health, virology, medicine, public policy, economics, bioethics, law and human rights to consider the most pressing social justice questions surrounding the avian and human pandemic influenza threat. July 2006 meeting participants focused on the needs and interests of the world's most disadvantaged people. Since the meeting, the group has been working to distribute and implement the Bellagio Meeting Statement of Principles and various action checklists derived from the meeting. For more information, contact Alan Regenberg.
Named for the location of its 2006 meeting in Hinxton, England, the Hinxton Group is an international, interdisciplinary group of scholars exploring the ethical and policy challenges of transnational scientific collaboration in embryonic stem cell research. As many of these ethical and policy challenges continue to be raised by various national regulations, the work of the Hinxton Group continues. The group will expand in size and scope during its second meeting April 9-11, 2008. For more information, contact Alan Regenberg.
Teaching Programs/Initiatives
Together with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Department of Clinical Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Berman Institute runs a one-year training program in research ethics for scientists and professionals from sub-Saharan Africa. The training program is directed by Nancy Kass and Adnan A. Hyder. Nearly two dozen African trainees have participated in the program since 2000. For more information, contact Joe Ali.
Fogarty International Collaborative Genetics Research Training Program
From 2004-2008, Gail Geller served as co-director of a Fogarty International Center training grant to train Chinese scientists in genetics. Dr. Geller was responsible for the ethical, social, psychological, and cultural components of the training. In this capacity, she mentored Chinese fellows brought to Johns Hopkins and participated in an annual weeklong training course in Beijing and Shanghai. In recognition of her contribution to the ethics training of China's future geneticists, Dr. Geller was recently awarded an honorary professorship at Peking University.
In 2007, faculty affiliated with the Berman Institute received a grant entitled “Capacity Building in Research Ethics and for Research on Ethics.” The grant allows for a new research ethics exchange program between Aga Khan University (AKU) in Pakistan and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Grant activities focus on conducting research ethics certificate courses in Pakistan, to train over 100 researchers and institutional ethics review committee members from all over Pakistan. The grant also sponsored 3 AKU faculty to receive research ethics fellowships for advanced training in empirical research methods for researching ethics and travel to Johns Hopkins for six weeks of intensive training, culminating in a research proposal. BIB faculty, Adnan A. Hyder directs this project while BIB faculty Hilary Bok is Co-Director and DrPH student Lynne Harris is Project Manager. Advisory Committee, Masters in Bioethics at Aga Khan University (2007-2011)
Funded by the NIH Fogarty Center, Aga Khan University, Pakistan Masters Program in Bioethics is designed to take into account the impact of social influences, regional culture and Islamic philosophy it also recognizes the influence of Western philosophy on moral discourse. The Grant covers all expenses for students from resource poor countries that fall under the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization. The two years Masters program is comprised of Seven modules: Basic Bioethics, Research Ethics, Clinical Ethics, Bioethics Education, Health Equity, Policy and Ethics, Health & Human Rights and Health Laws & Bioethics and Research Methodology in the first year and in the second year students are required to develop a research proposal. The program is guided by an Advisory Committee, comprising distinguished bioethicists from western countries, and individuals representing key institutions involved in healthcare and research from within the region and Pakistan. BIB faculty Adnan A. Hyder is an advisor to the program. More information can be found Here.
Service
The HeartSongs Project: An International Collaboration to Enhance Communication, Decision-Making and Quality of Life for Children and Families Affected by Pediatric Neuromuscular Diseases
Drs. Gail Geller and Cynda Rushton co-directed the Heartsongs Project, funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The goal of this two-year project was to develop a worldwide network of professionals, parents and affected children who shared a common vision of comprehensive and integrated care for children with life-threatening neuromuscular diseases. With a focus on communication, decision making, quality of life and ethical challenges, the project brought together experts in pediatric palliative care, pediatric neuromuscular diseases, and parents and affected children. The project developed recommendations regarding best practices in comprehensive and integrated care. The project included an opening summit in England in April 2008, followed by a year of effort by conference participants in smaller working groups. The project culminated in a second summit held in Greece in April 2009. Nearly 70 people from 10 countries served as “ambassadors” of their home countries. "Ambassadorial teams” networked with other colleagues in their respective countries, involving them in the project's work. The 2009 summit allowed the working groups to report their findings for a comprehensive set of recommendations. This project is in honor of Mattie J.T. Stepanek.
Ethics Working Group
As chair of the Ethics Working Group of the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), the Institute's Deputy Director for Medicine Jeremy Sugarman helps to address ethics questions related to HPTN research. The HPTN is a worldwide collaborative involving clinical trials that develop and test the safety and efficacy of non-vaccine interventions to prevent HIV transmission. Representati ves from diverse fields, areas of expertise, and geographic regions are included. Learn More
"Healing" For Chronic and Terminal Disease
Medical personnel often discuss the importance of their patients' emotional "peace" and/or spirituality, particularly when a cure for a disease is non-existent. Through this annual volunteer activity, the Berman Institute's Dan Finkelstein and other physicians and nurses provide medical care to chronic and terminally ill patients en route from Baltimore to Lourdes, France. The patients are recommended by their Catholic parishes to make the special pilgrimage.
Additional Links
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