Daniel I. Wikler, PhD

Wikler recounts his upbringing in Lexington, Kentucky on the grounds of the U.S. Narcotic Farm (later known as the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital), where his psychiatrist father worked. He described his education at Oberlin College and his graduate work in philosophy at the University of California Los Angeles. While at UCLA, he described a medical school symposium regarding the treatment of children with spina bifida as shaping his initial interest in bioethics. Wikler describes joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s medical ethics program and his tenure there. He discussed his time during the Carter administration when he served as Staff Philosopher for the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research.

Prof. Wikler describes his visits to China, his growing interest in global bioethics, and how he came to be the co-founder of the International Association of Bioethics. He recounts his position as the first staff ethicist for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and his involvement with the Global Burden of Disease Studies. Wikler discussed his move to Harvard and the establishment of the Harvard Program in Ethics and Health. The interview concludes with a discussion of the ethical challenges in public health and the importance of addressing global health disparities.