Public Bioethics Events

Join us and our partners at these special community events.

Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics regularly sponsors and co-hosts public events on timely topics in bioethics, with the goal of advancing understanding and collaboration on some of society’s most pressing ethical issues. These forums provide an opportunity for educators, students, faculty, clinicians, and global stakeholders to provide input, convene in conversation, and develop partnerships that advance the common good.

Community Events and Public Forums

  • Celebrating 300 Years of Innovation and Beyond: How van Leeuwenhoek’s Discovery of the Microworld Sparked a Medical Revolution

    Wednesday, October 4 from 11:30 - 2:30 p.m. ET
    No Recording

    2023 marks the 300th anniversary of the passing of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology." Using single-lensed microscopes of his own design and make, van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and to experiment with microbes. Join us as we celebrate the life and work of van Leeuwenhoek, discuss challenges facing microbiology and antimicrobial resistance in the modern day, and explore the future of Life Science programming at both museums.

    Dr. Insoo Hyun will host a luncheon and panel discussion in collaboration with Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, the national museum for science and medicine in the Netherlands. This interactive event will serve as further proof-of-concept of what the Museum of Science’s Center for Life Sciences can achieve in collaboration with the community around us, and with our strong international partnerships.

  • The Battle for Your Brain: A Conversation with Professor Nita Farahany About Her New Book and Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology

    Monday, April 24, 2023
    Recording Available

    Watch the recording on our YouTube channel.

    A new dawn of brain tracking and hacking is coming. Will you be prepared for what comes next? Imagine a world where your brain can be interrogated to learn your political beliefs, your thoughts can be used as evidence of a crime, and your own feelings can be held against you. A world where people who suffer from epilepsy receive alerts moments before a seizure, and the average person can peer into their own mind to eliminate painful memories or cure addictions. Neuroscience has already made all of this possible today, and neurotechnology will soon become the “universal controller” for all of our interactions with technology. This can benefit humanity immensely, but without safeguards, it can seriously threaten our fundamental human rights to privacy, freedom of thought, and self-determination.

    From one of the world’s foremost experts on the ethics of neuroscience, The Battle for Your Brain offers a path forward to navigate the complex legal and ethical dilemmas that will fundamentally impact our freedom to understand, shape, and define ourselves. In this event, author and Duke Law Professor Nita A. Farahany will discuss her new book in conversation with Harvard Medical School and Harvard Law School faculty member Dr. Francis X. Shen.

  • The Neuroscience of Capital Punishment: Using Neuroscientific Evidence in the Creation of a Severe Mental Illness Exemption from the Death Penalty

    Friday, March 3, 2023
    Recording Available

    This event was co-hosted by the Harvard Neuroethics Hub and Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. Watch the recording on our YouTube channel.

    At present, the US Supreme Court has no categorical exemption from the death penalty for the severely mentally ill. Many have argued in favor of creating one, given that such defendants arguably suffer from at least the same degree of impaired adaptive functioning and understanding of the law as intellectually disabled or juvenile defendants – who are exempted for these very reasons. Yet existing protections for the severely mentally ill in the form of competency tests and the extremely narrow insanity defense are insufficient due to the stigma and misconceptions of mental illnesses impacting juries and legislators alike. 

    Recently, there have been renewed attempts to pass bills creating such an exemption in some states that retain use of the death penalty. This has met with varying -- mostly limited -- degrees of success. And while there has been significant in-principle support in the academic community, the legal literature often glosses over potential problems that might arise from its actual implementation – in particular, with regards to evidence admitted in support of such claims and the roles of neuroscience and forensic psychiatry. 

    This event invited three panelists with expertise in the relevant fields of law, psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience to weigh in on interdisciplinary questions that may prove key to the success of reforms in the area. These include the potential of neuroscientific evidence in aiding in the definition of the types and severity of conditions covered by such an exemption during legislation and its application at trial, its interaction with expert testimony and evidentiary issues, and the broader implications of its use on risk assessment and crime control.

    Presenters:

    Judge Nancy Gertner, JD, MA
    Senior Lecturer of Law, Harvard Law School
    Managing Director, MGH Center for Law, Brain and Behavior
    Former Federal Judge

    Judith G. Edersheim, JD, MD
    Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, HMS
    Attending Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, MGH
    Co-Founder and Co-Director, MGH Center for Law, Brain and Behavior

    Arielle Baskin-Sommers, PhD
    Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychology, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University

  • Therapeutic Misconception in Clinical Research: What Is It and Why Should We Care?

    February 9, 2023
    No Recording

    This lecture defined the concept of therapeutic misconception in clinical research, reviewed the empirical data regarding its prevalence, and analyzed whether and when it threatens the validity of informed consent.

    Speaker:

    Steven Joffe, MD, MPH
    Art and Ilene Penn Professor
    Chair, Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy
    Professor of Pediatrics
    University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

    Moderators:

    Melissa E. Abraham, PhD
    Assistant Professor of Psychology, Massachusetts General Hospital
    Course Instructor in Medical Ethics, Harvard Medical School

    Rebecca Li, PhD
    Board Member and Executive Director, Vivli

  • "N of 1” Documentary Screening and Director Q&A

    January 12, 2023
    No Recording

    "Sometimes, in medicine, innovation can come from unexpected sources. N of 1 follows a striking mix of characters on an international journey to save the life of Kayte, a 26-year-old from Alabama, whose doctors had run out of options for treating her rare, highly lethal liver cancer. Via a Facebook group for the few people in the world sharing her diagnosis, Kayte connects with Howard, a Canadian electronics businessman with no medical training, who has doubled in his spare time as a patient advocate, often scouring medical journals to understand cancer better to help patients like her. Howard recruits for Kayte a pioneering immunologist from Israel and renowned transplant surgeon from England to travel to India, where Kayte will undergo a first-of-its-kind procedure to save her life, and possibly dramatically advance traditional cancer treatment as we know it. This experimental treatment, a partial bone marrow transplant followed by a live liver transplant, may have pushed the regulatory boundaries of evidence-based medicine. But when you’re an N of 1 — a singular patient, dying from a very rare and little researched disease — in the words of Kayte, to get to a cure, 'someone has to be the first to say 'I'll try it." Watch the trailer here.

    Q&A Panelists:

    Bernard Friedman
    Director and Producer, "N of 1" (2019)
    Founder and Creative Director, Flying Mind Production Company

    Ephraim Fuchs, MD
    Professor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

    Barbara Bierer, MD
    Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
    Faculty Director, Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center
    Director, Regulatory Foundations, Ethics and Law Program, Harvard Catalyst

    Moderator:

    Robert D. Truog, MD, MA
    Director, Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics
    Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Legal Medicine
    Professor of Anaesthesia (Pediatrics), Harvard Medical School

  • Criminalizing the Emergency Room

    March 24, 2022
    Recording Available

    Watch the recording on our YouTube channel.

    For the poor, mentally ill, uninsured, homeless, and racial minorities, emergency rooms play a crucial "safety net" function. Yet even though the ER receives people at particularly vulnerable moments, courts do not sufficiently protect patients who come under law enforcement scrutiny. In this talk, Professor Song described how courts have viewed policing in the emergency room as an extension of street policing. In doing so, courts ignore the medical vulnerability of patients and undervalue medical professionals' duties to patients. As a result, a space where medical professionals are tasked to heal injured and sick people has become a site for policing and surveillance. This session was part of the Contemporary Issues in Health, Law, and Bioethics series hosted by Michele Bratcher Goodwin, SJD, LLM. Support provided by the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.

    Guest Speaker:
    Host:
    • Michele Bratcher Goodwin, SJD, LLM
      Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine Founding Director, Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, University of California, Irvine School of Law
  • Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice: The Supreme Court and Beyond

    March 10, 2022
    Recording Available

    A conversation about the Supreme Court's blockbuster abortion decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, and what comes next if Roe v. Wade is reversed—legally, medically, and politically. This session was part of the Contemporary Issues in Health, Law, and Bioethics series hosted by Michele Bratcher Goodwin, SJD, LLM. Support provided by the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.

    Watch the event recording on our YouTube channel here.

    Guest Speaker:
    • Mary Ziegler, JD
      Daniel P.S. Paul Visiting Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School
    Host:
    • Michele Bratcher Goodwin, SJD, LLM
      Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine Founding Director, Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, University of California, Irvine School of Law
  • Ethical and Workforce Considerations in Abortion Care Provision

    February 24, 2022
    Recording Available

    This session provided an overview of the ethical and workforce considerations that impact and influence abortion care provision. Conscientious provision and objection of abortion were discussed in addition to ambivalence and uncertainty with a specific focus on health service providers. This session was part of the Contemporary Issues in Health, Law, and Bioethics series hosted by Michele Bratcher Goodwin, SJD, LLM. Support provided by the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.

    Watch the event recording on our YouTube channel here.

    Guest Speaker:
    • Monica McLemore, PhD, RN, FAAN
      Associate Professor, Family Health Care Nursing Department, University of California, San Francisco
      Clinician-Scientist, Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health
      Member, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health
    Host:
    • Michele Bratcher Goodwin, SJD, LLM
      Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine Founding Director, Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, University of California, Irvine School of Law
  • Recent Progress in iPS Cell Research and Application with Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD

    June 9, 2021
    No Recording

    Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka presented "Recent Progress in iPS Cell Research and Application" on June 9, 2021. This forum launched Harvard's Annual Bioethics Conference (ABC). The annual conference included access to this forum and two additional days of programming. Support provided by the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University. Please note, there is no video recording of this event available.

    In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka discovered that adult somatic cells can be reprogrammed into an embryonic-like pluripotent state by delivering transcription factors. These reprogrammed cells, known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, have the potential to develop into every cell type in the body and are invaluable tools for disease modeling, drug screening, and cell therapy. iPS cells also provide an unprecedented opportunity for discovery in life science, and in Yamanaka’s lab today, researchers continue to use them to investigate the mechanisms for cell fate determination, the reprogramming process, and pluripotency. Yamanaka is the 2012 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

    Guest Speaker:
  • Changing the Record: How Bioethics Ought to Address Racism and Bias in Health Care and Beyond

    December 3, 2020
    Recording Available

    Yolonda Yvette Wilson, PhD is a 2019-2020 fellow at the National Humanities Center and a 2019-2020 Encore Public Voices fellow. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include bioethics, social and political philosophy, race theory, and feminist philosophy. She is broadly interested in the nature and limits of the state's obligations to rectify historic and continuing injustice, particularly in the realm of health care, and is developing an account of justice that articulates specific requirements for racial justice in health care at the end of life.

    Watch the event recording on our YouTube channel here.

    Guest Speaker:
  • Ethical Dilemmas in Mask and Equipment Shortages: Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    April 22, 2020
    Recording Available

    Personal protective equipment or PPE has been a major topic of discussion across the nation. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed major shortages of PPE and health care workers are being asked to take care of patients with what some would argue is inadequate protection. The guidelines set by the CDC have changed and recommendations have even gone so far as to approve bandannas as a means for respiratory protection. Some have argued that it is unethical for health care workers to not have adequate protection, while others think it's their duty, protected or not. Adding to this debate has been theft, hoarding and disparate distribution of these critical supplies. Panelists explored the ethics of PPE in the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Watch the event recording on Petrie-Flom Center's YouTube channel here.

    Panelists:
    Moderator:
  • Making Bioethics More Inclusive

    September 10, 2020
    No Recording

    Justice is a foundational tenant in bioethics, yet the field of bioethics has not prioritized addressing structural racism and systemic inequalities deeply rooted in our system. The Center for Bioethics needs to lead the field in this movement toward equity in every aspect of human difference. Now is a crucial time for our community to direct our focus in affirming and building an anti-racist culture in our student and faculty recruiting, clinical care and consults, and in our research. This panel event—the first in a series of explorations—informed how the field of bioethics and the Center can better support anti-racism and health inequalities work and nurture diversity, and create practices of inclusion in the places we study, work, and teach in. Panelists shared their experiences and lead discussion about the work to be done at the Center and how our community can create a more just path forward. Please note, there is no video recording of this event available.

    Panelists:
    • LaShyra "Lash" Nolen, BS, HMS '23
    • Matthew Riley III, MBE '19, MDiv
    • Keona Wynne, MBE '20
    Moderator: