Over the years, the Center has sponsored regional and national conferences and workshops on a wide range of topics:
The Finding Consciousness workshop provided a forum for scientists, philosophers, lawyers, ethicists and medical practitioners to discuss a host of ethical issues raised by fMRI technology. Neuroscientists have recently developed ways to detect consciousness in patients with severe brain injury who show little or no outward sign of consciousness.
Rethinking the Ethics of Clinical Research: A Workshop on Core Issues of Clinical Research This workshop fostered in-depth discussion among participants about the ethics of payment to research subjects, the conditions under which consent is valid, the nature and justification of researcher obligations to communities (as opposed to individual subjects), and the nature and justification of special, supra-scientific obligations of researchers (e.g., for post-trial or ancillary care).
Life Lines: Poetry for Our Patients, Our Communities, Our Selves brought together poets and practitioners from across the US with an interest in examining the place of poetry in caregiving. Panels of poets and health practitioners presented perspectives on the ways poetry can play a part in the provision of care and the process of healing.
Maternal Birth Trauma in the Developing World: Ethical Issues in Obstetric Fistula brought practitioners and scholars together to establish international guidelines on ethically managing obstetric fistula.