The University of Miami has been name a World Health Organization Collaborating Center on ethics and global health policy, a prestigious designation that raises the school's profile on ethics research.
The decision by the Geneva-based WHO is a recognition of the school's Ethics Programs research on public policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, among other places.
''The WHO collaborating centers are institutions such as research institutes, parts of universities or academies, which are designated by the director-general to carry out activities in support of the organization's programs,'' according to the WHO website.
There are more than 900 WHO collaborating centers in 99 member countries, working in areas ranging from chronic diseases to nursing. But only two other collaborating centers in the world specialize in ethics. UM's ethics programs are directed by law professor Anita Cava and ethics professor Kenneth Goodman.
Goodman explained that many issues of health ethics come up across the world, including questions such as whether to give out needles and condoms to populations afflicted by AIDS, how to approach male and female circumcision, how health ethics change across borders and how or whether to conduct stem cell research.
''Ultimately, the WHO has among its missions the improvement of health on Earth, through medical research,'' Goodman said. ``And what's happened over the past 20 years or so is the increased recognition of the importance of ethics on health research and health policy. You can't do the science without a firm ethical foundation.''
UM's application for the designation required several hurdles of approvals, including a final nod by WHO Director General Margaret Chan, who is from China.
