Research Ethics & Ethical, Legal & Social Issues
December 1, 2025 | Noon - 1:15 pm | Online
The End of Animal Models for Preclinical Research?
Allyson Bennett, PhD, Professor of Psychology, College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Naomi Scheinerman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Bioethics, College of Medicine, OSU
Seth Weinberg, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering, Professor, Biomedical Engineering, OSU
As AI and computational modeling transform research, scientists are reexamining the role of animal models in scientific research and drug discovery. This discussion explores the ethical and practical implications of reducing animal testing in light of a recent federal push to do so. Panelists will consider the possibilities, limitations, and trade-offs of technological innovation in advancing humane and effective research.
Sponsored by the OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values’ CARE program with support from the OSUMC Center for Bioethics, and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute
^^^
December 4, 2025 | 1:00 - 2:30 pm | Online
Ethics in Reproductive Research
Lisa S. Parker, PhD, Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote Professor of Bioethics, University of Pittsburgh
This month’s EMBRACE Center seminar will discuss how values shape goals, questions, and methods in research, perhaps arcing toward reproductive justice.
Sponsored by the The EMBRACE Center of Excellence
^^^
January 29 – 30, 2026 | Courtyard Marriott Pittsburgh University Center, 100 Lytton Avenue
2nd Digital Health Summit
Spotlighting the role of AI in revolutionizing healthcare, the 2025 summit will discuss:
Digital Infrastructure and Inpatient Architecture – Exploring how AI-driven automation and predictive analytics are reshaping hospital operations and inpatient care.
Digital Governance and Law – Addressing the evolving legal landscape of AI, data privacy and ethical considerations in healthcare technology.
R&D Pitfalls in the Digital Landscape – Discussing common challenges in AI-driven research and development, from data biases to regulatory hurdles.
Hospital-at-Home Transformation – Examining how AI and remote monitoring are enabling acute-level care in patients’ homes.
The summit aims to bring together leading proponents of digital medicine in healthcare delivery and education. It will provide a platform for developing multispecialty grant proposals focused on patient-related outcomes and discussing AI-driven innovation in the digital health space.
Registration
For more information, email Marianna Stayer at stayerm@upmc.edu.
Sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Health Sciences and UPMC
^^^
February 12, 2026 | 8:00 – 9:00 am | Rangos Auditorium @ UPMC Children’s Hospital & online
The Ethical Use of Pediatric Patients’ Data in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Alyssa Burgart, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine and Associate Director of Pediatric Bioethics at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University
Abstract & Registration TBA
Pediatric Ethics Grand Rounds — Donald N. Medearis, Jr., MD, Lecture | Co-sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics and the Department of Pediatrics
^^^
March 5, 2026 | Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch St. Louis, Missouri
Research Integrity Scholars & Educators Pre-Conference Workshop on Mentoring (@ the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics - APPE)
Building and maintaining research integrity programs requires innovative and effective approaches to strengthening mentoring. Whether responding to NIH or NSF mandates to provide mentor training or partnering with institution-wide mentor training programs, it is essential to offer structured opportunities for faculty to learn about the importance of mentorship and develop mentoring skills for fostering stronger mentoring relationships. RCR professionals should be aware of best practices in effective mentorship and have toolkits that include, among other things, example mentoring agreements to help faculty and mentees set shared goals and expectations for these relationships, and develop a system that tracks and provides meaningful evaluation of how a mentoring program is functioning.
The 2026 APPE RISE Pre-Conference Workshop will focus on mentoring in research. Participants will learn about various successful mentoring program curricula, best practices, and tools for fostering effective mentoring relationships. The program will feature Invited sessions that demonstrate specific approaches to mentor education or share tools that might be helpful in mentor education. This year’s workshop will also feature a roundtable session, in which selected presenters will share information about a mentoring curriculum, tool, or strategy, followed by a discussion with all workshop attendees. The remainder of the workshop will be devoted to breakout sessions, where presenters will work with participants to develop and adapt ideas and tools for use in their institutions. Attendees will leave the workshop with a template of options to use in building and improving their mentoring program.
Additional information: RISE Pre-conference | Registration
Bioethics, Health Humanities, Health Policy & Clinical Ethics
December 2, 2025 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm | Online
Time to Rethink Brain Death: A Discussion with Experts
Lydia Dugdale, MD, Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine; Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, Columbia University Medical Center
Lauris C. Kaldjian, MD, PhD, Director of the Program in Bioethics and Humanities, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa
Barbra Rothschild, MD, Lecturer, Bioethics; Columbia University
Robert D. Truog, MD, Director Emeritus of the Center for Bioethics; Professor of Medical Ethics, Anaesthesia, & Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
In light of recent novel advances, the panel will discuss the determination of brain death including metaphysical and moral views about definitions of death.
Sponsored by the Columbia University, School of Professional Studies
^^^
December 2, 2025 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm | Online
Unrepresented: The Ethics of Caring for Patients Without Surrogates
Jaime Konerman-Sease, PhD, Clinical Ethics Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics
When patients can’t decide for themselves, we rely on surrogates to decide on their behalf. However, clinicians often face the challenge of caring for patients who have no available surrogates. How do we make decisions for patients when the patients’ values and goals are unknown? This talk explores the ethics of decision-making for patients who lack surrogate decision-makers or have decision-makers who are unfamiliar with the patients’ goals and values. Drawing on case studies and bioethics theories, this talk establishes the importance of avoiding paternalism, establishing thoughtful policies, and ensuring patients who lack decision-makers receive appropriate medical care.
Sponsored by University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics
^^^
January 20, 2026 | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Online
Spirituality and Religion in Serious Illness: Research and Clinical Practice
Alexia M. Torke MD, MS, Professor of Medicine and Division Head, General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Oregon Health and Sciences University
This lecture will describe the roles that spirituality and religion often play in the serious illness experience of patients and families. It will provide an overview of research including studies of religious and spiritual coping, the effects of religion on decision making and spiritual care intervention studies. Continuing medical education credit will be available.
Registration TBA
Co-sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics, Department of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies Program, and Palliative and Supportive Institute
^^^
January 22-23, 2026 | San Luis Resort, Galveston, Texas
10th Annual Reproductive Ethics Conference
Controversies and challenges of reproductive ethics arise from new technologies, political and ideological divisions, theology, and changing cultural norms. The goal of this conference is to explore the range of topics addressed in reproductive ethics. Members of all professional fields are invited.
Co-sponsored by the UTMB Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities, Baylor College of Medicine Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, and WellSpan Health
^^^
March 5 – 8, 2026 | Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch St. Louis, Missouri
What Do We Owe Each Other? — Association for Practical and Professional Ethics 35th Annual Conference
In today’s complex world, what are our ethical responsibilities to each other? How do these responsibilities shift in times of crisis and catastrophe, or across our professional or personal lives? How do we stand up for what’s right—when it matters most, and when it seems to matter least?
Additional information: APPE | APPE Conference | Registration
^^^
April 10, 2026 | Passavant Hospital Foundation Conference Center, 700 Cumberland Woods Drive, Allison Park, PA 15101, and online
How Language Shapes Medical Realities and Ethical Decisions — 33rd Annual Healthcare Ethics Conference
How we describe patients in chart notes, greet their family members, or talk about death—the ethical decisions patients and their surrogates make. Choice of words affects choice of options. Language can intensify or de-escalate conflict. ‘Hope’ means different things to different families, patients, and clinicians. So does ‘prevention’ or ‘quality of life’. Through talks and panel discussion among nationally recognized experts, this conference will explore how the language used to describe treatment goals and interventions shapes ethical decision making.
Continuing education in health professions and law will be available. Breakfast and lunch will be provided to in-person attendees.
Registration and program TBA
Hosted by the Institute for Bioethics with support from the Passavant Hospital Foundation, the Ira R. Messer Family Foundation, the School of Law, and UPMC Ethics
Sponsored by Pitt Research, this virtual exhibition demonstrates Pitt’s creativity and leadership in public communication of science and technology. With a Pitt Seed grant and science & technology studies scholar Hannah Starr Rogers, curator and science communication expert Elizabeth Pitts (Department of English) created the exhibit of ten artists/artist groups to inquire: What do we want from biotechnologies? Who is biotechnology for? Who decides?
In 2020, Pitt’s Center for Bioethics & Health Law mounted a virtual exhibition of work by Norman Klenicki. A self-taught artist and son of Auschwitz survivors, Klenicki uses his canvases to memorialize Holocaust victims and to channel the energy and emotions he experiences as a person with bipolar disorder. The exhibition is employed in history and Jewish studies courses, as well as the health humanities. With City of Asylum, the Center hosted events exploring connections between music and mental health, and between Klenicki’s visual art and the work of jazz musicians Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus. Historian and exhibit curator Bridget Keown (Gender, Sexuality , and Women’s Studies Program) leads a virtual gallery tour.
