Call for Abstracts

We solicit abstracts addressing a broad range of clinical ethics topics, including the clinician-patient relationship, informed consent, clinical ethics consultation, reducing disparities in health care, managing scarcity of resources, and the role of clinical ethics in society. We are interested in high-quality presentations from the US and around the world. We seek to highlight not only empirical studies but also analytical examinations of controversies in clinical ethics and the means through which health care is delivered in contemporary society.

Please submit an abstract of 400 words or less for consideration for an oral presentation or poster presentation. Abstracts should describe work not previously presented at a national meeting and not currently being considered for publication. The Program Committee will complete a blinded abstract review. Presenters chosen for abstract presentation will be expected to submit a manuscript at the time of presentation and are invited to submit their manuscript for possible publication in the Journal of Clinical Ethics, sponsored by the MacLean Center.

All abstract submissions must include a statement about the funding of the research (if applicable) and a statement of potential conflicts of interest for all authors.

Submissions open on September 15th, 2025.

Submissions are due at midnight Central time on November 15th, 2025.

Call for Nominations for the MacLean Center Prize in Clinical Ethics and Health Outcomes

Since 2011, the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago has given the MacLean Center Prize in Clinical Ethics and Health Outcomes to senior scholars from throughout the world who have made transformative contributions to the field of clinical medical ethics and health outcomes through scholarship, practice, leadership, and policy development. We now seek nominations for the 2026 MacLean Center Prize. Please consider nominating senior individuals who meet the criteria noted above.

Nominations are due on October 31st, 2025.

2024 MacLean Center Prize Winner

Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD, Director of the Fellowship in Bioethics at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics and Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine

It is a pleasure to announce that the 2024 MacLean Center Prize in Clinical Ethics and Health Outcomes will be awarded to Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD, Director of the Fellowship in Bioethics at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics and Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine.
The MacLean Prize celebrates individuals who have made transformative contributions to the field of clinical medical ethics through scholarship, practice, leadership, and policy development. Dr. Solomon certainly exemplifies these characteristics.

Dr. Solomon is a bioethicist and social science researcher who conducts both normative and empirical ethics research. She was, until 2023, the President of the Hastings Center, the oldest independent, nonpartisan, interdisciplinary research institute to focus on ethical issues in health, science, and technology. Dr. Solomon’s scholarship has addressed the ethics of end-of-life care for both adults and children, organ transplantation, research ethics, particularly related to oversight of comparative effectiveness and implementation science, as well as professionalism and responsible conduct of research.

Dr. Solomon is a member of the Global Health Advisory Committee of the Open Society Foundations’ Public Health and Human Rights Programs. She has served on the US Health and Human Services secretary’s Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation and on committees of the World Economic Forum Global Futures Council and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Dr. Solomon received the MacLean Center Prize in person at the 36th Annual MacLean Center Conference on November 8 and 9, 2024 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago where she also presented a keynote address.