Department of Bioethics

Our faculty and fellows come from a diverse range of academic disciplines, including philosophy, medicine, social science, population health, and law. We conduct research utilizing empirical and conceptual methodologies, publishing in a range of high-impact journals. As a department, we average around 65 publications annually.

The NIH Department of Bioethics welcomes applications for fully funded two-year postbaccalaureate and postdoctoral research fellowships. Fellows are central to the activities and intellectual life of our interdisciplinary department, including weekly bioethics seminars, case conferences, ethics consultations, IRB deliberations, and other educational opportunities at NIH. They study ethical issues related to biomedical research, clinical practice, genetics, biotechnology, public health, health policy, population health and health disparities, and other important issues in bioethics.

The Department of Bioethics provides a Bioethics Consultation Service, the goal of which is to provide analysis and facilitate discussion about a range of ethical issues that can arise in caring for patient subjects or during the course of research conducted at the Clinical Center. The Consultation Service is open to anyone with an ethical question or concern, including investigators, subjects, families, physicians, nurses, administrators, social workers, and pastoral care providers. Anyone who works at the NIH or participates in research at the NIH Clinical Center can request a consult.