Penn Medical Ethics and Health Policy

Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom)

Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Ethical Considerations in Research with Older Adults" led by Emily Largent, JD, PhD, RN

Learn More 2025-03-11 12:00:00 2025-03-11 13:00:00 America/New_York Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Ethical Considerations in Research with Older Adults" led by Emily Largent, JD, PhD, RN Ethical Considerations in Research with Older Adults Emily Largent, JD, PhD, RN Chief, Division of Medical Ethics Associate Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy University of Pennsylvania Many older adults experience fragmented, poor quality, and high-cost care that fails to address adequately their needs and those of their care partners. There is a clear need for evidence to support the adoption of interventions and services that improve their wellbeing and extend their independence as long as possible. Yet, even as the population ages, older adults continue to be underrepresented in research. In this talk, we will identify various ethical and practical challenges that arise when including older adults in research. We will characterize why older adults can be more difficult to recruit and to retain, as well as ways to account for this. Further, though older adults are not necessarily vulnerable, many are. Sources of vulnerability can include cognitive impairment, which affects the ability to give informed consent, as well as being dependent on others to complete activities of daily living, which can affect the voluntariness of consent. We’ll discuss how to identify and address sources of vulnerability. We will also describe health disparities within the population of older adults and consider how this should inform research. Lunch provided. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

March

20

1104 Blockley Hall (Note: Virtual attendees can join by accessing this link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/95353951407.)

Health Policy Research Seminar: William Shrank, MD, Venture Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Bio + Health Team

Learn More 2025-03-20 12:00:00 2025-03-20 13:00:00 America/New_York Health Policy Research Seminar: William Shrank, MD, Venture Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Bio + Health Team Topic: "Cell and Gene Therapy - the Next Frontier in Value-Based Care." Bio: Dr. Shrank has been a venture partner to the Bio + Health team of Andreessen Horowitz, a private venture capital firm since January 2023. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Humana Inc., a leading care delivery and health plan administration company, from April 2019 to August 2022. In this role, his responsibilities included implementing Humana’s integrated care delivery strategy, with an emphasis on advancing the company’s clinical capabilities and core objective of improving the health outcomes of its members. Prior to joining Humana, Dr. Shrank served as Chief Medical Officer, Insurance Services Division, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) from April 2016 to February 2019. From 2013 to 2016, Dr. Shrank held several positions with CVS Health Corporation, including Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, and Chief Medical Officer of Provider Innovation. He also previously worked for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as Director, Research and Rapid-Cycle Evaluation Group. Dr. Shrank began his career as a practicing physician with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass. and as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Brown University and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He also holds a M.S. in Health Services from the University of California, Los Angeles. Abstract: New cell and gene therapy technology offers the potential to cure conditions that can massively transform the lives of eligible patients. And they generally cost millions of dollars each. Our highly fragmented system of paying for care threatens access to innovative therapies that offer extraordinary benefit to patients and value to society. Dr Shrank will describe the challenges we face as a system in affordably providing access to these therapies and outline market solutions to encourage access. 1104 Blockley Hall (Note: Virtual attendees can join by accessing this link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/95353951407.) Penn Medical Ethics

March

25

Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom)

Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Normothermic Regional Perfusion and the Dead Donor Rule. Can NRP Proponents Avoid Controversy?" led by Jake Greenblum, PhD and Tim Aylsworth, PhD

Learn More 2025-03-25 12:00:00 2025-03-25 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Normothermic Regional Perfusion and the Dead Donor Rule. Can NRP Proponents Avoid Controversy?" led by Jake Greenblum, PhD and Tim Aylsworth, PhD Normothermic Regional Perfusion and the Dead Donor Rule. Can NRP Proponents Avoid Controversy? Jake Greenblum, PhD Clinical Ethicist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Tim Aylsworth, PhD Associate Professor of Philosophy, Florida International University In this presentation, we review what normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is and the main debate around it concerning the ethical standard known as the dead donor rule (DDR), with opponents arguing that NRP violates the DDR, and many proponents denying this. As we highlight, both proponents and opponents alike assume the legitimacy of the DDR, an assumption we label “traditional.” We maintain that to best respond to opponents in this debate, traditional proponents must make use of the distinction between legal and biological death. However, unfortunately for proponents, making this distinction also calls into question the soundness of the DDR itself, something most proponents wish to avoid. Lunch provided. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

April

3

1104 Blockley Hall

Health Policy Research Seminar: Ravi Gupta, MD, Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

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April

8

Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom)

Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Understanding Health Equity" led by Doug MacKay, PhD

Learn More 2025-04-08 12:00:00 2025-04-08 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Understanding Health Equity" led by Doug MacKay, PhD Understanding Health Equity Douglas MacKay, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy University of North Carolina The concept of health equity (and its inverse, health inequity) is often invoked by public health policymakers and scholars to justify government action. Because health equity is so central to the operations of public health agencies, its meaning is highly consequential for public health policy. In this talk, Dr. MacKay first identifies challenges with two prominent approaches to identifying health inequities, disparitarian approaches, which define health inequities as unfair health disparities among groups, and derivative approaches, which define health inequities as health outcomes resulting from injustice. Dr. MacKay then offers a new framework for identifying health inequities and outlines the justificatory burdens public health scholars and policymakers must discharge to show that specific health outcomes are inequitable. Lunch provided; please register in advance. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

April

10

1104 Blockley Hall

Health Policy Research Seminar: Stella Yi, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Population Health, NYU

Learn More 2025-04-10 12:00:00 2025-04-10 13:00:00 America/New_York Health Policy Research Seminar: Stella Yi, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Population Health, NYU Topic: Harvest Share: A Community-Centered, Multi-Level Strategy To Improve Diet. Harvest Share is a partnered program across academia, 10 farm and community-based partners, 2 elementary schools and consultants specializing in language justice and social marketing. Harvest Share is an community-centered, multi-level strategy to improve diet for the community of Sunset Park, Brooklyn and the program is designed for English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Bangla-speakers. In this presentation Stella Yi - the PI of the NIH grant that funds this study will walk the audience through the formative research process to get to this point including the program foundation driven by participatory systems science, provide a program overview and updates on progress Stella Yi is an Associate Professor at NYU Langone, Department of Population Health, Section for Health Equity. Dr. Yi is a researcher focused on social justice for Asian American and immigrant communities. Her specific content area expertise is on multi-sector, community-partnered and culturally appropriate initiatives focused on nutrition and cardio-metabolic disease, the collection of disaggregated race/ethnicity data at the local and state levels, and application of inclusive research practices. Dr. Yi received her Masters in Public Health in Chronic Disease Epidemiology/Social Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health and her doctorate in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 1104 Blockley Hall Penn Medical Ethics

April

15

Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom)

Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Beyond Severity: Utility as a Criterion in Decision-Making About Reproductive Genomic Technologies" led by Eline Bunnik, PhD

Learn More 2025-04-15 12:00:00 2025-04-15 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Beyond Severity: Utility as a Criterion in Decision-Making About Reproductive Genomic Technologies" led by Eline Bunnik, PhD Beyond Severity: Utility as a Criterion in Decision-Making About Reproductive Genomic Technologies Eline Bunnik, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Medical Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands The severity of medical conditions is commonly used as a criteron in policy-making and practices of reproductive genomic technologies. In public healthcare systems, for instance, the concept of severity is used to limit access to pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) and pre-conception carrier screening. Yet severity is an internally complex, highly subjective concept that can be easily instrumentalised, with potentially adverse outcomes. Utility, by contrast, is a concept that is action-oriented, can be attributed to information rather than experiences, and is more clearly linked to the purpose and the context in which reproductive genomic technologies are employed. This presentation will propose to replace severity with utility as a criterion in decision-making about reproductive genomic technologies at the policy and practice level, and discuss the ethical and practical implications of this proposal – both its merits and its limitations. Lunch provided. Streaming availale via Zoom. Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

April

22

Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom)

Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Community Engagement in Research"

Learn More 2025-04-22 12:00:00 2025-04-22 13:00:00 America/New_York Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Community Engagement in Research" Community Engagement in Research Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, MSCI Professor of Medicine; Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence Vanderbilt University Medical Center Dr. Consuelo H. Wilkins is a board-certified geriatrician, Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence, and a Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Wilkins has clinical expertise in cognitive impairment, frailty, and depression and sees patients in the Division of Geriatric Medicine. More detail to follow. Lunch provided. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

April

24

1104 Blockley Hall

Health Policy Research Seminar: Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, Chair of the Department of Health Services,Professor, Brown University

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May

8

1104 Blockley Hall

Health Policy Research Seminar: Shekinah Fashaw-Walters, PhD, MSPH, John Russell Dickson MD Presidential Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics, University of Pennsylvania

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