Center for Bioethics of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College was established in 2001. The main tasks of the center for Bioethics include doing academic research related to bioethics, providing policy advice and suggestions, conducting education and training in bioethics, and carrying out academic exchanges at home and abroad.
Main research areas
1. Ethical and normative research of clinical medicine.
2. Ethical governance of life science and biomedical research.
3. Research on ethics and ethical argumentation in public health practice and research.
4. Ethics and governance research on emerging biotechnologies.
At present, the center has more than 30 domestic and foreign researchers.
Domestic scholars:
Director: Professor Liu Depei(academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and former president of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College)
Executive director: Professor Zhai Xiaomei(member of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, member of the National Ethics Committee for Science and Technology, and member of Peking Union Medical College)
Chairman of academic committee: Professor Qiu Renzong(vice chairman of Medical Ethics Expert Committee of Ministry of Health and a famous Chinese bioethicist)
Foreign researchers:
Director of the center for Biomedical Ethics at University of Singapore: Professor Ezekiel J. Emanuel(famous American bioethicist from University of Pennsylvania), Professor Campbell Alastair(former Chairman of the Ethics and Management Committee of Biomaterials Database from the United Kingdom), Professor Capron Alexander(former head of Department of Ethics, Trade, Health Law and Human Rights of World Health Organization, former president of International Society for Bioethics and director of Pan Pacific Center for Bioethics at University of Southern California), Ruth Chadwick(professor of Cardiff University and director of UK Center for Economic and Social Research in Genomics), Professor Hans-Martin Sass(famous German philosopher and senior Fellow of Kennedy Institute for Ethics at Georgetown University, USA), Dr. Christine Grady(Director of Bioethics Department of NIH Clinical Center in the United States), Professor Reidar Lie(director of Philosophy Department of University of Bergen in Norway and part-time researcher of Bioethics Department of NIH in the United States), Dr. Richard Cash(from Harvard University) and other internationally renowned scholars.
In recent years, our researchers have been invited to participate in a series of expert seminars on the revision of international guidelines, including World Health Organization expert seminar(Geneva, Switzerland, Seattle, USA), expert seminar on the revision of Declaration of Helsinki(Kyoto, Japan), National progress report on ethical review Committee organized by European Union(Belgium) and expert meeting organized by United Nations Programme on AIDS(Geneva, Beijing). Besides, entrusted by National Health Commission of People‘s Republic of China, Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chinese Committee on Organ Donation, Maternal and Child Health Center of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, we have completed a series of policy advisory reports and revisions of relevant guidelines and regulations. What’s more, the Center has participated in work of a large number of expert committees of National Health Commission, formulation, consultation and revision of relevant domestic guidelines, and completing a series of research projects at home and abroad. In addition, in cooperation with NIH Bioethics Division, European Scientific Research Council and other international academic organizations, departments, domestic academic and research institutions, we have hosted a series of academic seminars, national continuing education and training programs.
Our center has done a lot of work in leading and promoting theoretical research and practice of bioethics in China, and we have a very profound academic accumulation. For instance, we have established close academic relations with many academic centers of famous domestic and foreign universities. So far, many scholars from the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, South Korea, India and other countries have visited us to scientific communications. What’s more, professor Hu Qingli, former Deputy Director-General of World Health Organization, has visited our center many times. Also, our researchers have been invited to attend and speak at many important international conferences. With lots of academic papers and works published in recent years, they have attracted great attention from our colleagues at home and abroad.
Despite severe COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, our team have completed a lot of work and meetings.
1. We have attended the first Academic Annual meeting of Fertility Protection and Repair Committee of China Prenatal and Postnatal Care Association and the fifth Silk Road Reproductive Medicine Summit Forum, and we were invited to deliver a speech on the topic of “Ethical Perspectives” as well.
2. We have attend the 40th Anniversary Meeting of Ethics Society of China and Ethics and Civilization.
3. We were invited by School of Philosophy, Fudan University to give a speech on “Human Genome Editing: Ethics, Law and Social Implications".
4. We have attended “Dialogue and exchange on China-US cooperation in public health (epidemic prevention and control)”, organized by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
In the future, our center will continue to promote academic development of bioethics in China through discussion, research and educational exchanges on ethical issues in life science and health care, proposing policy suggestions on development, research and application of life science and technology, disseminating relevant academic knowledge and promoting academic development of bioethics in China.
Website: http://www.chinabioethics.net/
Director: Depei Liu
Executive Director: Xiaomei Zhai