SJU's Institute of Catholic Bioethics

They say you learn something new every day. This Saturday the two groups of Jesuit alums who take the Spirtitual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola under the direction of James Moore, SJ and Bill Byron, SJ, took a break and were fortunate to have Peter Clarke, SJ, SJC '75, talk to us about stem cell research.

The topic of stem cell research came up during our weekly discussions and we all admitted to be fairly ignorant of this most important topic that affects us all. Fr. Clarke to the rescue!

Fr. Clarke gave us homework to do prior to his talk and I felt as if I should have earned 3 credits ;-) I found it enlightening and mind boggling -- technical advantages and disadvantages of adult and embryonic stem cells, reproductive & therapeutic cloning, totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent, cord blood stem cells, when is the soul infused into a person, the difference between a human being and a human person et al.

I won't even begin to try and translate for you... I don't have the skills. But this research has the ability to cure every disease that ails us and possibly provide the fountain of youth, particularly if scientisits can revert (transcription factors) your adult stem cells back to thier embryonic state then use them to reprogram what went wrong with your body (without having to create and destroy a cloned human embryo). It also has a science fiction feel to it, for those without morals and ethics could do so much harm with cloning.

I'd ask that you all do your own research. I've included information on Saint Joseph's Institute of Catholics Bioethics as well as some links that they've recommended. This is too important to let other people, especially polticians, make the decisions for you.

AMDG,

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The Institute of Catholic Bioethics at Saint Joseph’s University was founded on August 28, 2006 with the mission to develop and promote interdisciplinary research projects, educational programs, academic courses, clinical consultation and policy development services in the field of bioethics to meet the needs of three constituencies: the Saint Joseph’s University academic community, the medical establishment of the Philadelphia area and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

The Three Constituencies of the Bioethics Institute

There are three interrelated constituencies of the Bioethics Institute: (1) the Saint Joseph’s University academic community, (2) health care professionals and administrators at affiliated hospitals, nursing homes, etc. in the Philadelphia area, (3) the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The first priority of the Institute is to serve the needs of the Saint Joseph’s University community. However, the clinical and pastoral needs of the other two constituencies for research protocols and educational programs will frequently become the subject-matter for the Saint Joseph’s programs; thus, the three constituencies and their respective needs are interrelated. Programs that serve the three constituencies may be phased in over a period of time in order to ensure the quality of these programs.

A. Saint Joseph’s University Community
The primary constituency of The Bioethics Institute is the Saint Joseph’s University academic community and the lay public that is invited to and attends events sponsored by Saint Joseph’s University. In this capacity, the Institute will utilize different venues in order to inform students, faculty, staff, administration and the lay public of the developments within the expanding field of bioethics through regularly-scheduled public lectures, classes, symposia and other events. In addition, there will be an on-going interdisciplinary research component to the Institute. Qualified and interested faculty from around Saint Joseph’s University and other processionals external to Saint Joseph’s University will be invited to participate in research projects related to the field of bioethics.
1. Annual Public Lectures on Bioethical Topics
a. Richard McCormick, S.J. Bioethics Lecture
Each year there will be a formal lecture on a specific issue in bioethics, and it will be sponsored by the Catholic Bioethics Institute of Saint Joseph’s University. Some years members of the University community or the health care community of Philadelphia will present the lecture; in other years a nationally-known figure in the field will be invited to present the lecture. The university community and others from the lay public will be invited.
b. Lectures/Symposium
Each year there will be a lecture or symposium for the university and lay community on some issue of interest in the field of bioethics, but it will be more informal than the annual Richard McCormick, S.J. Bioethics Lecture. One possible format for the symposium could be the presentation of the results of the Fellows’ research that was sponsored by the Institute during the academic year.
2. Interdisciplinary Research: Fellows Program
One of the principal goals of the Institute is to carry on collaborative, interdisciplinary research in the field of bioethics. With the approval of the Provost of Saint Joseph’s University, faculty who are interested in bioethics from campus, e.g., members of the theology, philosophy, biology, interdisciplinary health services, health administration, pharmaceutical marketing, and other business departments; and professional from affiliated institutions and the Philadelphia area will be invited to participate in the Institute as Fellows. Saint Joseph’s University Graduate students will be invited to participate as Associate Fellows. In the Fall, the Director of the Institute, in consultation with the Advisory Board, will establish a research project (s) that will be undertaken during the following academic year. Sometimes, the clinical or pastoral needs of the other constituencies will be subject-matter for the research projects of the Fellows. Each Fall semester Saint Joseph’s University faculty will be invited to present applications to participate in the Institute’s research project during the following academic year. Among the applicants, two faculty will be selected by the Advisory Board. After consultation with the respective Dean (s) and approval of the Provost of Saint Joseph’s University, each of these faculty will be granted a reduction of one course in their teaching responsibilities for the year in which he/she participates in the Institute. The Fellows will share their expertise and research with the other members of the Institute and, when appropriate, with the members of the other two constituencies. The results of some of these projects may result in a symposium for the university community and/or in a publication from the Institute.
3. Affiliated Scholars Program:
International and national scholars in the area of Bioethics can be named as Affiliated Scholars in the Institute. In this capacity they are listed as part of the extended faculty of the Institute of Catholic Bioethics and can actively participate in the Institute’s seminars, assist in teaching courses at the Institute, deliver papers at Institute workshops and serve as Bioethics consultants to affiliated medical institutions for consultations, policy development, seminars, Grand Rounds, etc.
4. Courses for Saint Joseph’s University Undergraduate and Graduate Students
The Director of the Institute has the responsibility to develop and teach courses in the field of bioethics at all levels of the curriculum for Saint Joseph’s University students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Haub School of Business. From time to time, courses could be offered in other colleges and schools at Saint Joseph’s University.
5. Continuing Education Program
From time to time, the Director and/or Fellows may offer a short course in the area of Continuing Education. This will include Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses and Continuing Education Programs for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES). The participants of this course might be physicians, nurses, chaplains at hospitals, hospital administrators, Archdiocesan personnel connected to health care delivery, etc. These courses will come under the control of the Dean of the University College.

B. The Medical, Nursing & Administrative Staff at Affiliated Hospitals/Nursing Homes
In addition to the research and educational programs that have been created at Saint Joseph’s University by the Bioethics Institute, there will be an outreach to the affiliated institutions. The audience will be the medical and nursing staffs and the administration of those institutions affiliated with Saint Joseph’s University in the financial support of the Institute. Since some of these institutions are part of a larger healthcare system (Catholic Health East), it is possible that educational programs could be extended to benefit this larger system as well. In some instances, the subject matter of the research carried on at Saint Joseph’s University (e.g., in the Fellows’ Research Program) could be focused on the needs of the affiliated institutions (e.g., to write a specific policy for the medical hospital staff). Such an outreach program to the affiliated institutions is consistent with the general mission of Saint Joseph’s University in its attempts to enhance the educational opportunities of professional groups.
1. Clinical and Policy Consultation
The Director (and possibly one or more of the Fellows) will be available as a professional resource for clinical consultations to the medical and nursing staffs of the affiliated institutions and to aid in the development of policies for the administration. In addition, the Director will be available to participate on in-house Institutional Ethics Committees, Institutional Review Boards, Organizational Ethics Committees, Tumor Boards, etc. and to serve as a resource for these committees to achieve their objectives. The primary role of the Director while at theses affiliated institutions is to supplement the resources already present at the clinical site. Thus, the work of the Director in the hospitals is not designed to replace or substitute for what is already in place.
2. Bioethical Education for Medical Personnel/Hospital Administrations at Affiliated Institutions
From time to time, lectures (e.g., Grand Rounds), workshops and symposia will be offered by the Director of the Institute to the medical and nursing staffs and hospital administration on issues related to bioethical concerns of the hospital. Their primary purpose will be to offer professional educational opportunities to these audiences, and, once again, the goal is to supplement the resources already present in the hospital. The Director of the Institute will also be responsible for teaching the Ethics Core Curriculum to the Medical Interns and Residents at the affiliated institutions. The training of in-house bioethics committee members is also a priority of these educational programs.

C. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia
From the research and educational programs that have been created at Saint Joseph’s University by the Bioethics Institute and at the invitation of the Cardinal of Philadelphia, there is a pastoral outreach to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Such an outreach program is truly consistent with the mission of Saint Joseph’s University.
1. Available to Serve as a Bioethics Consultant To the Cardinal of Philadelphia
At the request of the Cardinal, the focus of The Bioethics Institute could take several different forms. In one form, the Director could be available to serve as a professional consultant to the Cardinal on matters related to bioethics in the Archdiocese. In this capacity, the Director will be available to offer advice to the Cardinal on specific issues that confront the Archdiocese, e.g., physician-assisted suicide legislation, stem cell research, etc. The Cardinal could also request the writing and/or review of position papers on bioethical issues related to Archdiocesan concerns. In the latter instance, the Director may well establish a research protocol at Saint Joseph’s University and utilize the resources of the Fellows’ research in the Institute to accomplish this goal.
2. Available to Serve as Resource for Archdiocesan Offices Related to Health Care
At the request of the Cardinal, the Director (and/or possibly some of the Fellows) could serve as a professional resources for the various Archdiocesan offices related to health care. At their request, the Institute could provide advice on bioethical issues, write position papers, or serve as experts to testify on behalf of the Archdiocese’s concerns related to bioethical issues, e.g., physician-assisted suicide, stem cell research, pain management, etc. In addition, from time to time, lectures or symposia could be presented to the clergy and/or other personnel in the Archdiocese on bioethical issues, e.g., end-of-life issues, beginning-of-life issues. The Director could also focus one of the research projects at Saint Joseph’s University on an issue requested by the Cardinal or his representative in the Archdiocese.

Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino, M.D. and Rev. Peter A. Clark, S.J., Ph.D.


The mission of the Institute for Catholic Bioethics at Saint Joseph’s University is to develop and promote interdisciplinary research projects, educational programs, academic courses, clinical consultation and policy development services in the field of bioethics to meet the individual needs of the Saint Joseph’s University academic community, the medical, nursing and administrative staffs of the Philadelphia area Catholic and nonsectarian health care systems and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

The Institute is committed to educating health care professionals to be effective leaders in education, medicine and society. The Institute is also committed to understanding and respecting the role of religious and spiritual traditions, especially that of the Roman Catholic theological and philosophical tradition, in health care decision-making. The Institute promotes the ideals of Jesuit education in seeking to challenge others to be “men and women for others” in the “service of faith and the promotion of justice” in its teaching, research and service. Thus, while giving special regard to Catholic health-care ethics in teaching and research, the Institute also fosters respectful dialogue among all traditions represented in the student body and the patient population.

Bioethics Links:

Theoretical Medicine & Bioethics
The Virtual Mentor
National Catholic Bioethics Center
President’s Council on Bioethics
National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature
Bioethics.net
Program in Medical Ethics Law and the Humanities
Kennedy Institute of Ethics
Georgetown University Center for Clinical Bioethics
Medical College of Wisconsin: The Center for the Study of Bioethics
Case Western Reserve University
Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Phoebe R. Berman Bioethics Institute, Johns Hopkins University
The Bioethics Institute, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
American Society of Bioethics and Humanities
The Hastings Center



Consortium of Jesuit Bioethics Programs

The Consortium of Jesuit Bioethics Programs exists to promote education, research and expertise in bioethics consistent with the values of Jesuit higher education and in service to the Church and our society.

Contact Us:

The Institute of Catholic Bioethics
Saint Joseph's University
5600 City Avenue, BL 108
Philadelphia, PA 19131

Director
Peter A. Clark, S.J., Ph.D.
Professor –Theology & Health Administration
pclark@sju.edu
Phone: 610-660-1867
Fax: 610-660-3427

Assistant Director
Mark Aita, S.J., M.D.
maita@sju.edu
Phone: 610-660-3425
Fax: 610-660-3426

Senior Administrative Assistant
Theresa Marie O'Doherty
todohert@sju.edu
Phone: 610-660-3425
Fax: 610-660-3426