Research Ethics & Ethical, Legal & Social Issues

March 4, 2027 | In-person at Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown (600 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222)

Research Integrity Scholars and Educators (RISE) 2026 Symposium

In advance of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics conference, RISE will meet with the theme of ethical “engagement’ in research. Proposals for presentations as part of the symposium are due October 5.

Information regarding submissions

Supported, in part, by the University of Pittsburgh Research, Ethics and Society Initiative.

November 10, 2026 | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Online

Human Clinicians and Chaplains in the Age of AI

Rev. Gaea Thompson, Manager, Pastoral Care Department, UPMC Presbyterian

Jonathan Weinkle, MD, FAAP, FACP, Chief Medical Officer, Squirrel Hill Health Center/Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Pittsburgh.

Mary Moon, MD candidate, University of Pittsburgh (Moderator)

Details and registration information forthcoming; Continuing Medical Education and Outside the Classroom Curriculum credit available

Registration

Sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics, Department of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies Program, and Palliative and Supportive Institute

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November 12 - 14, 2026 | In-person in the Baron-Forness Library at PennWest University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania

The Problem of Health Misinformation and the Role of Bioethics

2nd Biennial Conference on Global Bioethics

Health misinformation, pseudoscience, and the rapidly changing information environment present increasingly urgent challenges for healthcare, public health, and bioethics. This year’s conference will bring together scholars, students, healthcare professionals, and others interested in exploring these challenges from interdisciplinary and global perspectives. Anticipated topics include: topics such as health pseudoscience and anti-science movements; the boundaries between science and pseudoscience; social media and AI in the creation, amplification, and mitigation of health misinformation; biopolitics; the social, psychological, cultural, and political dimensions of pseudoscience; infodemics and global health; and the ethical responsibilities of bioethics in responding to misinformation.

Confirmed speakers include:

Cornelius Ewuoso, PhD, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Federico Germani, PhD, Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland, and the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Boğaziçi University, Türkiye

Lisa Miller, PhD, Columbia University, and Co author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain

Dr. Giovanni Spitale, PhD, Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine (IBME), University of Zurich

J. Camille Dempsey, PhD, Director of the PennWest Center for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies

Gerard Magill, PhD, Duquesne University

Conference website

Sponsored by Duquesne University’s Center for Global Health Ethics and PennWest University’s James F. Drane Bioethics Institute

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November 13, 2026 | Noon - 1:00 pm | Online

Genetic Surveillance and the Criminalization of Immigration: Implications for Policing the General Population

Stevie Glaberson, JD, LLM, Director of Research & Advocacy, Center on Privacy & Technology; Adjunct Professor of Law; Georgetown University

Medha Makhlouf, JD, Elsie de R. and Samuel P. Orlando Distinguished Professor, Penn State Dickinson Law

Christi Guerrini, JD, MPH, Associate Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine

DNA testing has long been used by US immigration agencies to verify family relationships, and as we discussed in the July, 2026 ELSI Friday Forum, genetic tests are also being used to reunify families in humanitarian crises. In the last few years, however, the collection, testing and uses of DNA in the immigration context has been expanded exponentially in the US, and has been estimated to include DNA from approximately 2,000 US citizens.. This genetic information is now deposited in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database, which was originally established to solve violent crimes. The Privacy Center at the Georgetown Law School determined that, as of December, 2025, the number of these samples indexed in CODIS exceeded 3.3 million. This ELSI Friday Forum will lay out the current state of DNA testing of immigrant communities in the US, and the ethical, legal, and social implications of the government’s expanded genetic surveillance capabilities for immigrants and citizens alike.

Registration

ELSI Friday Forum is supported by NHGRI

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November 16, 2026 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm | HSLS Gallery, Falk Library, Scaife Hall

Art All Night: Artistic Expression of Bipolar Disorder — Opening and Reception

All are welcome to join this official opening of an exhibit of the work of self-taught New York artist Norman Klenicki. The artist will join for this opening reception, as well as for the November 17 concert celebrating his work and exploring its themes (see below). For many years, Klenicki has used his artwork to express his experience of emotional distress, eventually diagnosed as bipolar disorder, and his treatment odyssey. Producing his art, often all night, has soothed his symptoms and resulted in a striking body of work that prompts discussion of mental illness, its causes, and its treatment. Joining Klenicki for this opening will be the show’s curator, historian Bridget Keown. The exhibit will be on display through mid-February 2027.

Reception registration requested | Contact for additional information: PittResearchEthics@pitt.edu

Presentation of this exhibit is funded by the University of Pittsburgh Bioethics and Health Humanities Fund with co-sponsorship provided by the Pitt Research Arts Integration Initiative; the Research, Ethics & Society Initiative of Pitt Research; the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences Programs in Bioethics, Jewish Studies, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies; and the History of Health Sciences Collection of the Pitt Health Sciences Library System.

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November 17, 2026| 7:00 - 8:30 pm | The Chapel @ Chatham University, 1103 Woodland Rd, Pittsburgh, PA

Suppression and Expression: A Concert Exploring Art, Mental Health, and Intergenerational Trauma

This concert by the REgenerate Music Project presents pieces resonating with the artwork of Norman Klenicki, a self-taught artist and son of Holocaust survivors. Klenicki uses his visual art to express and address the symptoms of his bipolar disorder triggered by his witnessing the legacy of his parents’ experience. Klenicki’s work is exhibited this fall in the University of Pittsburgh Falk Library gallery space (in Scaife Hall accessed from the Mezzanine, entering at Terrace and Lothrop Streets).

This concert celebrates the opening of that exhibit and the role of music and visual art in expressing and addressing the mental health challenges of intergenerational trauma. The REgenerate Music Project performs music of composers labeled “degenerate artists” and suppressed by the Nazis in 20th-century Germany. The string quartet, comprising musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, seeks to keep those composers’ music alive and to honor their lives.

The concert and parking are free. | Registration requested | Contact for additional information: PittResearchEthics@pitt.edu

Primary sponsors: Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Bioethics and Health Humanities Program/Fund

Co-sponsors: Chatham University; Pitt Research Arts Integration Initiative; University of Pittsburgh Departments of History, History of Art & Architecture, and Religious Studies; University of Pittsburgh Programs in Bioethics and Jewish Studies; CMU Department of History

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December 8, 2026 | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Online

'What Makes a Good Physician' in a Medieval Arabic Text

Sami Saher Ahmad, MD/PhD candidate and co-president of the Good Doctor student group, University of Pittsburgh  

Details and registration information forthcoming; Continuing Medical Education and Outside the Classroom Curriculum credit available

Sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics, Department of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies Program, and Palliative and Supportive Institute

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January 12, 2027 | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Online

The Neglected Soul: Ancient Monastic Teachings on Depression for the Modern World

Daniel Ibraheem, MD candidate, Yale University School of Medicine

Andreh Labib, DO candidate, Duquesne University College of Osteopathic Medicine   

Details and registration information forthcoming; Continuing Medical Education and Outside the Classroom Curriculum credit available

Sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics, Department of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies Program, and Palliative and Supportive Institute

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February 9, 2027 | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Online

Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care

Warren Kinghorn, MD, ThD, Esther Colliflower Professor of the Practice of Pastoral and Moral Theology; Co-Director, Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative; Professor of Psychiatry; Duke University Medical Center 

Details and registration information forthcoming; Continuing Medical Education and Outside the Classroom Curriculum credit available

Sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics, Department of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies Program, and Palliative and Supportive Institute

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March 4 - 7, 2027 | In-person at Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown (600 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222)

36th Annual Conference of the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics

This APPE conference invites participants from all fields of applied, practical, and professional ethics. Session formats include plenary keynote talks, paper presentations, panels, case study discussions, pedagogical demonstrations, and author meets critics sessions. This year’s theme, Examining Ethics and Power, invites critical reflection on the ethical dimensions of power across professional, institutional, and global contexts. We encourage proposals that explore how power dynamics shape ethical decision‑making; how power manifests in professional practices; how institutions perpetuate or prevent harm; and how ethical frameworks can clarify what is at stake as well as expose, challenge, and transform unjust power relations.

The deadline for submissions is October 26. The call for proposals is here. Monetary prizes are offered for the best paper by an early career scholar, graduate student, and undergraduate.

Registration

Several conference events are co-sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Research, Ethics, and Society Initiative and by the Master of Arts Program in Bioethics.

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March 9, 2027 | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Online

Applications of Naikan Self-Reflection to Mental Health Care

Trevor Staab, BS, University of Pittsburgh 

Details and registration information forthcoming; Continuing Medical Education and Outside the Classroom Curriculum credit available

Sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics, Department of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies Program, and Palliative and Supportive Institute

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April 9, 2027 | 8:00 am - 3:45 pm (tentative) | Passavant Hospital Foundation Conference Center, 700 Cumberland Woods Drive, Allison Park, PA 15101, and online

Pastoral Care and Ethics Conference

Details about this free conference are forthcoming; Continuing Medical Education credit will be available; the interactive conference will feature free parking, meals, and local and national speakers.

Sponsored by Spiritual Care Services UPMC Health Services Division, University of Pittsburgh Master of Arts Program in Bioethics, and Passavant Hospital Foundation

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April 11 - 13, 2027 | DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago - Magnificent Mile | Chicago, Illinois

Religion, Capital, and the Struggles of Moral Formation in Healthcare — 2027 Conference on Medicine and Religion

Greed and profit increasingly constitute reigning ways of being and valuing in US healthcare. Within the flows and structures of capital in the US, immoderate financial self-interest too often prevails in every sector. From pharmaceutical marketing and pricing to the profit incentives of insurers and hospitals, research bias, and the overuse of tests and treatments, mammon—the worship of wealth—is pervasive. In ways big and small, it is undermining healthcare’s ancient covenants and oaths, its sense of mystery and ‘holy’ awe, and the dignity of the other. Has capitalism become ‘the religion of modernity’ in healthcare, instituting its own rituals and myths, practices and formations, and discourses of truth? Does the pervasiveness of its ‘rationality’ in healthcare constitute an injustice? What has it meant for the moral formations and deformations of clinicians and trainees? Indeed, how does one struggle to be a ‘good’ healthcare professional, to do right, and to flourish within the hidden curricula of this rationality, or more broadly? What wisdom and distinctive ways of being, seeing, speaking, and accompanying do the communities, institutions, discourses, and practices of the world’s religions offer? Or have they too become co-opted by the same commodifying forces in society? 
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The 2027 Conference on Medicine and Religion invites clinicians, scholars, clergy, students and others to take up these and other questions at the intersection of medicine and religion. Ir encourages participants to address these questions and issues in light of religious traditions and practices, particularly, though not exclusively, those of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The conference is a forum for exchanging ideas from various disciplinary perspectives, from accounts of clinical practices to empirical research to scholarship in the humanities.​

Conference webpage

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April 13, 2027 | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Online

Let’s Talk About It: Social Work, Chaplaincy, and Bioethics in Dialogue 

Panel members TBA 

Details and registration information forthcoming; Continuing Medical Education and Outside the Classroom Curriculum credit available

Sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics, Department of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies Program, and Palliative and Supportive Institute

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May 13, 2027 | Time TBD | Venue TBD

34th Annual Healthcare Ethics Conference

Details and registration information are forthcoming.

Sponsored by the Institute for Bioethics