History

The Center was founded in the fall of 1999 as the Center for the Study of Medical Ethics and Humanities under the leadership of Jeremy Sugarman, M.D. From its inception, the Center’s mission was to develop educational and research programs in clinical and research ethics and to encourage interdisciplinary work in the study of medicine across Duke University.

 

In November, 2006, the Center was renamed the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, & History of Medicine, in honor of Dr. Josiah C. Trent, a noted Duke surgeon and medical historian who died of cancer at the age of 34. His wife, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, has made several generous contributions to Duke in Dr. Trent’s honor, including the donation to Duke Medical Center Library of the prestigious Trent Collection of historical medical artifacts and textbooks. She and the Trent Foundation also donated the endowment for two chaired professorships: one in the history of medicine and one in the medical humanities.

 

In July 2007, Dr. Ross McKinney, a pediatrician and clinical researcher, became the Director of the Trent Center.