skip to navigation : skip to content
Beyond Bioethics: Thinking about Ethics in Public Health

Beyond Bioethics

May 12, 2005
1:00-4:00pm
Hogness Auditorium (A420 Health Sciences)
Cost: Free
Refeshments will be served (please use Event Contact to RSVP)

Presentation, Handouts, Online Forum | About This Symposium | Plenary Lecturer: Jeffrey Kahn | Breakout Sessions | Event Contact/RSVP

Presentation, Handouts, Online Forum

Dr. Kahn's Powerpoint presentation is now available in PDF form.
View presentation (203KB) (Acrobat 6 or higher required to view)

You can also download a PDF of the session handout.
Download handout (142KB)

We have set up a Catalyst online forum for those who have participated in the symposium.

Back to top

About This Symposium

Ethics -- the study of “What is the right thing to do?” -- is at the heart of public health practice and research.

  • How do we balance individual vs. collective good?
  • How do we assure social and environmental justice?
  • How do we protect and advance human rights and dignity?
  • How are public health choices influenced by social hierarchy and political priorities?

This symposium will 1) explore the range of issues that comprise public health ethics; 2) use case-based examples to discuss these issues in small groups; and 3) provide a forum to help plan how ethical decision-making should be taught to current and future health sciences professionals.

Back to top

Plenary Speaker: Jeffrey Kahn

Jeffrey Kahn (Photo credit: Richard Anderson)Dr. Jeffrey Kahn will give the plenary lecture, "Beyond Bioethics: Thinking about Ethics in Public Health."

Dr. Kahn holds the Maas Family Endowed Chair in Bioethics, and is Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota, where he has been on the faculty since 1996. He is also Professor in the Department of Medicine, Medical School; Division of Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health; and in the Department of Philosophy.

From April 1994 to October 1995, while on the faculty of the Medical College of Wisconsin, he served as Associate Director of the White House Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. Dr. Kahn works in a variety of areas of bioethics, exploring the intersection of ethics and public health policy, including research ethics, ethics and biotechnology and the life sciences, and ethical issues in public health. His degrees are in microbiology (BA, UCLA, 1983); health policy (MPH, Johns Hopkins, 1988); and philosophy/bioethics (PhD, Georgetown, 1989). He publishes widely in both the medical and bioethics literature, serves on numerous state and federal advisory panels, and speaks nationally and internationally on a range of bioethics topics. From 1998 through 2002 he wrote the bi-weekly bioethics column “Ethics Matters” on CNN.com.

Back to top

Breakout Groups

There will be four breakout sessions that will meet following Dr. Kahn's talk. They will start after Dr. Kahn's talk at approximately 2:15pm. Locations and facilitators are listed below.

  1. Equity and Ethics in Community-Based Practice and Research: Whose Voices Count?
    H670 Health Sciences
    Clarence Spigner and Elanor Sidman
  2. Clinical Trials in Resource-poor Nations: The Case of AZT to Prevent Maternal-Infant Transmission
    T639 Health Sciences
    James Pfeiffer
  3. Environmental Injustice: The Case of Homer, Louisiana
    T474 Health Sciences
    Jason Allen and Isaac Mohar
  4. Assessing Disease Risks and Rates: Vested Interests, Public Fears, Scientific Careers, and the Published Literature
    F348 Health Sciences
    Gary Goldbaum

Back to top

Event Contact/RSVP

We would like to have a headcount of possible attendees in order to plan breakout rooms and provide refreshments for all. Please RSVP to Bridget Warbington at badw@u.washington.edu or (206) 616-0980 indicating which breakout session you are likely to attend. As well, if you have any questions about the event, you may contact Bridget.

Back to top