Pediatric Ethics

The Pediatric Ethics Initiative in the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society provides a centralized hub for the wide range of activities that Vanderbilt faculty are working on related to ethical issues in pediatric care. Our mission is to advance the care of pediatric patients through education, service, and scholarship on the wide range of ethical topics that impact the health and wellbeing of children. Faculty members are involved in clinical bioethics, normative and empirical research, and pediatric ethics education activities across the learning spectrum.

Education

We offer a wide range of ethics educational offerings throughout Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt (aka Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital). Specific activities include:

  • Learning Communities - Foundations of Clinical Care, Pediatric Clerkship Ethics at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
  • General Pediatrics Residents’ Ethics Curriculum at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital
  • Ethics Elective for Pediatric Residents
  • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Ethics Curriculum
  • Neonatology Fellowship Ethics Curriculum
  • Ethical Care of Children with Cancer and Blood Disorders, an Interprofessional Seminar

Pediatric Ethics Initiative Faculty

Benedetti

Dan Benedetti, MD, MA

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Core Faculty, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society
Director of Pediatric Ethics Initiative
Co-Facilitator, Learning Communities - Foundations of Clinical Care, Pediatric Clerkship Ethics Session
Daniel.Benedetti@vumc.org

Academic Interests: Dan’s academic interests lie at the intersection of bioethics and pediatric oncology, including complex decision-making and conflicts over treatment decisions for pediatric cancer patients. 

Active projects/possible opportunities for trainees:

  • Participation in seminar sessions on ethical issues in pediatric hematology/oncology
  • Qualitative interview study of pediatric oncologists’ experiences with treatment refusal
Uchenna Anani

Uchenna Anani, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Core Faculty, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society
Co-Facilitator, Learning Communities - Foundations of Clinical Care, Pediatric Clerkship Ethics Session
Uchenna.E.Anani@vumc.org

Academic Interests: Dr. Anani’s clinical and research interests includes studying perinatal counseling, parental and ethical decision-making in the NICU, and end-of-life decision-making through mixed method and qualitative research methodologies. She has a growing interest in the interface between ethics and health disparities in pediatrics. She serves as a faculty member and consultant at the Fetal Center at Vanderbilt (FCAV) where she works with maternal fetal medicine physicians and other subspecialties to provide advance counseling and care for high risk pregnant mothers. Dr. Anani is eager to mentor and support students and trainees with interests in neonatology, ethics and health disparities.

Active projects/possible opportunities for students/trainees:

  • Mock neonatology consultation for extremely early delivery: An evaluation of content and process (IRB – active)
  • Beyond medical facts: Social and ethical dimensions of NICU care (IRB – active)
  • Investigating Neonatal Decisions for Extremely Early Deliveries (INDEED) (IRB – active)
  • Opportunities to shadow in the NICU or Fetal Center at Vanderbilt

David W. Bearl

David Bearl, MD, MA

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology
Medical director, Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device Program
David.W.Bearl@vumc.org

Academic Interests: Dr. Bearl is interested in how the systems at the local, regional, and national levels affect frontline care for the sickest patients, especially life-sustaining but resource-intensive or scarce treatments such as organ transplantation and mechanical support. In July 2020, he began serving a 3-year term on the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN) Ethics Committee.

Ellen Clayton

Ellen Wright Clayton, MD, JD

Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Health Policy, Professor of Law
Core Faculty, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society
Ellen.Clayton@vumc.org

Academic Interests: Professor Clayton’s scholarship currently focuses on the translation of genomics to clinical care, and she currently is co-Principal Investigator of two grants, one involving a transdisciplinary Center for Excellence in ELSI Research addressing genomic privacy and another analyzing legal issues in liability, quality, privacy and access, and the clinical-research interface, all with the goal of developing more effective solutions.

Active projects/possible opportunities for trainees: Contact Dr. Clayton to discuss possibilities.

Jessica Turnbull

Jessica Turnbull, MD, MA

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Core Faculty, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society
Course Director, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine’s Ethics Curriculum
Course Director, General Pediatrics Residents’ Ethics Curriculum
Course Director, Learning Communities - Foundations of Clinical Care, Pediatric Clerkship Ethics
Clinical Ethics Consultant
Jessica.M.Turnbull@vumc.org

Academic Interests: Utilizing qualitative research methods to study decision-making for medically complex children during times of critical illness, as well as improving palliative care delivery in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. 

Active projects/possible opportunities for trainees:

  • Joining the research teams of pediatric critical care medicine fellows conducting scholarly work in the areas of ethics, communication and palliative care
  • Participation in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine’s Ethics Curriculum

Pediatric Ethics Initiative Advisors

Cassandra Brady, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes

Joseph Fanning, PhD

Associate Professor, Director of the Clinical Ethics Consultations Service, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society

Tracy Hills, DO

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Division of Hospital Medicine (Palliative Care)

Michaela Ibach, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Hospital Medicine (Palliative Care)

Allison M. McCarthy, PhD

Ethics Faculty, Clinical Ethics Consultation Service
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society

Keith Meador, MD, ThM, MPH

Director, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society
Professor, Psychiatry and Health Policy, Vanderbilt University
Professor, Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt Divinity School

Sara Van Driest, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology