Author Archives: Brandy Elsenrath

Dr. Aurora M Washington recently joined UNC-CH Social Medicine department as a postdoctoral fellow in clinical ethics and the ethical, legal and social implications of precision medicine. Aurora earned her B.S in Biology from Tougaloo College where she was a Jackson Heart Study scholar. She completed a one-year postbaccalaureate program...

Margaret Waltz, PhD, of the UNC Department of Social Medicine and the UNC Center for Bioethics, was recently honored with the School of Medicine Dean’s Performance Award. The award is given out every year to individuals within the UNC School of Medicine who make significant contributions towards the School’s standing...

Waltz developed and implemented multiple innovative methodologies with the goal of translating research results to improving patient care and medical trainee education. First, Waltz created a method using audio recordings to analyze patient and provider communication during pediatric genetics and neurology appointments across clinics in North Carolina. This novel research...

The UNC Center for Bioethics is proud to launch a new ambassadorship between the Center and the undergraduate students of UNC-Chapel Hill. The new Bioethics Student Liaison position has been created to make the student population more aware of the work of the Center and to offer opportunities to explore...

Elena Conis, PhD, MS, MJ, is a writer and historian of medicine, public health, and the environment at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. Her current research focuses on scientific controversies, science denial, and the public understanding of science. On Friday, September 9, at 12:00...

The project is entitled Utilizing a Lupus Clinical Trials Network to Advance Diversity and Representation in Clinical Trials: Perspectives, Preferences, and Unmet Needs of Patients, Providers, and Stakeholder Agencies. The research team will leverage novel data sources to advance evidence for enrollment of underrepresented populations in lupus clinical trials within...

UNC Center for Bioethics core faculty member Jean Cadigan, Ph.D., along with a multidisciplinary team of researchers from across the country, was recently awarded an R01 grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH entitled, Beyond the Medical: The ELSI of Polygenic Scores for Social Traits.

UNC Center for Bioethics is pleased to see our core faculty member Jill Fisher, Ph.D., has been awarded the 2022 Donald W. Light Award for Applied or Public Practice of Medical Sociology for her book Adverse Events: Race, Inequality, and the Testing of New Pharmaceuticals. The Donald W. Light award...

The Center for Bioethics will host The 2022 Merrimon Lecture Series. Our first speaker is Elena Conis, Ph.D. on September 9th. The 45th Merrimon Lecture speaker is Heidi J. Larson, Ph.D. will be on September 14th. Finally, Perri Klass, M.D. on November 3rd, 12:00 pm.

Jill Fisher explains how clinical drug trials attract disproportionate participation by racial and ethnic minorities who then disproportionately assume risks of participating in these trials, often just to stay financially afloat.