Bioethics Lab

The Bioethics Lab at Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine is committed to promoting bioethics to medical students, faculty, and health care providers in furtherance of WSU’s land-grant mission. Supported by the Floyd and Judy Rogers Endowed Professorship, the Bioethics Lab has extended its reach through national collaborations, starting with strong partnerships with HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, AL, and with the Regional Ethics Program of Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA.

The Bioethics Lab is actively engaged in education through the medical school curriculum, teaching in the schools of Nursing and Pharmacy, and through our innovative Certificate in Medical Ethics that provides students with simulated ethics consultation experience. Virtual (Zoom-based) Bioethics Grand Rounds provides access to prominent national speakers on visible topics in biomedical ethics to students, faculty, and health providers throughout Washington state and beyond, free-of-charge.

Bioethics faculty are actively engaged in research, with funding from NIH and other national and international granting agencies.  Faculty research centers around four key areas of focus: Genetics and Precision Medicine; Pandemic Preparedness and Response; Clinical and Research Ethics; and Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice. Faculty have published on these topics in such prominent journals as New England Journal of Medicine, BMJ, Nature Reviews Genetics, and the American Journal of Bioethics.