January 4, 2005
For immediate release
Contact: Bob Beard
(434) 982-4490
bobbeard@virginia.edu

New Program in Ethics and Policy Begins at UVa Health System

A new Program in Ethics and Policy in Healthcare Systems has been established at the University of Virginia’s Center for Biomedical Ethics. The program is dedicated to research on ethics, policy and healthcare and will inform public policy makers and students about ethical issues.  Patti Tereskerz, J.D., Ph.D., will direct the program and Ann Mills, M.B.A., will serve as co-director.

“The Program in Ethics and Policy in Healthcare Systems embraces the concept that ethical standards should inform public policy rather than the reverse,” said Jonathan Moreno, PhD, Kornfeld Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at UVa, “The program’s approach will be proactive, interdisciplinary and grounded in empirical data and traditional theoretical analysis. We call this the PIE approach and believe each slice is essential to the formulation of sound public policy.”

Among the ethical issues researchers will study are:

  • financial and other conflicts of interest in research and drug discovery
  • ethical issues involved with stem cell research
  • ethical guidance in the development of innovative surgical procedures and
  • the cause and ethical ramifications of medical malpractice

“One of the distinguishing features of the program is that it is removed from potential financial influence. The program does not accept grants or gifts from private industry that may be affected by our policy recommendations,” Patti Tereskerzsaid. “For more than a century, UVa has been well known for the Honor System which governs students. It’s not surprising that the UVa School of Medicine, under the leadership of Dean Tim Garson, has played a leading role in incorporating bioethics into its healthcare practice and in the education of future physicians,” Tereskerz said.

For the program’s first project, researchers at the Center for Biomedical Ethics are gathering data on financial conflicts of interest in medical and scientific research. They hope to publish their findings sometime this year.  For more information contact Jonathan Moreno or Patti Tereskerz at (434) 924-5947 or by email at jdm8n@virginia.edu.

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