The Berman Institute

Leading the field of Bioethics in scholarship, education, training, and service

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News & Events

Join the Berman Institute at ASBH 2025

A guide to everything Berman Institute-related at the 27th annual meeting of the American Society for Bioethics + Humanities, Oct. 23-25

Bringing Bioethics Into Classrooms Everywhere

Collaboration with K-12 science teachers produces free educational materials exploring ethical questions arising from scientific and medical innovations

Henrietta Lacks Building Progress

See time-lapsed images of construction of the Berman Institute's new home

Ruth Faden Receives 2025 Bernard Lo, MD, Award in Bioethics for Excellence in Bioethics

Greenwall Foundation recognizes Berman Institute's founder for mentoring the field's next generation of leaders

The Berman Institute

From the ethics of food production to stem cell research, we are guiding the conversation about some of the most complex moral and policy issues affecting the health and well-being of people worldwide.

Facts About Berman

98 Fellows educated

We launch the careers of the next generation of leaders in bioethics scholarship.

Explore our Fellowship programs

47 Faculty

Spanning Johns Hopkins University, our faculty includes internationally recognized bioethics experts and emerging new scholars.

Meet a professor

More than ever, the Berman Institute's work is critical for clarifying the difficult ethics questions faced in biomedicine, from the bedside to the most pressing population and global health issues of the day.

Jeffrey P. Kahn, PhD, MPH

Andreas C. Dracopoulos Director

Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics

People

The Berman Institute attracts specialists in fields ranging from medicine, nursing and public health to the law who are passionate about improving human health and well-being worldwide.

Research & Outreach

Our faculty are helping shape policy and practice in healthcare, biomedical science and public health by exploring ethical issues at the intersection of innovation and human lives.

Education & Training

We offer unique interdisciplinary programs for students at all levels—from undergraduates seeking an ethical framework for a range of careers to bioethics specialists seeking to connect with current issues.

The U.S. accounts for five percent of the world's population but consumes almost 70 percent of the total global opioid supply, creating an epidemic. How did we get here? In this personal talk, Berman Institute Research Scholar Travis Rieder recounts the often-hidden struggle of opioid withdrawal and reveals how doctors who prescribe (and overprescribe) opioids aren't equipped to eventually get people off the meds.

The Dracopoulos-Bloomberg iDeas Lab asked members of the public ``If you were a neuroscientist, what experiment would you do?`` then invited neuroscientists to respond. This resulting 8-minute film seeks to help bridge the gap between researchers and the general public.