News


Nicole Felix-Tovar, a 4+1 Bioethics dual degree student, was the student speaker at Emory University's 2023 Commencement ceremony. “Let yourself be yourself and know that you have intrinsic worth and value outside of any accomplishment or external form of validation,” she says to her fellow graduates. “Try your very hardest to release any self-doubt you may have in your capabilities and let go of any ideas of what perfect might be.”

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Katherine Riedel, an MA in Bioethics student, was mentioned in Dean Arriola's 2023 Commencement remarks for her outstanding work on her thesis. "Her thesis focused on the 'The Harm of Media in Pediatric Intensive Care Conflicts,' and it included strategies to mitigate pediatric intensive care unit conflict without the need for media attention in order to put a sick child's human rights of dignity, privacy and their future welfare first," said Dean Arriola. "The future looks brighter with Katherine looking out for our children's wellbeing."

Watch the full commencement remarks here

Congratulations to Gerard Vong, Joanna Young and Joel Zivot on their recent awards at the Laney Graduate School Dean's Address and Inaugural Awards Reception. The MAB Program awards were: Gerard Vong, PhD, Outstanding Program Director Award; Joanna Young, Outstanding Program Administrator Award; Joel Zivot, MD, Distinguished Alumni Award.

Laney Graduate School Inaugural Awards Reception

Congratulations to our very own Jennifer Jin. As a current MA in bioethics student, Jennifer is helping to advance the understanding of preserving medical decision making for those with a diminished capacity. Jennifer will be giving a presentation at the International Neuroethics Society Annual Meeting and joining others to help advance issues of social justice in neuroethics.

As an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Michele Sumler has been balancing being a MA in Bioethics student and frontline clinician caring for patients since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has she been active in clinical care, but she has also been active in COVID-19 training of operating room staff (including nurses, anesthesiologists, surgeons, and techs) to safely care for patients and mitigate infection risks. She's co-authored a paper on such interdisciplinary training for the Annals of Internal Surgery.

We continue to be proud of the work our students and alumni are doing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bryan Medilien, a 4+1 Bioethics dual degree student, has been working as a Program Assistant at Core Response. In this role, he has been administering free COVID-19 testing for underserved populations in Fulton County, GA and provides translation services for Spanish and French patients.

Not only has Anna Zimmer, a MD/MA dual degree student, been a volunteer COVID-19 vaccinator for Fulton County, she is also first author on a paper in the official journal of the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, 'Brain, Behavior and Immunity'. This paper addresses the need for the investigation of possible neuropsychiatric sequelae of maternal COVID-19 infection on offspring.

We get so excited to hear our students and alumni talking about their work. Emily Michels, Ethics/Communications Officer at Electronic Environments and Bioethics MA alumna co-authored a paper in the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics. This paper addresses the payment types and amounts for risky human subject work in biomedical and sociobehavioral human research studies.

View Emily's Article

As an Associate Professor of Dermatopathology and alumnus of the Bioethics MA program, Ben Stoff has been giving grand rounds lectures on resource allocation to his department, as well as those at UT-Southwestern Dermatology, the Atlanta Association for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, and the International Fellowship of Rotarian Doctors.

Congratulations to Diana Cagliero, one of our MA in Bioethics alumnae, for her recent article “Ethical Implications of Cultural Barriers to the Depression Diagnosis: Conversations with Primary Care Physicians” published in the Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology.

View Diana's article

Congratulations to Cristina Velozzi-Averhoff, one of our MA in Bioethics alumna, on joining the Global Health Distinctions Program at Emory University as a Resident.

Emory professor and MA in Bioethics student Rosemarie Garland-Thomson presented at the Disability and the Future: Conserving and Promoting Human Diversity event. She was joined by disability activists, scholars, and bioethicists from across America.

Congratulations to Grace Mattimore, one of our MA in Bioethics students, on her new position as the nurse ethicist for the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta System.

Bioethics student, Samera Ahmad, won best paper of the session at the Eye Bank Association of America Annual Meeting on June 8th. Her presentation was titled 'Ethics in Eye Banking: Understanding Attitudes Toward Industry Changes'. She collaborated with Rebecca Pentz, Yousuf Khalifa and Gerard Vong on this research.

Former MAB student Ashley F. Lanzel, MD, and CFE faculty member Dr. Jim Lavery recently collaborated on a commentary on the Right to Try Act, now published

View Ashley's article

Congratulations to Rachel Kolb, one of our Bioethics Doctoral Certificate students, for her co-authored article "Gene-editing tool raises questions about what is disease" published yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle.

View Rachel's Article

The MA in Bioethics Program is exploring global opportunities for bioethical education, including participation in The Renaissance at the Center for Ethics’ (TRACE) 6-week Italian Study Abroad Summer 2017 Program, Bioethics in Italy: Healing through Italian Culture, Medicine & Compassion. Here’s our first MAB student in this international program, Victoria Vorholt, with the Center for Ethics Director of Development Wayne Silverman. They are at the Castel del Monte, the 13th-century geometrically perfect castle of the beloved and benevolent King Frederick II. Amongst other achievements, Frederick was known for being the first king to publically outlaw the unethical practice of trial by ordeal (torture of the defendant’s body in order to ascertain guilt or innocence).

To complement the bioethical education offered by our more traditional classes, the MA in Bioethics Program also organizes special events related to healthcare and ethics. One of our most recent events of this kind was organized in collaboration with T.R.A.C.E.: The Renaissance Academy @ Center for Ethics and the Carlos Museum. On March 31st, 2017, we hosted a creative evening for bioethics and healthcare professional students focused on exploring images of the shaman (healer) and disability in the art of the Americas at the Carlos Museum. Elizabeth Hornor, the Carlos Museum’s Marguerite Colville Ingram Director of Education, offered a tour of specific art pieces. The tour was followed by guided reflection, wine and cheese. In addition to involving students from bioethics, it also involved students from medicine, nursing and physiotherapy.

Visit the T.R.A.C.E. website for more information

Joel Zivot's, Emory physician and bioethics student, recent CNN article, Executions often put physicians in unfair dilemma.

Read Joel's article

Emory professor and bioethics student Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's recent piece, Becoming Disabled, in The New York Times.

Read Rosemarie's article

See PhD candidate and Emory Bioethics Certificate student's video on how she lip reads throughout the day.

Watch lip reading video

Congratulations to Emory Bioethics alum Kevin Wack on his new position as the Medical Ethicist at Grady Health System!

Marjorie Timmer presents her poster at the 2014 American Association for Respiratory Care Congress.