September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01

The JCB Voice is delighted to be back in circulation after a somewhat sog-gy summer. We hope everyone in our partnership was able to enjoy some time off during the summer to relax and reenergize. At the JCB we are looking forward to the start of the new academic year. We are delighted to welcome 13 MHSc students, 8 Collaborative Program in Bioethics stu-dents, and 3 Clinical and Organizational Ethics Fellows. Inside this month’s JCB Voice you will find brief biographies of all the new students entering the Joint Centre for Bioethics community. On behalf of the JCB partnership and network I would like to extend them our warmest welcome to the bioethics community.

As usual, our Bioethics Seminar series will run from 4:10 – 5:00 pm on Wednesdays in the Great Hall at the JCB. I would like to encourage all members of the partnership to either attend in person or watch these

Research Ethics DayShane Green, Director of Outreach at the Ontario Genomics Institute opened Research Ethics Day with an inspiring keynote lecture “Beware of Earthquakes: the Evolving Landscape of Research Oversight and Acountability”. He introduced the residents to the seminal works of the German philosopher of science, Hans Jonas, The Imperative of Responsibility and The Phenomenon of Life. These provided a clear conceptual framework for the day’s consideration of the social and ethical problems arising from scientific technology. They also provide the basis for an important school of Bioethics in the United States, led by Leon Kass.

Director’s Corner

Feature: Research Ethics Day / Clinical Ethics Day

continued page 2

continued page 2

In This Issue

1 Director’s Corner1 Feature: “Research Ethics Day / Clinical Ethics Day”6 2008-09 Incoming Students8 “What a Year!”9 Job Opportunity10 Seminars, Events & Conferences 13 Awards & Announcements 14 Fellowships15 Call for Proposals16 Call for Abstracts16 JCB 10-Year Report17 Recent Publications21 Submission & Contact Information

Shane Green, Director of Outreach, OGI

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 2

Director’s Corner

seminars on using ePresence which can be accessed at the following link:

Link to live events: http://epresence.ehealthinno-vation.org/epresence/website_live.aspx?c=1

Link to archived events: http://epresence.ehealth-innovation.org/epresence/website_archived.aspx?c=1.

We continue to build the infrastructure of the col-laboratory at the Joint Centre for Bioethics. A feature in the JCB Voice over the next few issues will be brief articles describing different research productivity, educational and dissemination technologies available through the collaboratory. We continue to work on our web interface and look forward to any sugges-tions that the readership may have to improve this. As well, there is a standing invitation to all in the bioethics community to contribute stories or essays to the JCB Voice. You can send them to me and I can guarantee a friendly peer-review and minimal editorial interference.

Let me take this opportunity to wish everyone the best for the commencement of the 2008-09 academic year and thank you once again for all of your hard work in furthering the mission and vision of the Joint Centre for Bioethics.

Ross UpshurDirector, Joint Centre for Bioethics; Director, Primary Care Research Unit; Canada Research Chair in Primary Care Research; Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Public Health Sci-ences, University of Toronto.

Comments on this article? Email your response to newseditor.jcb@utoronto.ca. We may publish your email in the next issue.

Feature

Research Ethics Day is a day-long program of lectures and interactive seminars on a variety of research eth-ics topics, created and presented by the University of Toronto’s Clinician Investigator Program (CIP) students collaborating with JCB students and faculty each June held at the Munk Centre for International Studies. Following a synoptic overview of the devel-opment of Research Ethics in the last century, Shane explored recent advances in medical research that are challenging established structures of oversight as the landscape shifts. Uncertainty surrounds consent to participate in genomics research since it is nearly

impossible to predict how information gathered today may be used in the future, and who it will affect. How will we continue to define “human subjects” given new research with embryos, stem cells and even cell lines? Which should be considered human -- and require REB oversight? Shane then explored the growing complexity of scientists’ commercial interests, setting the stage for the Conflict of Interest group session.

The discussion of ethics in genomics research contin-ued at lunch time when Stephen Scherer, Director of

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 3

Feature

Progress as an Optional Goal

“Let us not forget that progress is an optional goal, not an unconditional commitment, and that its tempo in particular, compulsive as it may become, has nothing sacred about it. Let us also remember that a slower progress in the conquest of disease would not threaten society, grievous as it is to those who have to deplore that their particular disease be not yet conquered, but that society would indeed be threatened by the erosion of those moral values whose loss, possibly caused by too ruthless a pursuit of scientific progress, would make its most dazzling triumphs not worth having”

- Hans Jonas (1970)

http://books.google.ca/books?q=hans+jonas

the Centre for Applied Genomics at the Hospital for Sick Children addressed “Your Genome: Information Like No Other”. Scherer gave the audience a fascinat-ing overview of the rapid progress in genome map-ping that has occurred even in the last year. As the technology drives ahead, it is leaving complex ethical questions in its wake.

The rest of the day’s program comprised interac-tive sessions which participants attended in smaller groups. The first session, let by Fathiya Al Murshedi, Arik Bergman, Patricia Lee, Joe Ly and Sharon Nessim, addressed con-flicts of interest. After a general discussion, partic-ipants broke into groups to discuss two cases: (1) a doctor agrees to take part in a pharma-sponsored trial, signs a non-disclosure agreement, then discovers an unexpected adverse effect of the drug being stud-ied (based on the Nancy Olivieri case); and (2) a doc-tor is offered money to recruit patients into a clinical trial, with bonuses tied to certain recruitment targets. Though there was some dissent, most participants agreed that a fine balance must be achieved: trial sponsors, including pharmaceutical companies have rights and responsibilities; physicians who participate in sponsored studies should have defined access to and ownership of the data. The session concluded with a formulation of strategies to avoid and manage conflicting interests.

In the “Research Ethics Boards: Challenges and Solutions” session, Noha Mousa and Darrell Tan presented the results of a survey they had conducted in the preceding weeks, of CIP students’ impres-sions and experiences concerning REBs. The survey revealed many negative student attitudes. More than a quarter of those who had experience submit-ting a proposal described the process as somewhat or very frustrating. Over half of those who had not yet submitted a proposal said they expected the

process to be frustrating. The most common complaints were long turnaround time and lack of guidance when completing the paperwork. The lack of harmony among various U of T REBs was described as “a real impediment

to research”. This is an important project addressed by the JCB this year. Students debated whether REB members should be paid; opinions were mixed. There was a lively discussion about the role REBs should play in the scientific review of research pro-tocols. St. Michael’s Hospital Research Ethics Board chair Julie Spence illuminated the operations of REBs with a description of the process and principles. Administrative members Tatiana Santini, Kathleen Austin, and Bibi Hack, from Mount Sinai Hospital’s REB gave participants valuable protocol recommendations for improving their applications, including a list of the top ten reasons applications are sent back.

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Feature

Top 10 reasons REB applications are sent back

Missing signatures• Missing boxes• Missing attachments, crf’s, dcf’s…• Proofreading• Following consent guidelines• Privacy issues• Recruitment issues• Minimizing risks• Weighing risks and benefits• Failiure to read the protocol/forms as though •

you were the participant.

Contributed by: Martin McKneally, Professor Emeritus, Department of Surgery and the Joint Centre for Bioethics

- and -

Julie Roorda, Assistant to Martin McKneally.

Clinical Ethics Day for Residents 2008The 5th Annual University of Toronto Clinical Ethics Day for Residents (CEDR) was held on Monday June 9th 2008 at the Munk Centre for International Stud-ies. Over 40 residents and fellows from 19 different specialties participated in 6 interactive and informa-

tive plenary and small-group sessions. The topics are selected and taught by residents under the mentor-ship of bioethicist staff and the JCB fellows and MHSc students. Many thanks to everyone who participated. Below you will find brief summaries from each of the teaching groups. The entire conference was well-re-ceived by the participants and each session was rated very good to excellent in the evaluations completed by participants. Most of the attendees felt the sessions were very relevant to their clinical practice and pro-vided valuable information.

Negotiation in Ethical Crises – Dianne Lim, Gary Miller, Kerry BowmanConflict is to be expected and we need to learn how to negotiate. This was our challenge to the residents. We discussed the physician’s central role in conflict negotiation, the proper mental and emotional disposi-tion in these situations and some common pitfalls of trainees. To facilitate better negotiation, we presented a framework for effective communication. It was indeed a success! We hope to hear about their experi-ences in the next CEDR!

Ethics of Prenatal Testing – Jason Noble, David Chitayat, Riyana Babul-HirjiThe “Ethics of Prenatal Testing” session was an in-teractive discussion which aimed to help residents understand why parents choose prenatal testing and to appreciate how technological advancements, such as prenatal genetic testing, can challenge ethical principles. It can be difficult to agree to a basic set of factors which are germane in determining what constitutes a “serious” mutation worthy of screening, as what may considered to be a “variant of normal” to one person may be a “serious genetic mutation” to another. Genetic screening also reawakens the discus-sion of where we draw the line between enhancement

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 5

Feature

Comments on this article? Email your response to newseditor.jcb@utoronto.ca. We may publish your email in the next issue.

and disease prevention. This session was conducted with the authentic voice of a parent who had un-dergone genetic testing herself for the potentially debilitating genetic mutation which causes her own congenital popliteal pterygium syndrome that also af-fected her first child.

Can You Say You’re Sorry? - Fatoumah Al-Abdulrazzaq, Martin McKneally and Hannah KaufmanThe session went well and we enjoyed presenting such a topic because as a paediatric resident we are dealing with lots of medication errors and have at-tended few disclosure sessions with families at the hospital. We presented points to the audience in terms of the importance of the process and how to build a map for it. We presented the pros and cons of disclosure and, as with any other process involv-ing the care of the patient, we have emphasized the importance of communication.

Nettiquette – Hanna Faghfoury , Diana Tamir, Michael SchwandtCan a doctor have a Facebook page? Find a date on Lavalife? This lively session considered some of the modern day ethical challenges brought on by internet technology. Issues of privacy and medically related communication were reviewed. In addition, we looked at how the internet has affected our profes-sional responsibilities in communicating with patients, each other, and the public in general. Many residents considered the discussion of this relatively new topic to be valuable, timely, and a relevant addition to the other important themes discussed during the day.

Do You Deserve to be Treated? – Jenny Smith, Michael Lachmann, Jennifer Bell and Jane MacIver

In our session we wanted to maximize attendee par-ticipation by adopting an interactive format. The ses-sion was broken into three independent stations. At each station, participants were encouraged to utilize one of three contrasting approaches to scarce health care resource allocation: use of a guideline, lottery or committee. Our intentions for the session were to en-courage participants to consider decision-making in a health care system constrained by finite resources, the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to resource allocation, underlying personal biases when it comes to prioritizing patients, and some of the ethical principles which can help guide difficult health care decision-making. Overall, we hope the partici-pants found the session to be as informative and fun an experience as we did!

DNR: What does it mean? – Connie Williams, Monica Branigan, Lisa GolecThrough a session that involved defining the jargon, role-playing communication styles and an honest vulnerable discussion about the difficulties of being a trainee in the position of ‘getting the DNR’, the role of physicians in compassionate end-of-life planning was hopefully made a little less scary.

Submitted by: Frazer Howard, Research/Programme Coordinator, Postgraduate Bioethics EducationJoint Centre for BioethicsUniversity of Toronto

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 6

2008-09 Incoming Students

Collaborative Program in Bioethics Students

Renata Axler is enrolled in the PhD program in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evalu-ation (HPME). Renata holds a BA(Hons) with a double major in Bioethics and Environmental studies and a mi-nor in Environmental Ethics from University of Toronto and a MA (Bioethics) from University of Sydney, Austra-lia. Her thesis supervisor will be Fiona A. Miller.

Natalie Beavis is currently enrolled in the Master of Nursing and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program in the Faculty of Nursing (NUR). Natalie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and a Bachelor of Sci-ence in Nursing from Trent University. Natalie will be doing a thesis-based project on the ethical implications of painful clinical interventions in pediatric nursing and her thesis supervisor will be Bonnie Stevens.

Michelle Cleghorn is enrolled in the MSc program through the Institute of Medical Science (IMS). Mi-chelle holds a BMSc (Honors) from the University of Western Ontario. She will be examining the values that are considered in health policy decisions by ana-lyzing the value-content of the Citizens’ Council (a project established by the Canadian Priority Research Network) deliberations, and her thesis supervisor will be Douglas Martin.

Helen Craigie is enrolled in the Masters program in the Department of Religion (RLG). Helen holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario. Her thesis supervisor is Frances Garrett and her thesis involves looking at bioethical questions from a multi-faith perspective.

Evelyne Durocher is enrolled in the PhD program in the Graduate Dept. of Rehab Sciences (GDRS). Evelyne

holds a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from the Uni-versity of Toronto and a MA in Occupational Therapy from the University of Manitoba. Her thesis co-super-visor will be Barbara Gibson and Susan Rappolt, with Barbara Secker as a Committee Member. Her thesis will explore the ethics of discharge planning, specifi-cally issues faced by clinicians assisting clients with decisions for discharge from an inpatient geriatric rehabilitation setting.

Jane MacIver is enrolled in the PhD program through the Institute of Medical Science (IMS). Jane holds a MSc in Nursing and an ACNP certificate from the Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. Her thesis is based on understanding the treatment preferences of patients with advanced heart failure and her thesis supervisor is Martin McKneally.

Constance (Connie) Williams is enrolled in the MSc program in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (HPME). She holds a MD from the University of Toronto and is a physician trained in Pediatrics. She is currently completing subspecialty training in Neonatology with a research interest in team and organizational ethics as well as knowledge translation. Her thesis supervisor is Jen-nifer Gibson and her thesis committee members will include Jonathan Hellmann (JCB), Merrick Zwaren-stein (HPME).

Diego S. Silva is enrolled in the PhD program in the Department of Public Health Sciences (PHS). Diego holds an MA in philosophy from the University of Toronto where he also completed the Collaborative Program in Bioethics at the master’s level. His thesis will address issues arising at the intersection of public health, mental health, and organizational ethics and his thesis supervisor will be Ross Upshur.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 7

2008-09 Incoming Students

MHSc Students - Domestic & International

Farid Abdel Hadi, FRCSC is currently a staff Obste-trician & Gynecologist at Lakeridge Health, Oshawa. He holds a M.B., B.Ch. Degree and a M.Sc and Ph. D degrees in Gynecology & Obstetrics from Cairo Univer-sity, Egypt.

James Downar is a Joint Subspecialty Resident in Critical Care/Palliative Care Medicine at the Uni-versity of Toronto. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Biology) and a MD (CM) from McGill University and he is a Fellow of the Royal Col-lege of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Internal Medicine).

Deborah Hansen is a Patient Care Manager in MSCU/COU/CCC/Rehab Services at Halton Healthcare Services, Georgetown Hospital. She holds a Certificate in Nursing Management and B.Sc.N., Summa Cum Laude from McMaster University and a MHSc in Health Administration Degree from University of Toronto.

Rosanna Macri is a Medical Radiation Therapist and Ethics Education Facilitator at Sunnybrook Health Sci-ences Centre. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Radiation Sciences) from University of Toronto, and a Diploma in Health Sciences from The Michener Insti-tute for Applied Health Sciences.

Jacintha Penney is a Regional Pastoral Care Clini-cian/Coordinator with Eastern Health, one of the four health authorities in Newfoundland. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and a Master of Theological Studies (Honours) degree from Queen’s College, St. John’s Newfoundland.

Brooke Raphael is a Critical Care Nurse, Cardiac Care Unit at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC, with a background in clinical teaching. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Uni-versity of Victoria and a Nursing Critical Care Certificate from the British Columbia Insti-tute of Technology.

Jacob Scheer is self-employed and is

currently a Doctor of Chiropractic and a Naturopathic Doctor. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) De-gree from University of Toronto, Doctor of Chiropractic Degree from Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and a Naturopathic Doctor’s Degree from Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.

Klara Siber is a CAPPE Certified Spiritual Care Pro-fessional in the department of Critical Care at Sunny-brook Health Sciences Centre. She holds a Bachelor of Religious Studies degree and a Master of Divinity, Counseling degree from Tyndale University College & Seminary.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 8

2008-09 Incoming Students

Abdulaziz Al-Kaabba is currently a Consultant in Family Medicine and Vice Dean of Medical College, Assistant Professor and Faculty Member of Medicine at King Fahad Medical City, Faculty of Medicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He holds a Bachelor Degree of Medicine and Surgery from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, King Saud University, a Diploma in Child Health from the Royal College of Physician, Ireland, and a Masters Degree in Medical Education of Health Profession from Maastricht University in Holland.

Nishardi Wijeratne is currently a Lecturer in Behav-ioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She holds a degree in Bach-elor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (First Class Honours) with ten Distinctions and eleven gold med-als from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is a member of the University Ethics review committee and coordinates the Medical Ethics program for under-graduates. She is also a Fellow of the Wilson Centre for Medical Education at University of Toronto.

What a Year!

We’ve both had the opportunity this year to do a clini-cal and organizational ethics fellowship at the Joint Centre for Bioethics and we wanted to share with you some of our thoughts as we say Goodbye.

We started out to-gether in the MHSc program and have had the pleasure of learning to-gether for the past three years. We sometimes remi-nisce about our first few months at the Joint Centre for Bioethics. Both of us shared a social work background, and while confident about our roles, many health care institutions main-tain a hierarchal structure, and we knew our place in that structure. So to be sitting in a classroom with physicians, philosophers, and other highly educated,

articulate health care professionals in an egalitarian setting; where voicing your opinions and justifications for deeply held values was encouraged, even if, and perhaps especially if, one held a contrasting view, was initially overwhelming. We’ve come a long way.

Hannah says:The Fellowship was a life-chang-ing experience, with opportunities to learn and grow on a daily basis. It connected me to the rich mixture of people who comprise the Joint Centre for Bio-

ethics. Knowledge, insights, encourage-

ment and connections to others were extended to me with utmost generosity. Several aspects of the Fellowship stand out for me. Four days a week I was immersed in the world of my bioethics mentors.

From left to right: Debbie Rolfe, Victoria Seavilleklein, Barbara Secker, Hannah Kaufman (holding photo of Linda Sheahan), Louise Campbell, Sally Bean, Jennifer Bell

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 9

What a Year!

Clinical, organizational and research consultations, policy review and development, finding background on specific topics, staff and clinician education, and re-search protocol review were daily fare throughout the year. Once a week the Fellows had education sessions of our own and also participated in JCB rounds, case conferences and seminars. Once a month the fellow-ship director provided sessions on useful and important topics or we had guest presenters, standardized pa-tients and mock consultations. The remaining sessions were organized by the fellows. As these session topics grew organically from our day-to-day experiences, they were rich and fertile ground for professional develop-ment and creativity, collaboration and rejuvenation.

Debbie says:I can’t say enough about the fellowship experience, which has been fantastic for me. To be able to learn and immerse myself in clinical organizational and research ethics; to reflect and write and stretch my-self clinically; to be part of an intellectually stimulating environment at the Joint Centre for Bioethics, where diversity and difference are respected and valued; and

bright and enquiring minds explore the tough ethical issues facing us in health care and research, with an eye to developing and enhancing best practices and policies; to experience various health care settings with skilled bioethicists, who mentor and challenge me; to contribute in safe yet demanding ways without flying solo is an amazing luxury and privilege, that will endure a lifetime and has prepared me well for a career in the field of bioethics.

We leave humbled but ready, and always with more questions than answers. As we head out into the field of bioethics however, we have a much deeper sense about who we want to be, how we see our roles, and how we want to approach, teach, or research chal-lenging ethical issues in health care. We can’t ask for more.

Contributed by: Hannah Kaufman and Debbie Rolfe, JCB Clinical & Organizational Ethics Fellows 2007-08.

Job OpportunityCall for applications/nominations - Submissions of ap-plications/letters of interest are requested from po-tential applicants for the position of Undergraduate Medical Education Faculty Lead for Ethics and Professionalism. Dr. Monica Branigan is stepping down from this position having served with distinction for several years.

A detailed position description can be found on-line at: http://www.facmed.utoronto.ca/Asset1155.aspx.

Applications, consisting of a letter of interest and ac-companying CV and teaching dossier, should be sub-mitted (electronic submission preferred) by Thurs-day, September 25, 2008 at 12:00pm to Dr. Jay Rosenfield, Vice Dean of Undergraduated Medical Education at jay.rosenfield@utoronto.ca with a copy to Neil Neebar, Special Projects Manager, Undergradu-ate Medical Education at neil.neebar@utoronto.ca.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 10

Seminars, Events & Conferences

JCB Bioethics Seminars This Month:

September 17, 2008Debbie Rolfe, MSW, MHSc, RSW, Clinical and Organizational Ethics Senior Fel-low, Toronto Community Care Access Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (Partnerships & Strategy). “Now and Then – A Narrative Exploration of Moral Distress.” 4:10-5:15 pm Great Hall, 88 College St. (This seminar will NOT be webcast.)

September 24, 2008 Terry Wilson, Family Member; Faiza Rab, MD, MHSc, Bioethics Associate, Humber River Regional Hospital; Fatema Amijee, BA (Hons), Specialist in Phi-losophy & Bioethics, Research Assistant, Joint Centre for Bioethics and Humber River Regional Hospital; Bob Parke, BA, BSW, MSW, RSW, MHSc Bioethics, Bioethicist, Humber River Regional Hospital. “ ‘Just Hang On! They Haven’t Turned it Off Yet’ – Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) at the End of Life.” 4:10-5:15 pm, Great Hall, 88 College St. (This seminar will be webcast through ePresence.)

Friday, September 26, 200813th Annual Alloway LectureH. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., PhD, MD, Professor of Philosophy, Rice Univer-sity; Professor Emeritus of Medical Ethics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. “An Ethic of Care in the Face of Moral Diversity: Challenges and Pos-sibilities”. 2:30-4:00 pm Courtyard by Marriott Toronto Downtown, 475 Yonge St. This lecture is open to the public and admission is free but is presented in conjunction with the CCE 2008 Fall Conference. (This seminar will NOT be webcast.)

October 1, 2008OGI-JCB Benchside Ethics Seminar – Mildred Cho, PhD, Associate Direc-tor and Associate Professor (Research) of Pediatrics, Stanford Center for Bio-medical Ethics, Stanford University. “The Benchside Ethics Consultation Ser-vice: A model of un-governance for genomic research.” 4:10–5:15 pm, Great Hall, 88 College St. (This seminar will be webcast through ePresence.)

ePresence Registration Instructions:

ePresence now supports both PC and Mac videostream-ing. If you are using either Windows or Mac OSX you can register to view JCB archived seminars and participate in live events. Please note that the registration process should be done at least 2 days in ad-vance of the actual event.

To register for ePresence:Go to the Centre for Glob-1. al eHealth Innovation’s ePresence website (http://epresence.ehealthinnova-tion.org/epresence).Click on the register but-2. ton (at the top blue bar) and ensure that your system meets all require-ments.Run System Check.3. Enter your information, 4. including userid and pass-word. You will need to remember your userid and password to join in future webcasts.Difficulties with register-5. ing should be reported by email to brenda.knowles@utoronto.ca.You will only need to reg-6. ister once.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 11

Seminars, Events & ConferencesSeptember 4, 2008Baycrest Brown Bag Ethics Forum. “Ethics of Advance Care Planning: Aims, Risks and Benefits”. This discussion will be case-based. Facilitator: Marcia Sokolowski, Ethicist. 12:00-1:00pm classroom A,B,C 2nd floor of Baycrest Hospital (kosher pizza and coffee served).

September 10 & 15, 2008Centre for International Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto presents Integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) & Western Medicine. Guest Lecturer: Dr. XU, Xu Wei, MD of Integrated Medicine (China), PhD of Traditional Chinese Medicine (China). Lecture Themes: “Theories and clinical practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine” Sept. 10, 5:30-7:30pm Room 108, Health Sciences Building, 155 College St; “Integration of TCM and Western Medicine in China: Challenges” Sept. 15, 5:30-7:30pm Room 106, Health Sciences Building, 155 College St. Lecture and dinner fee: $20 (1 lecture) and $35 (2 lectures). Registration www.uofttix.ca / 416-978-8849.

September 15, 2008Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto Semi-nar Series Roxanne Euben, Department of Political Science, Wellesley College “Islamic Cosmopolitanism”. 3:00 - 5:00pm Room 200, Centre for Ethics, Larkin Building, Trinity College, 15 Devonshire Place. For further information: 416-946-3208.

September 18, 2008Hospital for Sick Children Bioethics Grand Rounds. “Contemplating the Duty to Disclose Genet-ics Research Results to Research Participants – The case of autism genetics”. Fiona A. Miller, PhD, Associ-ate Professor, Dept. of Health Policy, Management and

Evaluation, Affiliate, Joint Centre for Bioethics, Univer-sity of Toronto, New Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 12:00-1:00pm, Room 1250, Elm Wing.

September 23, 2008Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Brown Bag Research Ethics Discussion Groups. Jesstina McFadden, Miller Thomson LLP “Limits to Confidential-ity in Research”. Room 2062, 33 Russell Street, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 12:00-1:00 pm (bring your own lunch, coffee will be served) Questions? Contact: susan_pilon@camh.net

September 26, 2008Centre for Clinical Ethics Fall Conference - “AF-FIRMING AN ETHIC OF CARE: Challenges to Deliv-ering Ethical Care”. Includes talk by Philip Hébert, “Error from the Other Side of the Bedrail” and the 13th Annual Alloway Lecture by Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. “An Ethic of Care in the Face of Moral Diversity: Challenges and Possibilities” (The Alloway Lecture is

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 12

Seminars, Events & Conferencesfree and open to the public - see above JCB Seminar section for more information). Location: Courtyard by Marriott Toronto Downtown, 475 Yonge St. Regular registration fee is $150. For a conference brochure and registration form, please contact Lynda Sullivan at (416) 530-6750 or sullil@stjoe.on.ca or visit website at www.ccethics.com.

September 26 & 27, 2008Health Human Resources Migration International Policy Symposium presented by The Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, The Faculty of Medi-cine, University of Toronto and in collaboration with The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care with support from the Connaught Committee, Uni-versity of Toronto. Keynote address by Dr. Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Co-founder and President of the Migration Policy Institute, Washington, D.C. 6th Floor Auditorium, Health Sciences Building, 155 College St. Evening program begins 5:00pm Sept. 26 and day program begins 8:00am on Sept. 27. Register at: www.hhrmsymposium.nursing.utoronto.ca.

October 3-4, 2008Journal of Ethics in Mental Health (JEMH) 3rd Annual Conference. Theme “True Colours”. Keynote speakers: David Spiegel (USA) and Julian Hughes (UK). To be held in Lakefield, Ontario. For a full con-ference program and registration information please visit: www.jemh.ca.

October 17, 2008McGill School of Nursing hosts the Joan Gil-christ Nursing Explorations Series “Ethically Speaking - The Moral Dilemmas of Nursing Leader-ship and Practice”. Invited speakers include: Elizabeth Peter, RN, PhD, University of Toronto. To be held in Montreal, Quebec at the Holiday Inn Montreal Mid-

town. For more information please visit: www.medi-cine.mcgill.ca/nursing-explorations2008.

October 17, 2008The Lupina Centre for Spirituality, Healthcare and Ethics will be holding a free public lecture entitled “Health, Justice and Social Responsibility” given by James Dwyer, State University of New York. 7:30pm at Elliott MacGuigan Hall, Regis College, 67 St. Nicholas St. Toronto. No registration is required. 416-922-5474.

November 14-15, 2008MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago 20th Annual Dorothy J. MacLean Fellows Conference: A Festschrift in hon-our of Mark Siegler. This conference is free of charge. However you are asked to register so they can plan meals and ensure your receipt of a reading packet. To register please see: http://medicine.uchicago.edu/centers/ccme/events.htm.

November 18, 2008Hold the Date - 12:30pm The Debates Room, Hart House for a special global health lecture by Sir George Alleyne, Director Emeritus, Pan American Health Or-ganization. Introduction by Prabhat Jha, Professor & Canada Research Chair in Health and Development Di-rector, Centre for Global Health Research St Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto. (Lunch to be served.)Details will follow. RSVP to j.kopelow@sympatico.ca.

May 17-20, 2009First announcement and call for abstracts UNESCO Chair in Bioethics International Conference on BIOETHICS COMMITTEES IN HOSPITALS. To be held in Zefat, Israel. For more information please visit: www.isas.co.il/bioethics2009.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 13

Awards & Announcements

Scott Berry (Department of Medicine, Medical Oncology & Haematology) was awarded the Continuing Education - Excel-lence in Innovation Award from the Department of Family & Com-munity Medicine, Peters-Boyd Academy.

The Canadian Medical Association announced that Dr. Philip Hébert will be the recipient of the CMA’s Dr. William Marsden Award in Medical Ethics. The award recognizes a member who has shown outstanding leader-ship, commitment and dedica-tion to advancing excellence in the field of medical ethics in Canada.

The French Government awarded Eric Meslin, Ph.D., IUCB Director with the Chevalier [Knight of the Na-tional Order of Merit]. The Chevalier is given for distin-guished civil and military achievements. Dr. Meslin was made a Chevalier due to his contributions to bioethics policy in France over the past 10 years.

Dr. Barry N. Pakes received a CIHR Fellowship Award in the Area of Public Health for his project, “Ethical Analysis in Public Health Practice: A Multi-Sectoral, Mixed-Methods Study.” The award is $165,00 from 2008-11. Barry is supervised by Ross Upshur.

Dr. Michel Shamy is winner of the K.J.R. Wightman Award for Research in Biomedical Ethics from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for his paper entitled, “Narrative, Argument and Evidence: An Ethical Justification for the use of Suggestion in the Treatment of Psychogenic Illness”.

Daniel Sperling, a graduate of the JCB Collaborative Program in Bioethics, received a new appointment as Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Policy and the School of Public Health, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Erica Sutton has received a one year CIHR Strategic Training Doctoral Fellowship in Health Care, Technol-ogy, and Place for her research project “The Ethical Implications of Ontario’s Expanded Newborn Screen-ing Program.” Erica’s Primary Mentor for this project is Ross Upshur.

CIHR awarded a three-year grant to principal investi-gator, Ross Upshur and co-investigators Karen Faith, Rory Fisher, Barbara Gibson, Alex Jadad, Tiffany Jay, Doug Martin, Sioban Nelson, Paul Ritvo, Ann Robert-son, Alison Thompson, Kumanan Wilson and Randi Zlotnik Shaul for their project: Canadian Program of Research on Ethics in a Pandemic (CanPREP): Whose risks, whose duties and what priorities?

Linda Wright has been appointed Director of Bioethics at the University Health Network. Linda has been a Senior Bioethicist with UHN since 2003 when she received a Masters of Health Science in Bioethics at the University of To-

ronto. The new position reflects the depth and scope of the expanding influence of bioethics in the orga-nization in clinical and organizational consultation, education and research, as well as the international recognition UHN has achieved in the field. Much of that recognition rests on Linda’s research expertise in organ transplantation ethics.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 14

Fellowships

Centre for Ethics, University of TorontoVisiting Faculty Fellowships 2009-10

The University of Toronto’s Centre for Ethics invites applications for its Visiting Faculty Fellowships. For the academic year 2009-10, two fellowships will be award-ed to outstanding scholars and teachers interested in writing and conducting research about ethics during a year in residence at the University of Toronto.

Fellows will participate in a bi-weekly seminar at the Centre, together with local faculty as well as the Centre’s graduate and post-doctoral fellows. Fel-lows are also expected to participate regularly in the Centre’s other activities, including seminars, colloquia, and public lectures; and to be in residence in Toronto for the term of their appointments, which will run from September 1, 2009 to May 15, 2010. Although regular teaching obligations are not attached to the Fellow-ships, one of the goals of the Centre for Ethics is to enhance the undergraduate student experience at the University of Toronto. We strongly encourage Fellows to participate in informal events in the Ethics, Society and Law program and in Trinity College, and to con-sider teaching a one-term course at the upper level.

Faculty fellows will receive stipends intended to help maintain their salary during the fellowship year at its usual level. Stipends will normally amount to up to one half of the fellow’s academic year salary, up to a maxi-mum of $50,000 CAD. In addition, fellows will receive a research allowance; an office in the Centre, equipped with a computer; and access to library and other Uni-versity facilities. Their home institution is expected to provide at least half of their salaries, in addition to all benefits. Fellows between regular academic appoint-ments are eligible for funding to be determined on an individual basis.

Fellows are selected by an interdisciplinary faculty committee in the Centre for Ethics. Applicants are judged on the quality of their achievements in their field of specialization and their ability to benefit from work in the Centre; the contributions they are likely to make in the future in higher education through teach-ing and writing about ethics; and the probable signifi-cance of their proposed research and its relevance to the purposes of the Centre. Applicants must hold a university faculty appointment at the time of applica-tion. There is no restriction on discipline or citizen-ship.

For fellowships beginning in September 2009, appli-cants must submit hard copies of:

A curriculum vitae; 1. A scholarly paper in English written or published 2.

in the past three years (no more than 10,000 words; on longer papers, applicants must indicate their own excerpt);

A statement (no more than 1,500 words) de-3. scribing the proposed research project;

Three letters of reference (at least one from 4. someone who was not a dissertation supervisor) sent directly to the Director, Centre for Ethics at the ad-dress below.

All materials, including letters of reference, must be received by December 15, 2008. Successful appli-cants will be asked to provide salary information on a confidential basis to the Centre’s Director.

Please send applications to: Professor Melissa Wil-liams (Director), Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto, 6 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1H8.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 15

Call for Proposals

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 16

Fifth International Conference on Clinical Eth-ics and Consultation, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan March 12-14, 2009. We invite you to submit abstracts to the Fifth International Conference on Clini-cal Ethics and Consultation (5.ICCEC). The theme of the 5. ICCEC is “Bioethics and Ethical Consultation in a Diversified World.” The conference will be held at Aca-demia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan on March 12-14, 2009. Academia Sinica is the premier academic research institution in Taiwan. It has the mission to conduct cutting-edge research in the humanities and sciences, nurture academic talents, and issue policy advisories. The International Society for Clinical Bioethics will hold its annual meeting as a pre-conference at Chungshan Medical University in the city of Taichung on March 9-10. A chartered bus will take those attending this pre-conference to Taipei for the 5. ICCEC with a short tour of Taiwan.

The local organizer and host of the conference is Pro-fessor Michael Tai, who is also the president of Inter-national Society for Clinical Bioethics and the founding dean of the College of Medical Humanities and Social Sciences at the Chungshan Medical University in Tai-wan. Working with him are the founding co-organizers of the conference series: George J. Agich and Stella Reiter-Theil.

Abstracts, no longer than 500 words, will be accepted

on any of the following topics or the general confer-ence theme: “Bioethics and Ethics Consultation in a Diversified World”. Suggested topics:

Consultation and Ethical Decision-Making in • Health Care

Cultural Diversities and Clinical Bioethics• Education of Ethics Consultants and Committees• End of Life Care Issues• Ethics Consultation and Ethics Committees• Influence of Cultural, Ethical, Religious Commit- •

ments on ConsultationMethodology in Ethics Consultation• Principles of Ethics and Ethics Consultation• Research on Ethics Consultation and Clinical Ethics•

Please submit your abstract, including your name, department and institutional address, and whether you are submitting for a presentation or poster for-mat. Email abstract to Kelly Chen at kclc@csmu.edu.tw with a copy to Michael Tai at tai@csmu.edu.tw.The deadline for receipt of abstracts is October 1, 2008, but earlier submission is highly preferred since space may be limited.

A brief webpage of the conference can be found at: ge.csmu.edu.tw/ethicsconsultation/ Homepage for Academia Sinica is: http://www.sinica.edu.tw/main_e.shtml

Call forAbstracts

JCB 10-Year Report

The JCB is pleased to present the report “Working for an Ethical Future: The First Decade of the Uni-versity of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics”.

If you would like copies of the report mailed to you, please send an email request (including your mailing

address) to Beth Woods at beth.woods@utoronto.ca.

Alternatively, copies can be picked up at the JCB, 88 College Street, Toronto.

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 17

Recent Publications

Bruni RA, Laupacis A, Martin DK. Public engagement in setting priorities in health care. Canadian Medical As-sociation Journal 2008; 179(1): 15-8.

Corey J. Who do we serve? Role conflict in Ontario midwifery. Cana-dian Journal of Midwifery Research and Practice 2008; 7(4): 31-35. Dawson A, Verweij M. Public health ethics: A manifesto. Public Health Ethics 2008; 1(1): 1-2.

Frew SE, Kettler HE, Singer PA. The Indian and Chinese health biotechnology industries: Potential champions of global health? Health Affairs 2008; 27 (4): 1029–41.

Gershon AS, Wang L, To T, Luo J, Upshur REG. Survival with tiotropium compared to long-acting beta-2-agonists in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 2008; 5(4): 229-34.

Gordon M. OPED: Life support controversy a chal-lenge in ethics and care. Medical Post 2008 July 8.

Lexchin J, Sekeres M, Gold J, Ferris LE, Kalkar SR, Wu W, Van Laethem M, Chan A-W, Moher D, Maskalyk MJ, Taback N, Rochon PA. National evaluation of policies on individual financial conflicts of interest in Canadian academic health science centers. Journal of General Internal Medicine 2008; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-008-0752-4.

McDougall CW, Upshur REG, Wilson K. Emerging norms for the control of emerging epidemics. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2008; 86(8): 643-5.

Rezaie R, Frew SE, Sammut SM, Maliakkal MR, Daar AS, Singer PA. (2008) Brazilian health biotech - fostering crosstalk between,public and private sec-tors. Nature Biotechnology 2008; 26(6): 627-44.

Séguin B, Hardy B, Singer PA, Daar AS. Genomic medicine and developing countries: creating a room of their own. Nature Reviews Genetics 2008; 9: 487-93.

Van Laethem M, Henry B. Research ethics con-sultations: A Canadian perspective using research ethicists. American Journal of Bioethics 2008 March; 8(2): 35-37.

Winsor S. Epigenetics and the ART patient. Canadian Fertility & Andrology Society Communiqué. Calgary 2008 Summer p. 6.

Wright L. Ethical controversies in public solicitations for organs. Transplantation Reviews 2008; 22: 184-6.

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The purpose of this newsletter is to facilitate communication among people interested in bioethics throughout the Joint Centre for Bioethics, participat-ing institutions and elsewhere. The newsletter is published and distributed by email at the beginning of each month. If you would like to receive the newslet-ter, please contact:

Editor: Adrienne GrapkoEmail: newseditor.jcb@utoronto.caFax: (416) 978-1911

Submission & Contact Information

The Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) is a partnership among the University of Toronto; Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; Bloorview Kids Rehab; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Centre for Clinical Ethics, a shared service of Providence Centre, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, and St. Michael’s Hospital; The Hospital for Sick Children; Humber River Regional Hospital; Mount Sinai Hospital; North York General Hospital; Ontario Genomics Institute; Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Toronto Community Care Access Centre; Toronto East General Hospital; Toronto Rehabilitation Institute; Trillium Health Centre; and University Health Network.

The University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics

Submissions to the newsletter must be made by the 25th of the preceding month.Previous issues of the newsletter are posted on our website at:

http://www.jointcentreforbioethics.ca/enewsletter/enewsletter.shtml

Joint Centre for BioethicsUniversity of Toronto88 College StreetToronto, Ontario M5G 1L4Canada

Phone: (416) 978-2709Fax: (416) 978-1911Email: newseditor.jcb@utoronto.caWeb: http://www.jointcentreforbioethics.ca/

September 2008 / Vol. 14 / No. 01 Page: 21

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