Paul Root Wolpe, PhD named president of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors

Paul Root Wolpe, PhD, the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair in Jewish Bioethics, professor of medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, and sociology, and the director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University, has been elected as the president of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors (ABPD).  The association represents the leadership of more than 70 academic bioethics programs across North America and is dedicated to fostering the development and success of bioethics programs housed primarily in academic institutions.

“I am honored to serve in this role for the Association of Bioethics Program Directors and am excited to work alongside our talented officers and members,” Wolpe says. “Together, we will continue to advance the field of bioethics and promote tenure, funding, and publication of bioethicists in the academy.”

The ABPD also meets regularly with representatives of NIH agencies to discuss funding opportunities and integration of ethics in NIH programs.

Wolpe moved to Emory University in the summer of 2008 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was on the faculty for more than 20 years in the Departments of Psychiatry, Sociology, Medical Ethics, and the university’s Center for Bioethics.

Wolpe served as past president of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, and spent 15 years as the senior bioethicist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. His scholarly work focuses on the social, religious, and ideological impact of biotechnology on the human condition. He is editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience and sits on the editorial boards of over a dozen professional journals.