
Please join us for the launch of the “Bioethics with Bigger Impact” event series on November 15th 2-3pm Eastern time to discuss “Communicating Ethical Challenges in Crises.” This first event in the series looks at bioethics communication especially regarding policy, institutions, and media–something many of us might be thinking about how to impact especially today, the day after a major midterm election in the United States.
Communicating Ethical Challenges in Crises
The need to answer ethical questions in public health is urgent for public trust. As the pandemic continues, as the impacts of racism grow more evident, and as the health implications of climate change devastate millions, bioethicists must step up. Join Tia Powell of Montefiore Health Systems and Travis Rieder of Johns Hopkins University, with moderator Keisha Ray of UT Health Houston, as they examine how to ensure “public bioethics” in public health guidance to policies and systems.
This event is free and open to all audiences. We look forward to a lively conversation among attendees from a wide range of backgrounds and interests. Please follow this link to register and also to receive information about the forthcoming events in the Bioethics with Bigger Impact series.
For those who cannot attend live, recordings of the talks will also be hosted on the PEWS YouTube Channel, with additional accessibility features including closed captioning.
The Bioethics with Bigger Impact Series
In a forthcoming symposium in the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, PEWS Faculty Affiliate Elizabeth Lanphier, along with a colleague and mentor Larry Churchill, co-edited a collection of essays asking how scholarly contributions of bioethics and bioethicists could be made more relevant to public policy, to health and technological innovation, and to the public at large. The symposium is particularly focused on how bioethics can be put to work on the most pressing issues of our time, including climate change, global pandemics like COVID-19, and the necessary ongoing work of anti-racism, all of which crucially impact health and equity.

Because of the focus on how bioethics can have a bigger impact, especially outside of academia, Lanphier and Churchill felt it was important to hold these conversations with broader audiences, creating opportunities for people with diverse backgrounds and interests to gather together, to listen, to ask, and to discuss.
Emerging from the symposium is the Bioethics with Bigger Impact series, in partnership with the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine and Johns Hopkins University Press, hosted by the Hastings Center, and cosponsored by the University of Cincinnati Center for Public Engagement with Science and the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy along with several bioethics centers from around the country. The series brings together symposium authors and additional experts doing cutting-edge work in bioethics to impact health and healthcare well beyond the academy.