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Program for Biomedical Ethics

About Us

The Program for Biomedical Ethics at Yale School of Medicine provides multidisciplinary leadership regarding the ethical and social aspects of health care and medical research.

Our interdisciplinary team draws upon philosophy, law and social and behavioral sciences to provide expert biomedical ethics consultations for families, researchers, physicians and other health care providers. Additionally, the Program for Biomedical Ethics develops and presents various ethics-related educational programs throughout the academic year for medical, nursing and physician assistant students, the community, Yale faculty as well as local, regional and national health care professionals.

Mark Mercurio, MD, MA, is the Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics. The Associate Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics is John Hughes, MD.

Goals for the Program for Biomedical Ethics

  • Support a community of faculty and students interested in biomedical ethics at Yale School of Medicine.
  • Coordinate medical and physician assistant student educational activities related to medical ethics, including support and guidance for students who choose bioethics as a topic for their thesis or participation in the MHS program.
  • Serve as a resource and assist in the coordination of activities related to medical ethics for the Office of Clinical Affairs.
  • Serve as a resource and assist in the coordination of activities related to medical ethics for research, graduate school and post-graduate education programs.

Events & Programs

The Program for Biomedical Ethics develops and presents various ethics-related educational programs throughout the academic year for medical, nursing and physician assistant students, the community, Yale faculty as well as local, regional and national health care professionals.

Do Religion and Spirituality Have Roles in Medicine Today talk with Dr. Robert Klitzman, April 2, 2019

Do Religion and Spirituality Have Roles in Medicine Today talk with Dr. Robert Klitzman, April 2, 2019

Do Religion and Spirituality Have Roles in Medicine Today talk with Dr. Robert Klitzman, April 2, 2019

History, Ethics and Current IssuesRelated to Involuntary Sterilization of the Disabled, June 7, 2017

Panel for the Program for Biomedical Ethics talk on June 7, 2017: “History, Ethics and Current Issues Related to Involuntary Sterilization of the Disabled”
From left: Andre Sofair, MD, MPH Associate Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology; Mark Siegel, MD Professor of Medicine; Co-Chair, Ethics Committee, Yale-New Haven Hospital; Program Director, Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program; Katherine L. Kraschel, JD, Executive Director, Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy; Mark R. Mercurio, MD, MA Professor of Pediatrics; Chief, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine; Director, Program for Biomedical Ethics; Director, Yale Pediatrics Ethics Program, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital; Adam Hittelman, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Urology and Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing; Associate Residency Director
Photo by Harold Shapiro

Neonatology Symposium at The Yale Club, New York, December 5, 2014

December 5, 2014

Alan R. Fleischman presents his talk: Ethical Concern in Neonatal Comparative Effectiveness Research - The Controversy Surrounding the SUPPORT Trial

Past Biomedical Ethics Events

The Center Can't Hold: Ethical Dimensions of My Journey Through Madness, October 25, 2017

THE PROGRAM FOR BIOMEDICAL ETHICS STAFF ON OCTOBER 27, 2017: “The center cannot hold: ethical dimensions pf my journey thorugh madness”

From left: Jack John S. Hughes, MD, Professor of Medicine (General Medicine); Associate Director, Program for Biomedical Ethics, Yale School of Medicine ; Associate Professor Term; Associate Director, Program for Biomedical Ethics; Co-Director, Yale Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion ; Elyn R. Saks, JD, PhD , Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California Gould School of Law; Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicines; Director, Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics; and Mark R. Mercurio, MD, MA Professor of Pediatrics; Chief, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine; Director, Program for Biomedical Ethics; Director, Yale Pediatrics Ethics Program, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital