IUCB Newsletter, August 2026

A message from Peter Schwartz

It's the 25th anniversary of the founding of the IU Center for Bioethics, and we’ll be celebrating that milestone all year, starting at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH), the leading organization in our field, in Indianapolis in October. At ASBH the IUCB is hosting a panel titled, The Indiana University Center for Bioethics Turns 25: Considering the Past, Present, and Future of Our Field, with Eric Meslin, PhD, our Founding Director, Colin Halverson, PhD, IUCB Faculty Investigator, and me. For those who aren’t attending ASBH, we hope to do a version of the same panel at IU later this year. Of note, seven of our faculty and staff are presenting papers or participating in panels at ASBH this year, sometimes more than one.

Check out our newsletter for our other news, publications, and scheduled events for our anniversary year, including IU Bioethics Grand Rounds in September and two TREATs talks. Much more is in planning and will be announced on our Events page, through our mailing list, and on our social media.

Peter Schwartz, MD, PhD

Director, Indiana University Center for Bioethics 

phschwar@iu.edu

 

IUCB Summer in Review

Dr. Halverson Receives Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award

IUCB Faculty Investigator, Colin Halverson, PhD, was recognized during the 2026 Department of Medicine's Annual Meeting for demonstrating excellence and promise in research. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Halverson!

Read the full news post 

 

 

 

Dr. Doyle Presents Findings from Public Deliberation run by the IU Center for Bioethics at Annual ELSI Congress

IUCB Assistant Research Professor, Tom Doyle, PhD, presented a poster on results from the "Biobanking in Indiana" public deliberation, run by the IUCB and funded by the Indiana CTSI at the 7th Annual ELSI Congress in Chapel Hill, NC. The ELSI Conference brought together leading researchers on the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) of genetics.

Read the full news post

 

 

Dr. Comer Becomes Interim Director of the Hall Center for Law and Health

IUCB Affiliate Faculty Member, Amber Comer, PhD, JD, FAAHPM, was recently selected to be the Interim Director at IU McKinney School of Law. Dr. Comer will also be a visiting associate professor of law, teaching torts and bioethics and the law.

Read the Hall Center's news post

Notable Publications from Our Faculty

Effect of Personalized Risk Messages on Patient intent and Decision Making in Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Randomized Controlled Trial - Peter Schwartz, Karen Schmidt - Medical Decision Making

Researchers and policy makers have touted the potential benefits of giving patients information about their personal risk level in helping them decide about cancer screening, supporting ethical goals of shared decision making. But few previous studies have tried such “personalized prevention” or found positive impacts. In this study, patients due for screening and their providers were randomized to get personalized or general information, and the results indicated significant impacts on patient choices and, for one subgroup, improved quality of decision-making.

Ethics by Design: Preserving Moral Judgement in an AI-Driven Health System - Amber Comer - American Journal of Bioethics

As Augmented Intelligence is integrated within various kinds of institutions, like medicine, public trust is declining. The concern lies beyond replacing clinicians, but replacing the proper ethical considerations made by humans in medical care.

Impact of Abortion Bans on Emergency Care for Patients With Vaginal Bleeding: An Ethnographic Analysis - Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds - Academic Emergency Medicine

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Tucker Edmonds and colleagues research how clinical care has changed for clinicians, and patients with vaginal bleeding seeking emergency care. The legal pressure on clinicians has driven a wedge between altered legal obligations and ethical obligations towards such patients.

IUCB Fall Course Offerings

IUCB helps students and trainees learn about Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

As part of its role in the Bioethics and Subject Advocacy Program of the Indiana CTSI, IUCB faculty teach RCR in many settings. If you're looking for RCR training, one of these opportunities may work for you:

  • GRDM-G504 Introduction to Research Ethics: Lead by Dr. Halverson, this course meets Thursday afternoons during the fall semester, offering an in-depth introduction to a wide range of issues in scientific integrity and the responsible conduct of research.
    Read more about G504 and RCR here

 

  • PERK: Planning and Conducting Ethical Research for K Recipients (PERK) is led by IUCB Faculty Investigator, Jane Hartsock, JD, MA and meets regularly to allow NIH K awardees to discuss ethical issues they've seen or are currently confronting in their research. This helps to fulfill requirements for continuing RCR education.
    Let us know if you're interested in participating

 

  • RCR Workshop: The RCR workshop is designed to provide an option to complete RCR training requirements for those who do not have funding for a full course. It meets monthly January-May and September-November and enrollment is open year round.
    Contact us to enroll

Friday, Sep 25 • 1-2 PM • Regenstrief Social Hub or online 

Bioethics Grand Rounds: Relationships and Trustworthiness as a Foundation for Ethical Biomedical Research

There has been increasing emphasis on the importance of public trust in biomedical research. However, what actually is “trust” and how do different conceptions of trust shape studies of public trust in biomedical science? In this talk, Dr. O'Doherty will reflect on the assumptions that underpin studies on trust in biomedical science.

Thursday, Oct 29 • 12-1 PM • online 

TREATS: Conflicts of Interest 

Additional information forthcoming. 

Thursday, Dec 3 • 12-1 PM • online 

TREATs: Environmental Sustainability in Research 

Additional information forthcoming.