October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2

Frank Wagner is the bioethicist for the Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre (CCAC); Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine; and a member of the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. He provides clinical and orga-nizational ethics consultation and teaching and also sits on the Joint West Park, Bridgepoint, and Toronto Central CCAC Research Ethics Board (REB). Frank is

also a member of the Province of Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee (OHTAC), which provides recommendations to the Ontario Ministry of Health on new and emerging health technologies. He is also the co-chair of the Community Ethics Network (CEN) a consortium of 37 community based healthcare and sup-port service organizations, focused on ethical decision-making in community health.

JCB: Tell us (the reader) a bit about the CCAC bioethics service? Have there been any significant changes or innovations you have been part of that you would like the community to know about?

Frank: Our clinical ethics service provides case consultation to both our professional and non-regulated staff on issues such as informed consent for treatment in our in-home service programs, and for placement in LTC

homes; for identification and addressing of end-of life issues in our palliative program, and for pae-diatric issues in our child and family programs. We’ve also made a significant investment in ethics training and education for all our staff, including management, and offer a variety of workshops on ethical decision-making. We also open these ses-sions to our community service provider partners.

Our work has become even more exciting and challenging as we move to a population based community service model where we attempt to assist

Feature: An Interview with Frank Wagner

cont’d on page 3...

In This Issue

1 Feature: An Interview with Frank Wagner2 Director’s Corner4 Article: The International MHSc Programme5 Announcements6 Presentations at the Accreditation Canada Conference7 Article: Conflict of Interests8 Canadian Palliative Sedation Therapy Guidelines-Moving Forward9 Advances in Technology10 Job Opportunities13 Request for Contributions for Review14 Call for Papers15 Recent Publications16 Call for Proposals17 Seminars, Events & Conferences21 Submission & Contact Information

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 2

Director’s Corner

In a Director’s Corner last year I spoke about the impending H1N1 pandemic and how ethics could inform a health systems response to the virus.

This summer has seen a considerable preparation in the health sector in the expectation of increased circulation of the virus in the fall. At the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, CanPREP (Cana-dian Program of Research on Ethics in a Pandemic) has been busy reorienting its work from pandemic preparedness to pandemic response. To that end we hosted a symposium on 23 September 2009 at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics in which we released a series White Papers highlighting research findings from our public engagement efforts and distilling the findings of the previous research we have done to SARS to the present time. The symposium was well attended with over 75 present in the Great Hall at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics with dozens more joining by webcast. Our panellists, representing community agencies, our hospital part-ners, citizen groups, first nations, and public health agencies all spoke with candour and frankness about the challenges they face. Our media reach was quite extensive with front page coverage in the Ottawa Citizen.

We are pleased that our research has been translated into the public domain. We hope to foster an open and spirited debate on some of the ethical issues raised by pandemic response. We recognize many of the limitations of the work we have done thus far.

Public engagement has assumed prominence in health research. Our public engagement research was quite modest in scale. Much of the focus was on exploring various methodologies and their strengths and limita-tions. We do believe that the results were meaningful. We hope this is just a beginning.

There are likely many more challenges that will arise, both during the response and in the aftermath in

terms of evaluating the adequacy and ef-fectiveness of our response to H1N1. We hope to continue to host symposia draw-ing together members of the broader JCB community – including health care practi-tioners, policy makers, public health agen-

cies, scholars, and citizens – to continue an informed, respectful discussion and reflection on these issues.

The White Papers can be found on the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics webpage (www.jointcentreforbioethics.ca) on the front page with a link to the CanPREP website (www.canprep.ca) where there is a link to the papers and a link to the web-casted discussions.

Ross Upshur Director, Joint Centre for Bioethics; Director, Primary Care Research Unit; Canada Research Chair in Primary Care Research; Professor,

Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 3

Feature

our clients navigate through the healthcare system as well help them address their healthcare needs as they live their lives as independently as possible in the community.

JCB: How did you get involved in applied ethics?

Frank: Two separate but overlapping experiences made it abundantly clear to me that I needed to learn more about the field of ethics: Over a five year period, I was significantly involved in the development and implementation of our first in-home palliative team in association with the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care at Mt. Sinai Hospital. That experience gave me considerable insight into the difficult ethical issues in advance care planning and end-of-life care faced by both the healthcare providers and patients and their families. At the end of that period, my CEO, Camille Orridge, also identified the need for our orga-nization to further explore the area of ethics and com-munity based health service delivery, and supported my return to school for the MHSc in Bioethics at the University of Toronto, Joint Centre for Bioethics.

JCB: What is the biggest challenge you have faced?

Frank: I would suggest that meeting the demands of staff from our own organization as well as other community health providers for both training and consultation on how to identify ethical issues and how to address them in a consistent, rational man-ner has been most challenging. In addition, I have

been challenged by working with staff and clients and families to deal with the moral distress that is often a result of imperfect processes. The other major challenge has been building and sustaining an ethics infrastructure that will serve a large group of commu-nity health providers, as they jointly work on identify-ing and addressing ethical issues that are inherent in community health service delivery.

JCB: What achievement are you most proud of?

Frank: I’m very proud of our work in developing the Community Ethics Network (CEN) and the CEN Ethical Decision-Making Toolkit which assists both profes-sional staff and non-regulated staff such as personal support workers and health care aides in Long-Term Care homes identify and address ethical issues in their everyday work. Our community health care staff generally work in clients’ homes and are often isolated from their colleagues, and rarely have the opportunity for formal ethics consults. The ethics training and tools we provide through our Network association of agencies has already made a significant impact on these workers knowledge and ability to identify and unpack these ethical issues, then to attempt to address these issues, and finally, to know where to go for help when they do not feel they can address them themselves.

Comments on this article? Email your response to newseditor.jcb@utoronto.ca. We may publish your email in the next issue.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 4

Article: The International MHSc ProgrammeGraduates of the international MHSc in Bioethics were featured in a recent special issue of the Journal of Academic Ethics. The special issue is called “Building Research Ethics Capacity in Developing World Contexts: the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics Experience.”

Over the past few years students in the interna-tional MHSc have pre-sented their experiences at various fora in Canada. Dr. Deborah Poff, the editor of the Journal of Academic Ethics, was favourably impressed by what she had seen over the years by presentations from the fellows and approached Dr. Jim Lavery and myself about the possibility of putting together a series of articles highlighting the experi-ence of the programme that has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center over the past 8 years.

The journal was released with a publication date of December 2008 but was actually just made avail-able over the summer and contains summaries of the training experience of our alumni from five coun-tries – Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sudan. There is an introductory paper by myself explaining the goals and objectives of the Fogarty International programme and and a summary epilogue by Professor Solly Benatar explaining the need for enhanced capac-ity building in low- and middle-income countries.

The collection of articles is meant to redress a gap in the literature. In my Introduction I quote David Serwadda who reviewed a recent Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics. He writes: “Given that this

book has 88 contributing authors I was hard pressed to find any contributor from a developing country. This is particularly disappointing since a number of competent clinical researchers come to mind. The

editors indicate that given the global nature of the clinical trials they have tried to include authors from as many countries as possible. It would have been interesting to have perspective of authors from developing countries from this section of the book.”1 We believe that this the-matic special issue partly addresses this gap as each of the five main contribu-

tions is particularly devoted to giving voice to the perspectives of those from developing countries.

In the papers our alumni were asked to address the following 6 questions: 1) to describe the nation they come from, its history, demographics; 2) describe the current health challenges the country is facing; 3) describe current research responses to those health challenges; 4) describe current research ethics con-text and challenges; 5) describe current institutional capacity needs; and 6) describe how these needs have been met by the University of Toronto pro-gramme, their thoughts on the partnership and their experience of the programme, and their outstanding challenges they face.

I am very proud of the contribution to the literature on building research ethics capacity in low and middle income countries that our alumni have made. I invite all of your to read the articles as many of you in our community have contributed to the education and growth of the Fogarty programme. cont’d...

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 5

Article

Jennifer Keelan, Assistant Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto is a recipient of a Career Scientist award from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

It is my great pleasure to welcome Kevin Reel, full-time Ethicist. Kevin’s position will be shared by York Central Hospital and Southlake Regional Health Centre.

Kevin completed his MSc (Medical Eth-ics) from Imperial College, London UK, a postgraduate certificate in Higher Education from Oxford Brookes University UK, a post graduate diploma in Healthcare Ethics from King’s College, London UK, and his BSc in Occupational Ther-apy from the University of Toronto. He has recently completed a Fellowship in Clinical and Organizational Ethics through the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto.

Kevin brings to YCH his experience in clinical consulta-tion, organizational ethics and the provision of ethics education. Kevin has extensive previous experience in the medical field through his first career as an occupational therapist in Canada and the U.K which

included working in patient care, management and as the Education and Research Project Manager with the U.K College of Occupational Therapists.

Kevin’s joint appointment with YCH and SRHC will involve providing strategic leadership in the develop-ment and implementation of the ethics program at both organizations. He will provide consultations on bioethics issues for staff, patients and families and provide leadership and mentorship to members and facilitators of the ethics forum. Kevin began his joint YCH/SRHC appointment on September 25 and can be reached at ext. 7150 or by email at kreel@yorkcentral.on.ca. His office at YCH is in room 1334.

Tiziana Rivera, RN, BScN, MSc, GNC(C)Acting Chief Practice OfficerYork Central Hospital

David Moher, Paula Rochon, John Hoey, An-Wen Chan, Lorraine Ferris, Joel Lexchin, Marleen Van Laethem, Sunila Kalkar, Melanie Sekeres, Wei Wu, Andrea Gru-neir. Screening Investigator Financial Conflict of Inter-est: A Checklist for Authors, Editors, and Readers. Poster presentation at Sixth International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication, September 10-12, 2009, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Announcements

Link to the Journal of Academic Ethics: http://www.springerlink.com/content/lh80020tj1vj/?p=652035f11799483195a194c5ce8bde1e&pi=0

ReferenceSerwadda D. We cannot afford to ignore clinical 1. research ethics. Lancet 373 (9659): 203-4.

Contributed by:Ross Upshur, Director, Joint Centre for Bioethics; Director, Primary Care Research Unit; Canada Research Chair in Primary Care Research; Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 6

Presentations at the Accreditation Canada Conference

Accreditation Canada hosted a national conference on ethics in health care on October 1 & 2, 2009 in To-ronto to discuss ethical issues, from the bedside to the boardroom, and true strategies that support ethical decision-making and help meet Accreditation Canada’s standards.

A number of members from the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics gave the fol-lowing presentations at the conference:

Plenary session: Gib-son J, Breslin J. “A Burning Platform for Ethics in Healthcare”

Abstract: Kaufman H, King J. “Accreditation and Beyond: Ethics Fa-cilitators in the Hub and Spoke Model Address Accreditation Canada Standards and Inspire Excellent Care”.

Poster: submitted by Ibarra K. and pre-sented on her behalf by Frank Wagner “The Community Ethics Net-work: Building an Integrated, Accountable and Sus-tainable Network of Community Partner”. Poster: Wagner F, Campbell M, Heesters A, Kaufman H. “Variation on a Theme: Development of Regional Ethics Networks and Services”.

Poster: Wright L, Ross K, Silva D. “Review of Ethical Guidelines for the Evaluation of Living Organ Donors”

Poster: Godkin D, Chidwick P, Coughlin M, Faith K, Frolic A, Harding-ham L. “Clinical Eth-ics Summer Institute: Educational Innovation for Meeting the Needs of Diverse Healthcare Organizations”.

Poster: Winsor S, Godkin D. “Missis-sauga-Halton Regional Ethics Service? An Alternative Delivery Model”.

Workshop: Van La-ethem M. “Ethics Oversight of Research” by Marleen Van La-ethem

Poster: Van Laethem M. “Is this research proposal ethical? Exam-ple of a leading prac-tice tool for Research Ethics Boards”.

Accreditation Canada made use of the Toronto Com-munity Care Access Centre, Community Ethics Net-work’s Toolkit as support material in the conference breakout sessions using sample frameworks for ethical decision-making.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 7

Article: Conflict-of-Interests

During June 28-30, I had the privilege of attending the Forum on Conflict of Interest in Academe (FOCI-Academe) as a representative of the Joint Centre for Bioethics, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. It af-forded the unique opportunity for robust consideration of Conflict of Interests (COI) arising in a variety of milieus including continuing medical education, clinical care, research, and institutions. One highly valued ex-perience was the opportunity to collectively deliberate complex COI issues with senior administrators repre-senting top academic medical centres (AMC) across North America.

While a myriad of COI definitions exist, a fairly rep-resentative one is from the 2009 Institute of Medi-cine (IOM) report on Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education and Practice, which defines COI as, “circumstances that create a risk that professional judgments or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest.” In considering the IOM definition, I believe there are five embedded points to be made more explicit:

Context where circumstances that create a risk 1. arise (e.g. clinical, research, education, institu-tional, etc.) Nature of relationship (within given context, e.g. 2. fiduciary, contractual, knowledge and/or power differential, etc.) Identification & prioritization of one interest as 3. primary over other(s)Undue influence (degree of influence that can 4. overcome otherwise rational thinking) Harm or detriment (actual or potential and associ-5. ated magnitude) to primary interest

Each of these five points warrant thorough consider-

ation but questions regarding what constitute “undue influence” and “harm” percolated discussion through-out the conference.

A conference lecture by Dr. Steven Hyman, from Harvard University, on the topic “Conflicts beyond Compensation: Limitations of Rational Choice Mod-els,” initiated the undue influence discussion. Hy-man explored what he characterized as the standard economic view that humans are rational and selfish. Therefore, the size of a gift or inducement should influence behavior proportionally. One inference from this economic view is that gifts or inducements that fall below a certain threshold are benign and do not influence behavior, e.g. pens or stationary from a pharmaceutical company. This standard economic view fuels the common misconception that associated bias from accepting gifts, payments, etc. is a matter of rational choice rather than unconscious bias. Hy-man argued that this conventional perspective on ac-cepting gifts inaccurately implies that physicians who are induced by opportunities for personal gains are therefore consciously choosing to act unethically. A relevant lingering question pertaining to “undue influ-ence” is to what degree does implicit or unconscious bias influence thought and action? Hyman argued that unconscious bias shapes the salience of information such that information which confirms self-interested positions is sought and assimilated, irrespective of the value of the potential inducement. This contention is increasingly supported in academic literature through neuroscience and other types of behavioral science research. For example, the Implicit Attitude Test (IAT) measures the reaction time of associations, e.g. link-ing faces with different attributes to test unconscious biases. (To explore some of the available IATs refer to: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ ).

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 8

ArticleWhile the predominant goal in preventing and miti-gating COIs is to protect clinical integrity, the scope of impact for a COI can manifest negative repercus-sions ranging from the individual patient to the insti-tutional or wider community, including impairment of public trust. COIs arising in AMCs are complicated in that they can arise at numerous organizational levels and range in seriousness within an already complex system. Recognition of this interconnection is vital to enable appropriate identification of the type, nature, and extent of potential COI that can arise in academic medicine. Further consideration and research is need-ed on the sub-topics of undue influence and harm. Knowledge enhancement in these areas two areas would potentially augment understanding for the need to reduce potential COIs and manage those that might arise. My hope is that this can be accomplished in a way that fosters public trust, transparency, and con-fidence that COIs are in fact a potential harm worth tempering and not merely bureaucratic impediments.

References:Lo, B., Field, M.J. (Eds.). (2009) Conflict of Interest in 1. Medical Research, Education, and Practice. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Dana, J., Lowenstein, G. A Social Science Perspec-2. tive on Gifts to Physicians from Industry. JAMA. 2009; 290(2): 252-255.

Sally Bean, J.D., M.A.Clinical & Research Ethicist, Sun-nybrook Health Sciences Centre & University of Toronto, Joint Centre for Bioethics

Canadian Palliative Sedation Therapy Guidelines-Moving Forward

A small working group was formed in the Spring of 2008 to look at the status of palliative sedation guide-lines in Canada and to move forward with the estab-lishment of a consensus-based set of clinical guide-lines to provide clarity on the somewhat controversial ethical and medical issues related to this practice.

The working group consist of Dr Larry Librach, Dr Victor Cellarius from the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care in Toronto, Dr Mervyn Dean from Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, Dr Doreen Oneschuk from Edmonton Alberta, and Blair Henry, Ethicist at

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. The development of a preliminary set of guidelines is being supported by the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians – and will be vetted throughout the pallia-tive care and ethics community locally and internation-ally for comment and input. The preliminary review of this document could be available in November of this year- with a consensus process beginning shortly af-ter. Anyone with questions about this working group, please contact Blair Henry at Sunnybrook Health Sci-ences Centre: blair.henry@sunnybrook.ca

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 9

Advances in Technology

Google Wave

A new technological innovation from Google Inc. called Google Wave is currently being beta-tested by 100,000 people from around the world. Google Wave incorpo-rates elements of email, instant messaging chat, wiki documents, blogs, and photo and video sharing to create a form of communication called a “hosted conversation” or “wave.” It is an online tool for “communication and collaboration”, where a “wave” can be both a conversa-tion and a document where people can have discussions and can collaborate using vari-ous mediums – text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

Communications akin to email can be edited by several users simultaneously and users can chat in real time. Of course, this technology is quite innova-tive for research collaboration and other types of meetings. If Google Wave is used as a forum for a meeting, latecom-ers can even replay the proceedings they have missed – including all video, photos, audio, and text that was shared. Further, these “waves” can be digitally archived, creating a richer, more complex form of minutes for future reflection.

Interestingly, Google Wave exists in real time. This format is incredibly conducive to meetings with people from various geographical locations, or even for those in the same room. Sharing photos, videos, audio, and documents between team members occurs instantly and will be documented digitally. Google Wave enables vid-eoconferencing and teleconferencing, however it builds on these forms of communication by further enabling all users to share and revise digital files.

Here is an illustration of Google Wave being utilized for research or academic purposes: A research, academic, or clinical team may meet virtually within Google Wave with some members present both in person and online, and others solely online as they cannot physically attend the meeting. Each member is able to instant message other team members, or speak to them through video or teleconferencing. If a paper is being discussed, the paper can be shared within Google Wave using Google Docs, and each team member can revise the document while others watch or join in. This is especially conve-

nient when editing a manu-script with co-authors. Any relevant papers or news stories discussing the topic at hand can also be brought up for all participants to view. The pro-ceedings from this meeting can be sent to absent members at the close of the meeting and the “wave” can be revisited by individual team members or the entire team in future meetings.

What makes Google Wave distinct from any form of collaborative communication is that it combines almost every imaginable form of communication, and strategy for collaboration, into one forum. Google Wave is open source and free software, and requires only one user-name and password to access your Gmail, documents, and conversations. More information and a demo of Google Wave can be found at http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html. The public release of Google Wave is slated for the end of the year.

Contributed by:Maxwell J. Smith, CanPREP Project Coordinator - and -Sachin Sahni, Research Assistant, CanPREP

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 10

Job Opportunities

The Wharton School of the University of Penn-sylvania, Department of Legal Studies and Busi-ness Ethics - One-year Teaching Position

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for a one-year teaching position (open in rank; not tenure-track) in the field of busi-ness ethics in its Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics. It is envisioned that the successful applicant will be an active participant in the intellec-tual life of the Department.

This position may be renewable for one or two ad-ditional years. The Department has twenty full-time faculty who offer over twenty different courses in Wharton¹s undergraduate, MBA and doctoral pro-grams and whose research is regularly published in leading journals. Candidates trained in philosophy, law, business, economics, social science, or combi-nations thereof, are encouraged to apply. Applicants should have superior academic credentials, strong research potential, and a demonstrated commitment to business ethics.

Information regarding the Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department can be found at http://lgst.whar-

ton.upenn.edu. Specific information about the Ethics Program can be found at http://ethics.wharton.upenn.edu. The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds. The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Women, minority candidates, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Priority will be given to materials received before December 11, 2009, consideration will be given to ap-plications received through January 15, 2010.

Please submit your letter of introduction, resume, and evidence of teaching excellence (if available) by December 11, 2009. Also include the names and email addresses of those individuals who will be writ-ing letters of recommendation. Electronic submissions are encouraged.

Please send to: Lauretta Tomasco, Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department The Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania 3730 Walnut Street - Room 632 Jon M. Huntsman Hall Philadelphia, PA 19104-6340. Email: tomascol@wharton.upenn.edu

The post-doctoral fellowship of the Commit-tee on Global Thought at Columbia University brings together an innovative group of interdisciplin-ary researchers from around the world. The Fellow-ship gives emerging scholars the opportunity to work with distinguished faculty and provides a space for collaborative research and publication. Global Thought encourages interdisciplinary, transnational research under three broad themes: Secularism and Diversity, Global Governance, and Poverty and Inequality. Past fellows have researched topics including the local

socio-economic consequences of global policy, the historical roots of identity, and the evolution of trans-national and international political structures. Scholars from any discipline may apply, provided that they successfully indicate how their work will contribute to Global Thought’s research themes. Up to four fellow-ship spots are available for the academic year begin-ning August 1, 2010.

The term of the fellowship is two calendar years, be-ginning August 1, 2010 and ending July 31, 2012.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 11

Job OpportunitiesRequirements - Fellows are expected to:

Teach or assist with one undergraduate or gradu-• ate course, either of their own design or as speci-fied by the Committee. When teaching, fellows are required to hold weekly office hours.Participate in planning and execution of research • workshops and symposia.Present their individual research projects.•

Eligibility International applicants are encouraged to apply. If selected, Columbia University will sponsor the appro-priate visa. Candidates will be considered only if:

They received their first doctorate from a recog-• nized university no earlier than August 1, 2005 (Those who have not completed their degree at the time of application must provide a statement from an adviser citing the expected date of com-pletion.) They do not hold or have not held a tenure or • tenure-track position.They can fluently speak, publish, and teach in • English.They submit an original research proposal.•

Benefits An annual salary of $55,000, which includes health •

insurance and other standard benefits.Access to Columbia University libraries and com-• puter resources.Shared office space.• Eligibility for additional funding for special research • projects.Eligibility to apply for campus housing.•

Application Deadlines: Priority Deadline: • November 1, 2009 ($30 ap-plication fee)General Deadline: • November 15, 2009 ($50 ap-plication fee)

The application fee may be waived at the discretion of the selection committee.

To apply:Complete the Application online at http://cgt.colum-bia.edu/form/

All questions may be directed to: cgt.postdoc@gmail.com. For more information please visit our website: http://cgt.columbia.edu/about/opportunities/post_doctoral_fellowship1/

The JCB is pleased to present the report “Working for an Ethical Future: The First Decade of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics”. If you would like copies of the report mailed to you, please send an email request (including your mailing address) to beth.woods@utoronto.ca. Al-ternatively, copies can be picked up at the JCB, 88 College Street, Toronto.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 12

Job Opportunities

Position Title: Research Associate – Multi-stakeholder Dialogues StudyDuration: 4 year term at full-time hours for 3 years and part-time hours for 1 yearLocation: 480 University Avenue, TorontoCode: RA-01Reports to: Senior ScientistPosting Date: September 24, 2009Closing Date: October 8, 2009

Organization SummaryThe Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promo-tion (OAHPP) is an arm’s-length government agency dedicated to protecting and promoting the health of all Ontarians and reducing inequities in health. As a hub organization, OAHPP links public health practitio-ners, front-line health workers and researchers to the best scientific intelligence and knowledge from around the world.

OAHPP provides expert scientific and technical support relating to infection prevention and control; surveil-lance and epidemiology; health promotion, chronic disease and injury prevention; environmental and occupational health; health emergency prepared-ness; and public health laboratory services to support health providers, the public health system and partner ministries in making informed decisions and taking informed action to improve the health and security of Ontarians. For more information about OAHPP, visit www.oahpp.ca.

Position SummaryThe Research Associate – Multi-stakeholder Dialogues

Study will be responsible for the overall coordination of a series of evidence-informed deliberative dialogues involving a large inter-disciplinary team of research-ers, bioethicists, data custodians, and policy makers.

Reporting Relationship & Span of ControlThe Research Associate – Multi-stakeholder Dialogues Study will be assigned primary responsibility to the Senior Scientist.

Key ResponsibilitiesThe Research Associate – Multi-stakeholder Dialogues Study will work closely with the Principal investiga-tor, co-investigators, staff, and students to manage the multiple aspects of different projects, including: Facilitating and coordinating literature syntheses of empirical and conceptual literature, addressing ethical issues in the use of personal information for health research by:

Drawing upon the expertise of specific research • team members for each literature synthesis;Assisting graduate students to synthesize the • literature. Assisting small teams of co-investigators and collaborators in the development and/or adap-tation of case scenarios for use in the deliberative dialogues; Coordinating 3 rounds of deliberative dialogues:Round 1: between researchers, bioethicists, and • data custodiansRound 2: among members of the general public • and those with specific health conditionsRound 3: drawing representatives from Rounds • 1 and 2 to meet with policy and law makers to address possible changes in laws and policies in response to the previous dialogues. Coordinating team members’ analysis and write-up of research findings.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 13

Job OpportunitiesKnowledge and Skill

Knowledge and expertise in both qualitative and • quantitative research methods;Prior experience with conducting deliberative dia-• logues or equivalent public engagement strategies is an asset but not essential;Expertise in using qualitative analysis software is • also an asset. Excellent time and people-organization skills; • Ability to develop effective relationships and liaise • with a large number of stakeholders – both mem-bers of the research team and those external to the team; Strong writing skills; • Content expertise in one or more of the following • areas: Bioethics; Social sciences.

Education and Experience Minimum Master’s level training in bioethics, public • policy, health policy, public health or equivalent; At least 2 years’ experience as a research assistant • or in conducting deliberative dialogues or equiva-lent.

Your cover letter and resume must clearly indicate how you meet the qualifications and competencies.E-mail your resume referencing RA-01 to careers@oahpp.ca. For more information about the Agency visit our website at www.oahpp.ca

Thank you for your interest in this position, however, only qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview. Please continue to view our website for new career opportunities with the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.

Request for Contributions for Review

Wesley Cragg, York University, Project Director and Principal Investigator of Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN), and Alex Wellington, Ryerson University, Acting Director of Ryerson’s Ethics Network WELCOME CONTRIBUTIONS to a Bibliogra-phy on “Ethics at the Business-Health Care Interface”.

We are especially interested in items which focus on the Canadian context. General conceptual and theo-retical materials will also be very helpful.

There are Preliminary Working Biographies (one gen-eral and one specifically on medical education) acces-sible on the CBERN website:

http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/research/proj-ects/healthcare/bibliographycoi/index.html [General]

-AND- http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/research/proj-ects/healthcare/bibliographyeducation/index.html [Specific - Medical Education]

If there are any items that are missing which you think should be there, PLEASE SEND THE REFERENC-ES to healthandbusiness@cbern.ca

Thank you very much for your consideration of our request.

Wesley CraggEmail: wcragg@schulich.yorku.ca

Alex Wellington Email: awelling@philosophy.ryerson.ca

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 14

Call for Papers

Wesley Cragg, York University, Principal Investigator of Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN), and Alex Wellington, Ryerson University, Acting Director of Ryerson’s Ethics Network

INVITE the submission of WORKING PAPERS for a Con-ference on “Ethics at the Business-Health Care Interface: Finding and Filling the Gaps”

DATES of Conference:Friday September 17 (evening)Saturday September 18 (all day)Sunday September 19 (half day)

VENUE:York University Campus, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario

PAPERS DUE: August 1, 2010*NOTE: All workshop papers will be posted on a secure, invitation only portion of the CBERN website and avail-able for reading by all workshop participants on August 1, 2010. Workshop participants will be encouraged to become familiar with the workshop papers prior to the workshop.

Working Papers should be suitable for a 20 minute presentation, which will be followed by questions and discussion. It is the hope of the conference organizers that presenters will be willing to turn their Working Pa-pers into publications for an Anthology, which we intend to publish as a follow up on the Conference.

We are especially interested in items which focus on the Canadian context. General conceptual and theoretical papers are very welcome.

SUGGESTED TOPICS:• Advertising, incl. Direct to Consumer Advertising• Benefit Sharing• Biobanks• Clinical Trials• Conflicts of Interest• Essential Medicines and Patent Reform• Ghostwriting• Leadership• Medical Education• Medical Tourism/ Surgical Tourism

This workshop will mark the culmination of a SSHRC funded research project entitled “Ethics at the health-care/business interface”. The summary of the proposal and the detailed project description can be found at: www.cbern.ca/research/projects/healthcare/healthand-business.html

It may be possible for the organizers to provide assis-tance for travel and accommodation. Further announce-ments in this regard will be forthcoming. All information about the workshop will be posted when it is available on the CBERN website at: www.cbern.ca

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:Submissions should be emailed to Wesley Cragg (wcragg@schulich.yorku.ca) AND Alex Wellington (alex.wellington@sympatico.ca) by August 1, 2010.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 15

Call for PapersA symposium sponsored by the Ethics Centre of the University of Sudbury February 25-27, 2010. Theme: Ethical issues related to the use of new infor-mation and communication technologies.

Faithful to its mission of promoting ethical research, the Ethics Centre of the University of Sudbury is spon-soring its third national symposium addressing ethical issues arising from the deployment and use of new technologies in the fields of information and commu-nication.

The deployment and utilization of these new tech-nologies affect human interactions on many levels, from international relations, to private lives (think of the controversy around the use of personal informa-tion on Facebook), and including the public policies of nations. The impact of these new technologies is also experienced in institutions such as hospitals, the legal profession etc. They also impact on the environment, both by corrupting the airwaves on which they broad-cast, and by the growing proliferation of junk mail.

The theme of ethics in an age of new information and communication technologies is thus both timely and complex. This call for presentations is an invitation to provoke thought and does not limit the sub-themes which may inspire reflection. We will gladly welcome all proposals, regardless of their approach, in order to deepen and clarify various ethical questions raised by the deployment and use of these newer technologies.

There is no registration fee for this symposium. Dur-ing the symposium, presentations should be limited to approximately twenty minutes, with five minutes reserved for questions. The Ethics Centre will publish the papers presented.

Please send your proposals in about 200 words by December 15, 2009 to: Melchior Mbonimpa, Di-rector of the Ethics Centre, The University of Sudbury, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6. Email: mmbonimpa@usudbury.ca

Recent Publications

Kwong JC, Maaten S, Upshur REG, Patrick DM, Marra F. The effect of Universal Influenza Immuniza-tion on Antibiotic Prescriptions: An Ecological Study. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2009 September 1; 49: 750-6.

Ray M, Daar AS, Singer PA, Thorsteinsdottir H. Globetrotting firms: Canada’s health biotechnology collaborations with developing countries. Nature Bio-technology 2009; 27: 806-14.

Upshur R. Overcoming the problem of calibration: To-wards a scholarly agenda for research ethics. In: Lolas F, ed. Dimensiones éticas de las regulaciones en salud. Santiago de Chile: Program de Bioética OPS/OMS, CIEB Universidad de Chile, 2009, pp. 61-75.

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 16

Call for Proposals

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 17

Seminars, Events & Conferences

JCB Bioethics Seminars This Month:(Seminars are held at 3:10-4:30 pm, Great Hall, 88 College St. and are webcast through ePresence except if otherwise indicated.)

October 7, 2009Giles Scofield, J.D., M.A. (Religion) Clinical Ethicist, Centre for Clinical Ethics; Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. “The Priority of Ethics to Democracy(?)”

October 14, 2009 Lynda Lange, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies, University of Toronto at Scarborough and Faculty Associate, Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto. “The Global Division of Labour in Carework: An Issue for Human Rights or the Ethic of Care?” October 21, 200929th Annual Philippa Harris Lecture on Bioethical Issues in CancerDena S. Davis, JD, PhD, Professor, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleve-land State University. “Cancer, Fertility and Hope: A Bermuda Triangle?” 5:00 - 6:00pm at the Princess Margaret Hospital, 610 University Avenue, 6th Floor Auditorium (Room 604).

October 28, 2009Amy Bender, RN, PhD, Assistant Professor, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto - “In the Privacy of Surveillance: Thoughts on the Everyday Work of TB Nursing”

October 15, 2009Bioethics Grand Rounds - Ethics: What’s law got to do with it? Presenter: Maria McDonald LLB, MHSc (Bioethics). 12:00-1:00pm. Videoconference: The Hos-pital for Sick Children 1250 Elm Wing. For more information please contact parviz.manji@sickkids.ca

October 15, 2009Health Law Ethics & Policy Seminar Series-“Conceiving access to health care as a right: Lessons from South Africa on the limits of Justiciability” Charles Ng-wena, University of the Free State, South Africa. 12:30-2:00pm at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 84 Queen’s Park, Falconer Hall, Solarium, Room FA2. For more information email: n.gulezko@utoronto.ca.

ePresence Registration Instructions:

Most of our bioethics seminars are now being webcast live. All archived seminars are avail-able under Published Events. ePresence supports both PC and MAC videostreaming. You can register to view and participate in live events by following the steps below:

Go to the 1. Centre for Global eHealth Innova-tion’s ePresence Click on the Join button 2. (at the top blue bar) Enter your information in 3. the join screen, including userid and password You will need remember 4. your userid and password so that you can join future seminar web casts Please report by email to 5. brenda.knowles@utoronto.ca if you have any difficul-ties registering You will only need to reg-6. ister once For subsequent seminars, 7. login with your userid and password – you do not have to re-registerPlease note this registra-8. tion process should be done well before the event itself. If you have dif-ficulty viewing your first seminar, you should check with your IT professional.

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Seminars, Events & Conferences

October 15, 2009Issues in Clinical Research - Lianne Jeffs, RN, BScN, MSc, Phd(c), Director, Nursing/Clinical Research and Scientist, Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Early Nursing Research Career Award, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. ”Building Knowledge for Safer Care Nursing Research Advancing Practice” 12:00– 1:00pm at St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond Street in the 2-010 Bond Assembly Hall. Bring your lunch. For more information, please call Dharmista Patel at (416) 864-6060 ext 2557.

October 16, 2009Fellowship Program in Public Health Policy Seminars: “Understanding pediatric vaccine rejec-tion - lessons for the H1N1 vaccine programme” Dr. Kumanan Wilson, Canada Research Chair in Public Health Policy, Associate Professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa. 12:00-1:30pm, Room 2173 Medical Sciences Building, University of Toronto.

October 19, 2009Centre for Ethics Seminar Series - “Reconceiving Rights and Constitutions” Jennifer Nedelsky, Faculty of Law and Department of Political Science, University of Toronto. 3:00-5:00pm at the Centre for Ethics, Larkin Building, Trinity College, 15 Devonshire Place, Room 200. For more information email: ethics@utoronto.ca.

October 23, 2009The McGill School of Nursing will again host the Joan Gilchrist Nursing Explorations Series in Montreal, Que-bec, Centre Mont-Royal, rue 2200 Mansfield. The topic of this one-day Conference is “Innovative Nursing Practice: Transforming Care at the Bedside and Beyond.” Simultaneous translation will be provided for all sessions. For more information and to register

now, please visit the Conference website:www.medicine.mcgill.ca/nursing-explorations2009

October 28, 2009The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Brown Bag Research Ethics Discussion Groups - “Thinking Ethically in Health Services Research” Dr. Nora Jacob-son, Scientist, CAMH. 12:00-1:00pm at CAMH, Room 2022 ELCLC (Eli Lilly Computer Learning Centre) 33 Russell Street. Bring your own lunch. For more infor-mation please email: susan_pilon@camh.net.

October 29, 2009Health Law Ethics and Policy Seminar Series - “Eu-rope’s experience with patients’ rights charters” Herman Nys, Catholic University of Leuven. 12:30-2:00pm at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 84 Queen’s Park, Falconer Hall, Solarium, Room FA2. For more information email: n.gulezko@utoronto.ca.

January 18 - May 21, 2010Alberta’s Provincial Health Ethics Network (PHEN) is pleased to be celebrating a decade of innovative, high quality and accessible health ethics education with the 10th offering of its Introduction to Bioethics Distance Education Course. The course bridges theory and practice by bringing the tools of bioethics to the clinical setting. It has been developed for health pro-fessionals and administrators looking to further their understanding of ethical issues in order to better navi-gate through complex situations related to health. The course features instruction from prominent Bioethicists and uses a delivery format that allows individuals from across North America to participate directly from their home or office. Please note that the application deadline is December 4, 2009. More information is on the PHEN website at http://www.phen.ab.ca/disted

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 19

Seminars, Events & Conferences

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 20

Seminars, Events & Conferences

Rights and Wrongs: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Happiness

A Conference in Honour of L. Wayne Sumner

Saturday, October 24, 2009at the Jackman Humanities Building, Room 100A,

University of Toronto

Conference is open to all. Admission is free and no ticket required. To register for conference, please email: suzanne.puckering@utoronto.ca

9:00am-3:45pm Papers by: Lisa Fuller (PhD, ’06), SUNY Albany•Anthony Skelton (PhD, ’04), University of Western Ontario•Michael Stingl (PhD, ’86), University of Lethbridge•Gustav Arrhenius (PhD, ’00), University of Stockholm•

11:45am-1:00pm Catered Lunch

4:00-4:30pm Closing statement by L. Wayne Sumner

4:30-5:00pm Prize Presentation: The Canada Council for the Arts awards L. Wayne Sumner the Molson Prize in the Humanities

5:00-6:30pm Reception

The purpose of this newsletter is to facilitate communication among people interested in bioethics throughout the Joint Centre for Bioethics, participat-ing institutions and elsewhere. The newsletter is published and distributed by email at the beginning of each month. If you would like to receive the newslet-ter, please contact:

Editor: Adrienne GrapkoEmail: newseditor.jcb@utoronto.caFax: (416) 978-1911

Submission & Contact Information

The Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) is a partnership among the University of Toronto; Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; Bloorview Kids Rehab; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Centre for Clinical Ethics, a joint venture of Providence Centre, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, and St. Michael’s Hospital; The Hospital for Sick Children; Humber River Regional Hospital; Mount Sinai Hospital; North York General Hospital; Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Toronto Community Care Access Centre; Toronto East General Hospital; Toronto Rehabilitation Institute; Trillium Health Centre; and University Health Network.

The University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics

Submissions to the newsletter must be made by the 25th of the preceding month.Previous issues of the newsletter are posted on our website at:

http://www.jointcentreforbioethics.ca/enewsletter/enewsletter.shtml

Joint Centre for BioethicsUniversity of Toronto88 College StreetToronto, Ontario M5G 1L4Canada

Phone: (416) 978-2709Fax: (416) 978-1911Email: newseditor.jcb@utoronto.caWeb: http://www.jointcentreforbioethics.ca/

October 2009 / Vol. 15 / No. 2 Page: 21

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