Welcome to the Edmund D. Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics
The PCCB faculty and staff pledge solidarity with social movements like Black Lives Matter and with Georgetown leadership who are seeking to promote justice and to address systemic racism and discrimination. Read more
(June 22, 1920 – June 13, 2013)
Portrait by Jerry Crowley
The Pellegrino Center provides university-based ethics resources for individuals who shape and give health care. We are committed to the dynamic interplay between theory and practice, experience, and reflection. Center scholars bring expertise in theology, philosophy, basic science, and clinical practice to today’s ethical challenges. We seek to promote serious ethical reflection and discourse in pursuit of a just society and health care that affirms the dignity and social nature of all persons.
News and Announcements
The 2024 Pellegrino Symposium will take place on Friday, May 3, 2024 at 3:00 pm EDT via Zoom and will feature Nicole Piemonte, PhD, Associate Dean for Faculty Leadership and Clinical Associate Professor of Medical Humanities Creighton University School of Medicine, Phoenix Regional Campus and author of Afflicted: How Vulnerability Can Heal Medical Education and Practice speaking on More than “Soft Skills”: Compassion and Vulnerability in Medical Practice and Education More information
Emerging Topics in Catholic Health Care Ethics: A clinical ethics webinar series co-sponsored by the Catholic Health Association — April 10, 2024 1:00 pm: Conscience Protection and Catholic Health Care with the PCCB’s Ed Grant
PCCB faculty member and Kennedy Institute of Ethics Director Daniel P. Sulmasy, MD, PhD published a Perspective piece titled “Physicians, Spirituality, and Compassionate Patient Care” in the March 21, 2024 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine
The 2024 Harvey Lecture took place on Friday, March 1, 2024 at 3:00 pm via Zoom. “Nursing Ethics and Bioethics: Perspectives and Prospects for the Future” A Conversation with Kara Curry, MA, RN, HEC-C; Barbara Bennett Jacobs MPH, PhD, RN, HEC-C; Margaret Harvey Granitto PhD, ANP-BC; and Carol Taylor PhD, MSN, RN, FAAN. “Nursing Ethics and Bioethics: Perspectives and Prospects for the Future” — Moderated by Sarah B Vittone DBe, MSN, MS, RN, HEC-C More Information
On January 25, for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the PCCB and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics co-sponsored the Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series featuring Jonathan Moreno, PhD,
David and Lyn Silfen University Professor of Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania speaking on
Bioethics and the Rules-Based International Order Read the abstract and view the recording
On Wednesday December 6, Anne L. Dalle Ave, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine and PCCB faculty member, presented on “Healing Presence in Medicine: The Spiritual Path of Compassion” as part of the Ethics Webinar Series co-sponsored by the PCCB and the Catholic Health Association, Emerging Topics in Catholic Health Care Ethics.
Dr. James Giordano gave the Robert S. Landauer Lecture at the Health Physics Society Annual Meeting on July 24, 2023.
Dr. James Giordano‘s latest publications can be found in the Medical Research Archives of the European Society of Medicine, Science Direct, and Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine
PCCB Director Myles N. Sheehan, SJ, MD was a featured guest on the Catholic Health Association podcast Health Calls on July 24, 2023, in an episode titled “Strategies for Talking About the ERDs.” The episode is now live on CHA’s website and podcast services everywhere.
“Finding the ‘right and good healing acts’: Georgetown’s leadership in the complex field of medical ethics” — PCCB and Kennedy Institute of Ethics profiled in the Summer 2023 issue of Georgetown Health and in Georgetown Today
PCCB Director Myles N. Sheehan, SJ, MD on “How the ERDs Can Deepen Our Catholic Identity” in Summer 2023 Health Progress
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Center for Clinical Bioethics Programs
Your Health: A Sacred Matter
Watch this public television documentary on spirituality, religion, and medicine. Earn two free credits of CME/CEU for watching the entire film.