The Hastings Center

Hastings Center scholar, Karen Maschke, will be presenting, The Hastings Center Special Report, Creating Chimeric Animals: Seeking Clarity on Ethics and Oversight, at NC State University.

Bioethics With Bigger Impact It is imperative to understand the social and ethical roots of our present conversations about health inequalities, in order to partner intelligently with the public, researchers, and policymakers for real impact. Since its inception, the field of bioethics has worked in core concepts of justice and equity, and considerations of social and...

Join us for the inaugural National Health Equity Grand Rounds event, co-sponsored by The Hastings Center, History of Racism in U.S. Health Care: Root Causes of Today’s Hierarchy and Systems of Power, on Tuesday, February 7, 2-3:30 PM ET. In addition to highlighting root causes of present-day health inequities, speakers will explore opportunities to advance equity through individual,...

The Institute for Practical Ethics presents a special guest lecture with Gregory Kaebnick, Research Scholar and Editor of the Hastings Center Center Report, Hastings Center.

Hastings Center senior scholar Erik Parens will be giving a lecture at Smith College on “Binocularity”: A Tool for Comprehending Persons.

Are ethicists asleep at the wheel in protecting planetary health? Global warming is intertwined with persistent problems of social justice, systemic racism, the U.S. history of colonial oppression, and the dominance of capitalist consumer norms over health and health care. Why are these bioethical injustices? Why are these issues still not a central concern for many?...

The National Academies will convene a workshop to explore the in vitro derivation of human gametes (eggs and sperm) from embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells, and its potential impact on research and reproductive medicine with Joel Michael Reynolds, Hastings senior advisor and fellow.

Research on the genetic contributions to human social and behavioral characteristics, or phenotypes, including risk-taking, income, and educational attainment, is increasing. And it is both potentially beneficial and deeply controversial, given the long history of attempts to use claims about genetic differences to advance unjust social policies and ongoing concern about their misuse.  What are...

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic demanded remarkable creativity, innovation, and change from clinicians. How can we leverage the insights and lessons learned from working during COVID-19 to transform healthcare work going forward? And how can we create meaningful change in a broken American healthcare system? This webinar featured insights from two studies of healthcare work...

Genomic research has fueled hopes that genetic findings will lead the way to precisionmedicine. But whether patients seek and use genetic information will depend on howthey understand the link between genetics and health. This conference will addressthe psychological processes involved in seeking explanations and how they apply tounderstanding the causal role of genetics. Speakers will...

Hastings Center Research Associate Danielle Pacia will be giving a presentation on "Individualized genetic therapies as a treatment-research hybrids" at the University of Zurich's ITINERARE Ethics Conference, in Zurich, Switzerland. University of Zurich https://www.itinerare.uzh.ch/en/ITINERARE-Ethics-Conference.html

Hastings Center president Vardit Ravitsky, will present with a panel at the 2023 Polygenic Screening Embryo Conference.

At the annual meeting of the National Academy of Medicine, Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will speak with colleagues about Maternal & Child Health and Human Development.Topic: Genetics/AI/Big Data: Impact on Maternal and Child HealthSpeakers: Wendy Chung, MD, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital; Melissa Wong, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Vardit Ravitsky, PhD, Hastings Center; and Ron Wapner,...

Hastings Center Senior Research Scholar Nancy Berlinger will discuss addressing racism and achieving equity in bioethics programs with Yolonda Wilson, Marion Danis, and Sandra Lee at the ASBH 25th Annual Conference: Engaging the Past to Energize the Future: Creating Space for Inclusive Public Discourse in Baltimore, MD

Hastings Center Research Associate Danielle M. Pacia will present Examining Federally Qualified Health Center Patient-Participant Motivations in the All of Us Research Program with Hastings Center Research Scholar Carolyn Neuhaus, and Johanna Crane at the ASBH 25th Annual Conference: Engaging the Past to Energize the Future: Creating Space for Inclusive Public Discourse, in Baltimore, MD

Hastings Center President and CEO Vardit Ravitsky will be the presenter for the Hastings Center 2023 Bioethics Founders' Award Celebration: Reflections on the Work of Norman Daniels and Rebecca Dresser at the ASBH 25th Annual Conference: Engaging the Past to Energize the Future: Creating Space for Inclusive Public Discourse, Baltimore, MD.

Hastings Center Research Scholar Carolyn Neuhaus will join a panel with Danielle M. Pacia, Aashna Lal, and Johanna Crane on Bioethics in Community Health at the ASBH 25th Annual Conference: Engaging the Past to Energize the Future: Creating Space for Inclusive Public Discourse, Baltimore, MD.

The Hastings Center will host a reception for first-time attendees, new members, and students at the ASBH 25th Annual Conference: Engaging the Past to Energize the Future: Creating Space for Inclusive Public Discourse. Grand BR Foyer

Hastings Center Project Manager-Research Assistant Sana Baban will present The Injustice and Moral Wrongs of Affective and Psychotic Disorders as Exclusion Criteria for Organ Transplant Candidates – Flash Session, at the ASBH 25th Annual Conference: Engaging the Past to Energize the Future: Creating Space for Inclusive Public Discourse, Baltimore, MD

Hastings Center Senior Research Scholar Nancy Berlinger will present Mapping Cultural Narratives across Disciplines: Aging, Disability, Dementia with Liz Bowen, Laura Haupt, and Erin Gentry Lamb at the ASBH 25th Annual Conference: Engaging the Past to Energize the Future: Creating Space for Inclusive Public Discourse, Baltimore, MD.

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will chair a session on AI in Regenerative Medicine at the Till & McCulloch Meetings in Toronto, Canada

Keynote Featuring Professor Arthur L. Caplan, Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor of Bioethics, Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine "Weighty Matters: The Ethics of Using Injectables To Fight Obesity And Overweight." Keynote (12pm)Workshop (1.15pm – 3.55 pm)Reception Celebrating Vardit Ravitsky (4pm) New York University Grossman School of Medicine, NYC...

Basic research is ongoing into the genomics of complex human behaviors and social outcomes, from eating and sexual behaviors to “subjective sense of well-being” and “educational attainment.”  Although the people doing this research may work hard to articulate their benevolent intentions as well as seeking to conduct rigorous, reproducible, ethical research, they do so against...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will speak about AI in Health at the Lake Nona symposium.

There’s a growing worldwide trend of distrust in science and medicine—a trend thrown into sharp relief by the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination campaigns. How did we get here and what can we do about it? Watch our discussion of the pivotal issue of trust in science. How has the past influenced the distrust we’re seeing...

Hastings Center senior research scholar Nancy Berlinger will be presenting "Imagining Socially Just Policy Narratives About Dementia," Ethics Explored, Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

Hastings Center senior research scholar Nancy Berlinger will give a talk entitled "When Persons Facing Dementia Choose to Hasten Death: America's Ethical, Legal, Medical and Social Landscape," at the 4th International Conference on End-of-Life Law, Policy, Ethics & Practice (ICEL4), at S. J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

Hastings Center senior research scholar Josephine Johnston will be discussing Medical Assisted Dying in New Zealand with Professor Roger Chung, Co-Director of CUHK Centre for Bioethics.

Parr Center/Center for Bioethics Joint Lecture: Vardit Ravitsky President & CEO of The Hastings Center Vardit Ravitsky will discuss “The Future of Bioethics.” This talk will explore what the future holds if bioethics continues its evolution to become a field that embraces systemic, collective-level challenges; has a global scale and focus; emphasizes human flourishing; and...

Hastings Center president Vardit Ravitsky will give a Research Ethics Grand Rounds lecture on the Ethical Aspects of AI in Biomedical Research: The Example of the Bridge2AI Initiative at UNC School of Medicine's Center for Bioethics.A Merrimon Lectureship Event321 MacNider Hall or zoom via link below

Hastings Center senior research scholar Nancy Berlinger will be presenting "Supporting Aging Through Housing: Engaging the Imagination of Policymakers and Publics," at the American Society on Aging, San Francisco.

Hastings Center president Vardit Ravitsky will deliver the virtual lecture: “Bioethics: A Path Forward to Face Future Challenges” at Weill Cornell Medicine Medical Ethics Seminar Series

Hastings Center CEO Vardit Ravitsky will participate in The 2024 Bennathan Patient Safety Lecture. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is expanding exponentially and is poised to make substantive and disruptive changes to the healthcare landscape. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the positive impact that AI is having on healthcare...

Recent advances in genetic screening have made the science fiction allure of choosing our children’s traits ever more possible. Many parents-to-be already screen human embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF) to avoid passing along harmful genetic diseases. However, with the falling cost of genetic sequencing, along with increased understanding of the genetic basis of many characteristics,...

Hastings Center CEO Vardit Ravitsky will give a keynote lecture entitled "Polygenic Embryo Screening: ethical and societal challenges" to the German Academy of Ethics in Medicine (AEM) at its annual spring online conference on current perspectives in medical and health ethics research.

University of Minnesota presents: Ten states and the District of Columbia currently have statutes on the books or a court decision that authorizes medical aid in dying (often called MAID) for adults who are terminally ill. Many additional states, including Minnesota, are debating similar legislation. First legalized in 1997 under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, these state...

The 2024 Voice AI Symposium will be a groundbreaking 2-day event and unique opportunity to connect with stakeholders invested in artificial intelligence and voice biomarkers. This year's symposium will serve as a nexus for dialogue, collaboration, awareness, and engagement across diverse sectors and members of the community about the use voice of artificial intelligence in...

National Institutes of Health invitation: Global Course entitled “Demystifying Medicine,” with Hastings Center CEO Vardit Ravitsky discussing AI with Holden Thorp, editor of Science. Dr. Ravitsky will talk about “AI in healthcare and biomedical research: Ethical implications.” Watch here: https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=54049

Grand Rounds at Alden March Bioethics Institute, Albany Medical College, Albany, NYHastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will discuss the ethical implications of polygenic embryo screening. Recent advances in genetic screening have made the possibility of choosing our children’s traits ever more possible. Many parents-to-be already screen human embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF) to...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will be the featured speaker at the twenty-seventh annual Joseph N. Muschel Memorial Medical House Staff Award Lecture to be held at the Columbia University Medical Center at Medical Grand Rounds. Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://columbiacuimc.zoom.us/j/91728498129One tap mobile : +16465588656,,91728498129# Telephone:  +1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID:...

Existential Threats and Other Disasters: How Should We Address Them? Conference organized in collaboration with The Center for the Study of Bioethics, The Hastings Center, and The Oxford Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics. May 30 at 1:15 UTC +1: Addressing Existential Risks and DisastersNancy S. Jecker, Vardit Ravitsky, Anita Ho, Caesar Atuire, Jean-Christophe Bélisle-Pipon present...

Hastings Center senior research scholar Josephine Johnston will deliver keynote 6 "Reframing Low Birthrates as an Existential Opportunity" at the international conference "Existential Threats and Other Disasters: How Should We Address Them?" Cosponsored by The Center for the Study of Bioethics, The Hastings Center, and The Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will present at the 17th World Congress of Bioethics (WCB). The 2024 theme is “Religion, Culture, and Global Bioethics.” A central aim will be exploring the intricate relationship between these fundamental elements. Although WCB 2024 will address the interplay of religion, culture, and bioethics, we emphasize that everyone is welcome,...

Hastings Center's Presidential Scholar Lucas Matthews will present “Geneticization of Education: on Consumer Interpretation of DTC Genetic Reports for Educational Outcomes” in a session with Anya Prince, Kristine Kuczynski, and Daphne Martschenko titled “Identifying and Combating the Threat and Enhancing the Promise of Social and Behavioral Genomics” at the Sixth ELSI Congress (ELSICon) at Columbia...

Hastings Center senior research scholar Josephine Johnston will present at the 6th annual ELSI conference in New York. In New Zealand, like many countries, genetic testing for adult-onset conditions is not performed in children. This rule rests on the "right to an open future’’--the idea that testing children for conditions that will not affect them...

ELSIcon2024: The 6th ELSI Congress will take place at Columbia University in New York City from June 10-12, 2024. Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will be a plenary speaker. She will discuss “What Can AI-Ethics Learn from Gen-Ethics: ELSI Lessons for the Coming Wave.” This talk will explore possible lessons from decades of ELSI research in...

Join us on our campus overlooking the Hudson River for a conversation about AI, Health, and Bioethics, an open house event cosponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of the Hudson Valley. Leigh Hafrey, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management, in conversation with Vardit Ravitsky, President & CEO, The Hastings Center. Wine and hors d'oeuvres reception...

How can bioethics researchers get their findings into the hands of those who shape policy? What gaps separate research and policy, and how can stakeholders navigate them? How can researchers and policymakers better communicate with and relate to each other? This Greenwall Foundation webinar will explore these questions and more as we discuss approaches to...

Hastings Center Presidential Scholar Lucas Matthews organized a symposium entitled: “Harmful Mutation: Addressing Misuse, Misapplication, Misinterpretation of Genetics” for the 2024 BGA Annual Meeting, taking place in London. The title of his presentation is “The Moralistic Fallacy Fallacy.” Other presenters include: Daphne Martschenko, Arbel Harpak, Jedidiah Carlson, Eric Turkheimer, and Aaron Panofsky.

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will speak about A Model Policy for The Ethics of International Bioethics Conferencing at the Oxford Conference on Global Health and Bioethics With Nancy S. Jecker, Mohammed Ghaly, Jean-Christophe Bélisle-Pipon, Caesar Atuire The aim of this workshop is to operationalize proposed principles by proposing and soliciting feedback on a model...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will deliver the 2024 Marguerite Lederberg Lecture at Rockefeller University, in the Carson Family Auditorium. To learn more, visit https://www.rockefeller.edu/events-and-lectures/57462-title-tba-15/.

A Moderated Discussion on DISINFORMATION, TRUST, AND THE ROLE OF AI: Threats to Health & Democracy, The Daniel Callahan Annual Lecture Panelists: Reed Tuckson, MD, FACP, Chair & Co-Founder of the Black Coalition Against Covid, Chair and Co-Founder of the Coalition For Trust In Health & ScienceTimothy Caulfield, LB, LLM, FCAHS, Professor, Faculty of Law...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will give the Keynote at the University of Bonn's conference entitled "The Rediscovery of Bioethics."

The Hastings Center will present the Bioethics Founders' Award to two bioethicists at an awards reception at the 26th annual ASBH conference in St. Louis, MO.

Hastings Center Project Manager and Research Assistant Briana Lopez-Patino will present "The Influence of the Universal Patient: Performativity in Healthcare" at the ASBH conference Flash Presentation Session: Diverse Identities.

This panel discussion is moderated by Hastings Center Report editor Laura Haupt, and features Hastings Center Report editor Gregory Kaebnick with colleagues Mohammad Hoisseini (associate editor of the journal of Accountability in Research) and David Magnus (editor in chief of the American Journal of Bioethics).

Hastings Center Project Manager and Research Assistant Briana Lopez-Patino will present "Shared Identity & Its Role in Moral Injury" at the Flash Presentation Session: Diverse Identities. 

The RACE Affinity Group will present "Bioethics and Social Justice: A Survey of Attitudes Toward Social Justice Obligations in the Field of Bioethics" at the 26th Annual ASBH Conference. With Danielle M. Pacia, Research Associate at The Hastings Center, and colleagues Sana Baban, Faith Fletcher, Zamina Mithani Aziz, Jane Fallis Cooper, Sophie Schott, Savitri Fedson,...

Hastings Center senior research scholar Nancy Berlinger will moderate a panel entitled "Responding to People Facing Dementia: Improving Interprofessional Learning and Practice in Aging Societies." Speakers include: Mara Buchbinder; Emily Largent; and Matt Wynia.

The Hastings Center invites all attendees of the 26th Annual ASBH Conference to a reception to meet colleagues and peers.

Hastings Center research scholar Virginia Brown will present "Mental Health Crisis Plans and Psychiatric Advance Directives: Creating a Collaboratively Designed How-To Guide for Autonomous Decision Making" at the Flash Presentation Session: Psychiatric Ethics.

Authors will present their paper, "Kidney Transplant Candidates’ Information Needs for Informed Decision-Making about Participating in a First-in-Human Pig Xenotransplant Clinical Trial" at the 26th Annual ASBH Conference. Authors are E.J. Gordon, K.J. Maschke (of The Hastings Center), J. Gacki-Smith, M. Matthews, K. Traboulsi, D. Manning, and M.K. Gusmano.

Hastings Center Project Manager Research Assistant Ian Stevens will present "An Exploratory Review of the 'Treatment Resistant' Phenomenon in Neuropsychiatric Disorders as a Normative Criterion for Surgical Intervention" as part of the Neuroethics Affinity Group at the 26th annual ASBH conference. 

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will present "Bioethics: A Path Forward" for the annual Thomas P. Duffy Memorial Lecture in Medical Ethics, sponsored by the Program for Biomedical Ethics at the Yale School of Medicine  Reception: 4:30 – 5:30, Medical Historical Library Duffy Lecture: 5:30 – 7:00 PM, SHML Room 115 LOCATION: Harvey Cushing/John Hay...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will be a keynote speaker for the FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) Symposium. What are the ethical issues surrounding genetic modification? How do we define – and regulate – the line between benefit and harm?  In what ways do these possibilities force us to make...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will present a lecture entitled "Ethics at the Very Core of Research and Clinical Practice" at the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine Conference. See conference booklet.

In this webinar at the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky and colleagues argue that war is a public health crisis that bioethics has dealt with in too limited a manner. They propose several principles for addressing war as a public health crisis and suggest ways in which these principles can...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will participate in a roundtable discussion on Islamic medical tradition with Aasim Padela at the 10th International Bioethics, Multiculturalism, and Religion Workshop sponsored by the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights.

Caribbean basin countries are experiencing some of the most destabilizing impacts of climate change—entire villages destroyed, increases in diseases and other health harms. These countries contributed little to global climate change and yet they must build resilience to survive, much less flourish.  What are the tradeoffs of adapting to warmer environments versus abandoning low-lying locales?...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will present "Current and Emerging Prenatal Testing Technologies: Bioethical Implications" at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Centre for Bioethics' 10th Anniversary Celebration. Prenatal genetic testing technologies can provide individuals and families with valuable information about their potential prospective children. Such technologies, including pre-implantation genetic testing of in-vitro embryos and...

Hastings Center senior research scholar Erik Parens will be presenting a talk entitled "Binocular Vision: A Metaphor to Help Comprehend Persons" at McShain Large Lounge, in McCarthy Hall on Georgetown's Main Campus (the main gates at 37th and O Streets NW). Address is 1350 Tondorf Road NW

Hastings Center senior research scholar Nancy Berlinger will present “What Do We Have in Common?: Thinking Together About Good Lives for Older Adults and Caregivers in Ageing Societies” in Seminar II of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Centre for Bioethics’ 10th Anniversary Celebration. Population ageing—a rise in the average age of a population—results from the...

Informed Consent – When does use of AI constitute research with human subjects? Do researchers have duties to secure participant consent to the use of AI in a research protocol? Should informed consent address potential uses of AI in secondary research on the data collected? Join Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky in this panel on...

In celebration of International Women's Day, join Stem Cell Network for an inspiring virtual panel discussion featuring five trailblazing women (including Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky) who are shaping the future of regenerative medicine. This event will spotlight their groundbreaking contributions, unique journeys, and innovative visions for the field. Attendees will also have the opportunity...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will give an Ethics Grand Rounds lecture, "Polygenic Embryo Screening: Ethical Challenges," via Zoom for the The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Open to the public.

How do cultural values shape bioethical dilemmas?This talk will explore how Israel, as a Jewish-democratic state, has addressed several bioethical challenges through its policy-making, taking into account historical, cultural, and religious perspectives. Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will examine three key examples: fertility care, end-of-life decision-making, and posthumous reproduction, including the impact of the events...

This panel discussion will explore the purpose(s) of Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST); how to utilize this tool to facilitate optimal end-of-life care; and considerations specific to end-of-life decision-making in emergency situations. Speakers: Patricia Bomba, M.D., MACP, MOLST Statewide Implementation Program Chair, MOLST/eMOLST Program Director Virginia Brown, M.A., Ph.D., Research Scholar, The Hastings Center Maia Dorsett,...

Tom Beauchamp III, a towering figure in the field of bioethics, passed away on February 19th. Tom, a Hastings Center Fellow, was professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and a senior research scholar (retired) at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. The Celebration of Tom's Life will take place at Washington Hebrew Congregation (3935 Macomb St....

Please join us as we launch our new Strategic Plan 2025-2029. Join us for our Daniel Callahan Annual Lecture entitled "The Hastings Center Vision: A Path Forward for Bioethics," with Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky; Joshua Boger, founder and CEO (former) of Vertex Pharmaceuticals; and Gina Kolata, New York Times health and science reporter. Reception:...