The page shares a few recent events and news items about the Center and its friends and stakeholders. To keep up-to-date on the Center's activities, subscribe to our RSS feed, visit the Indiana Bioethics blog, become our fan on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. For older news items about the Center, visit the News Archive.

Center Spotlight

Indiana University-Moi University Academic Research Ethics Partnership
The Indiana University Center for Bioethics has been awarded a $940,000 four-year grant from the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health to establish a new research ethics training partnership with colleagues at Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The Indiana University-Moi University Academic Research Ethics Partnership (IU-Moi AREP) is a curriculum development and training initiative that builds on longstanding partnerships and collaborations in East Africa. Read the press release or learn more about this program on the IU-Moi AREP page.

PredictER Event: Mark Stranger, Ph.D. - University of Tasmania
Mark Stranger, Ph.D., will be delivering a talk, "Genetics, Ethics and the Law Down Under: A Tasmanian Perspective", on Monday, November 10th from 3:00-4:00PM in the HITS Building, Suite 3100 [Flyer - PDF 74 KB]. Dr. Stranger, a sociologist with expertise in risk assessment, social change, biobanking and social research methodologies, is a Senior Research Fellow and Executive Director for the Centre for Law and Genetics at the University of Tasmania. He also manages the Centre's multidisciplinary and international Biotechnology, Ethics, Law and Society Network (BELS).

This event is being jointly convened by the Indiana University Center for Bioethics; IUPUI Consortium for Health Policy, Law and Bioethics; and the IUPUI Office of International Affairs. Find more ethics events on our calendar...

Aaron Carroll: Health Reform Debate
What do YOU know about health reform? Are you prepared for November 4th? Join the fray and form an opinion on October 29, 2008 at "Framing the Issues on the Left & Right: A Debate on Health Reform". ON THE LEFT is Aaron Carroll, MD, MS, IU Center for Bioethics and Professor of Pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine. ON THE RIGHT is David Hyman, JD, MD, Professor of Law and Medicine at the University of Illinois. The debate will run from 4:00-5:00 PM in the Inlow Hall Wynne Courtroom with a reception to follow in the Atrium. [Download flyer - PDF].

This event is being jointly convened by the Consortium for Health Policy, Law & Bioethics; the Hall Center for Law & Health; and the Health Law Society.

EuroBio 2008 - House of Commons Debates
On October 7, 2008 Eric Meslin, PhD, was one of the lead debaters discussing six hot topics relevant to the progress of Europe's biotechnology sector. The EuroBio House of Commons Debates are conducted with "all the pomp, deference and carnage of the British politics". EuroBio 2008 was billed as "THE Life Sciences Event of the European Union Presidency". The event was held at the Palais des Congrès conference centre in Paris, France.

The Ethics of Xenotransplantation: Jennifer Girod, Poynter Center's Health Care Ethics Seminars - September 25, 2008
Recent scientific advances have made solid organ xenotransplantation (the transplantation of an animal organ into a human being) seem achievable in the next five years. In this seminar Jennifer Girod, J.D., Ph.D., a faculty investigator of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics and an associate with Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP, explored the ethical issues involved with this practice, and proposed a model for how to decide who should be included in early clinical trials. She argued that early clinical trials with a genetically engineered pig liver as a bridge-to-transplant makes sense both from the perspective of risks and benefits to third parties, and for the balancing of core values in relation to the individual research participants.

To see the schedule of future Health Care Ethics Seminars, visit the website of the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions (Indiana University, Bloomington).

The 2008 Summit of the States
The Indiana University Center for Bioethics, Indiana State Department of Health and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials recently convened a two-day national event addressing the ethical issues of preparing for an influenza pandemic. State health officers and other senior public health officials from thirty-five U.S. states and territories convened in Indianapolis on July 14-15 to identify key ethical challenges in pandemic influenza planning, share best practices and propose solutions. To read more about the Summit, visit IUCB's Pandemic Influenza Portal.

Confronting the Ethics of Pandemic Influenza: The 2008 Summit of the States
The Indiana State Department of Health, the Indiana University Center for Bioethics and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) will convene a national summit on the ethical and policy issues of preparing for an influenza pandemic. "Confronting the Ethics of Pandemic Influenza Planning: The 2008 Summit of the States" (July 14 - 15) will include key government, public health, policy, law, and ethics leaders. Commenting on the purpose and value of the event, Eric Meslin, Director of the Center for Bioethics, observed: "We know that there are several key issues that all states must address in one way or another - from how to distribute potentially scarce medical supplies to priority decisions about availability of equipment, intensive care beds and methods to slow the spread of disease - that should be identified and addressed before an adverse event would limit the time available to make ethical decisions .... This summit is designed to help state officials identify these issues and determine how best to tackle them. We hope that by meeting together, these leaders will learn from one another and develop joint strategies" (Press Release, 2 July 2008).

Eric M. Meslin Awarded the Chevalier
On April 23, 2008 IUCB Director, Eric M. Meslin, Ph.D. was awarded the Chevalier de l‘Ordre National du Mérite [Knight of the National Order of Merit] by the French Government. The insignia was presented at the French Embassy in Washington D.C. by the French Ambassador to the United States, Pierre Vimont (see photo). The Chevalier is an Order of Chivalry by the President of French Republic, founded on December 3, 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle and is given for distinguished civil and military achievements. Dr. Meslin was made a Chevalier for his contributions to bioethics policy in France over the past 10 years.

Secretary-General of the WMA speaks at the IU Center for Bioethics - February 26, 2008
In an event hosted by the Center, Dr. Kloiber (right) addressed a number of critical ethical and policy issues in international health and health research, including the next revisions to the Declaration of Helsinki. Prior to speaking to a full auditorium, Dr. Kloiber spoke informally with Eric Meslin (left) and other Center for Bioethics faculty and affiliates.

Margaret Gaffney Nominated for Ethics Award.
The Center congratulates Margaret Gaffney, MD, who was among the nominees named by students at the Indiana University School of Medicine for the 2008 AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award. This honor recognizes faculty members who embody "the importance of humanistic qualities and the enhancement of the interactions between medical school students and faculty .... Read more at Indiana Bioethics.