Affinity Groups
These special interest groups are a great way to connect with other ASBH members who share your academic or clinical focus or practice in a similar setting.
ASBH affinity groups plan presentations and educational programs; develop position papers, guidelines, and practice standards; monitor and recommend responses to regulatory legislation and ethical issues; and review and recommend research priorities.
If you wish to participate in an Affinity Group, join ASBH now and then follow these steps to join as many affinity groups as you like.
- Log into "My Account" with your ASBH Username and Password.
- On the left navigation, find "Affinity Groups" under "Membership and Participation."
- Choose any group(s) that interest you by selecting the boxes to the left of each listing.
- Click the "Save" button at the bottom.
Affinity Groups and Their Leaders
Animal Bioethics
Providenza Loera Rocco, JD HEC-C
Astro-Ethics
Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, PhD
The Astro-Ethics Affinity Group provides an accessible platform for multidisciplinary scholarship on cultivating ethically conscious praxis in human space exploration.
Artificial Intelligence and Bioethics
Kristin Kostick-Quenet, PhD
This affinity group explores ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) and policy considerations related to the development and deployment of artificial intelligence tools in healthcare.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Bioethics and Christian Theology
Travis Pickell, MDiv PhD; Jaime Konerman-Sease, PhD HEC-C
The Bioethics and Christian Theology Affinity Group provides opportunities for deeper engagement on bioethics issues from within the Christian tradition through lectures, discussion, and networking.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Cancer Ethics
Emily Hahn, MD; Jamie Riches, DO
The Cancer Ethics Affinity Group aims to promote collaboration across the multitude of disciplines that care for people with cancer and their loved ones, and to provide a forum for scholarship, education and inter-disciplinary professional development.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Clinical Ethics Consultation
Joyeeta Dastidar, MD HEC-C; Stowe Teti, MA HEC-C
Clinical Research Ethics Consultation
Jake Earl, PHD HEC-C; Liza Dawson, PhD MA
CRECAG serves ASBH members interested in addressing ethical issues that arise in clinical research by organizing annual discussions of current ethical issues or other developments in the field and by facilitating professional development of research ethics consultants.
Conflict Resolution and Bioethics
Bruce Tizes, MD JD MPH
Current and Former Clinical Ethics Fellows
Lexi White, HEC-C
This group is intended for current, former, and prospective clinical ethics fellows to discuss issues in clinical ethics fellowships.
Dental Ethics
Tom Holt, DDS MS HEC-C; Alma Clark, MSHCE DDS HEC-C
Promotes bioethics in the dental ethics space and educate bioethicists about the purpose and needs of a distinct Dental Ethics.
Disability Ethics
Laura Guidry-Grimes, PhD HEC-C; Kara Ayers, PhD
The Disability Ethics Affinity Group examines ethical issues in disability like healthcare disparities, stigma, legal capacity, and gene editing. It promotes research and public engagement to advance disability rights, challenge ableism, and develop ethical frameworks valuing disability as human diversity.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Implications)
Gabriel Lazaro-Munoz, JD PhD; Daphne Oluwaseun Martschenko
The ELSI Affinity Group brings together scholars interested in ethical, legal, and social implications of developments in genomics.
Environmental Bioethics
Paul J. Cummins
The Environmental Bioethics Affinity Group works to advance understanding of the ethical implications of ecology, climate change, and the environment with individual and public health.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ethics and Humanities Educators in the Health Professions and Residency Training
Patrick D. Herron, DBe; Ruchika Mishra, PhD
The Ethics and Humanities Educators in the Health Professions and Residency Training (EHEHPRT) Affinity Group is open to all ASBH members interested in ethics and/or humanities education across all health professions, including residency training for physicians and advanced care practitioners.
Feminist Approaches to Bioethics
Lindsey Grubbs; Devora Shapiro, PhD
The FAB Affinity Group is guided by feminist commitments to identify and work against oppression, to connect theory and practice, to recognize embodiment, and to understand feminism and oppression as intersectional. We meet annually at the ASBH conference and host periodic online activities.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Health Humanities
Erin Lamb, PhD; Katherine Burke
Health and Science Policy
Virginia Brown, PhD MA; Jorge Riveria Agoston
The Health and Science Policy Affinity Group brings together people who share an interest in moving theory into practice. This affinity group will focus on understanding how ethics commitment to the fair and just distribution of resources can be centered in our individual and collective work.
History of Medical Ethics
Robert Baker, PhD
The History of Medical Ethics Affinity Group organizes and presents topics on the history of biomedical ethics. It also serves as a meeting point for ASBH members interested in or doing research on the history of biomedical ethics.
Holocaust Genocide Contemporary Bioethics
Matthew K. Wynia, MD MPH FACP
Exploring the legacy of health professional involvement in Nazism and the Holocaust for contemporary bioethics.
Hospice & Palliative Care
Sirisha Perugu, MD HEC-C
The Hospice & Palliative Care Affinity Group's purpose is to address the broad range of ethical challenges encountered in palliative care practice and provide a sense of community through inclusivity and the shared experiences of other members who practice in similar settings or have common interests.
Islamic Ethics
Basel Tarab, MD MBe; Fahmida Hossain, PhD HEC C
Promotes Islamic bioethics, and discuss new advances in biomedicine from an Islamic Perspective.
Jewish Bioethics
Carol Gerson, MD
We are a place for sharing our work in Jewish bioethics, discussion of topics that relate to Jewish religious practices that may impact health care decisions, and Jewish morality and its long influence on American medical practice.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Immigration
Brian Tuohy, PhD; Lynette Martins, JD, MBe
This group is open to all ASBH members interested in or engaged with ethical challenges related to immigration, health, and flourishing, including issues of health care access, as well as migration and global health justice.
LatinX Bioethics
Nicole Martinez-Martin, JD PhD
Law & Bioethics
Elizabeth Pike
LGBTQIA+ Bioethics
Theodore Schall, PhD MSW MBE; Elizabeth Dietz, PhD
This group brings together scholars with expertise and interest in the health and well-being of sexual and gender minorities.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Literature & Medicine
Constantine "Kosti" Psimopoulos; Angela Scott, MD, PhD
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Medical Decision Making
Kimberly E. Sawyer, HEC-C
Creates a community within ASBH of people interested in and/or pursuing work related to medical decision making, including things like shared decision making tools.
Military, Humanitarian and Disaster Medicine
James Giordano, PhD
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Neuroethics
Peter Zuk, PhD
The Neuroethics Affinity Group is focused on emerging issues in the ethics of neuroscience.
Nursing
Lorri Birkholz, DNP, RN
The Nursing Affinity Group is designed to be the nursing connection to ASBH by fostering a supportive community for nurses who are interested in ethics, collaboratively planning the yearly meeting at ASBH, and supporting informal networking both in person and online.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Organizational Ethics
Emily H. Grime, MS BS HEC-C; David Meyers, MD MBE FACEP
OEAG is a dynamic community that unites leaders from diverse backgrounds and institutions that serves as a collaborative hub where professionals come together to share, discuss, and advance the best practices, policies, procedures, and innovative ideas in the realm of organizational ethics.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Pediatric Ethics
Vanessa Madrigal, MD MS HEC-C
The Pediatric Ethics Affinity Group is community that is dedicated to understanding and addressing ethical issues that affect children and families. We meet virtually once a month to check in, share resources, and discuss cases and policies related to children's health and wellbeing.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Pharmacy and Ethics
Linda Uchal, PharmD
The Pharmacy and Ethics Affinity Group's focus is on organizing interested ethics members to increase the awareness of the need for the application of an ethical framework and ethics education to pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical product design, research, and marketing.
Philosophy
Nir Ben-Moshe
The Philosophy Affinity Group serves as a forum for those interested in philosophically informed biomedical ethics. We host a session at the annual ASBH conference, as well as additional online sessions, and welcome work from any philosophical perspective, tradition, or methodology.
Philosophy of Medicine
Bryan Cwik; Bryan Pilkington, PhD
The Philosophy of Medicine Affinity Group aims to foster discussion at the intersection of multiple areas of philosophy (especially philosophy of science and bioethics) on medicine.
Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Brent Kious, Daniel Moseley, PhD
Our aim is to promote scholarship and scholarly discussion related to ethical issues in psychiatry, psychotherapy, and other forms of mental health care.
Public Health
Carina Fourie; Jennifer Tillman, PhD; Andrea Kalfoglou, PhD
Public health is what we do collectively to assure conditions for people to be healthy. Public health ethics concerns the obligations, values, & commitments that flow from this public service imperative. Join us to discuss & enact our shared interest in improving understanding & advancing practice.
Race & Culture/Ethnicity
Jada Wiggleton-Little; Daphne Oluwaseun Martschenko
This group engages in honest discourse about issues related to socially assigned race, and culture and ethnicity in the context of bioethics and determinants that drive ongoing inequities in education and health status.
Religion, Spirituality and Bioethics
Jeff S. Matsler
Reproduction
Shameka Poetry Thomas; Bethany Bruno, MD MA
Our group's purpose is to facilitate interdisciplinary discussions around reproductive bioethics on a broader spectrum. We are dedicated to the discovery of maternal-child health awareness and alleviating structural barriers that impact pregnant people.
Rural Bioethics
Stephanie Larson, PhD MA HEC-C
The ASBH Rural Bioethics Affinity Group is dedicated to facilitating the exchange of ideas, promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration, and generation of knowledge around a wide array of bioethical topics that are relevant to rural spaces, places, cultures, and communities.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Social Work
Sophia Fantus, PhD, MSW
The purpose of the Social Work Affinity Group is twofold: (1) we are to identify ethical conflict and ethical dilemmas that impact social work practice, policy, and education in the field; and (2) to address current and evolving bioethical issues from a social work perspective.
Student Interest
Ariadne Nichol
The Student Interest Affinity Group serves as a resource for students and trainees to learn how to get involved in ASBH, to hear about upcoming bioethics and health humanities opportunities, and to provide a network of support.
Surgical Ethics
Sundeep Grandhe, MD PHD HEC-C; Sabha Ganai, MD PhD MPH
Our group examines surgical ethics, focusing on prioritizing patient goals, avoiding harmful surgeries, and navigating complex oncology cases. We emphasize ethical treatment of vulnerable and underserved populations, ensuring informed consent and patient autonomy.
ASBH members may request to join this group's listserv here. Once a member of the group, messages may be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Undergraduate Teaching
Angela Wentz Faulconer, PhD; Jason Eberl, PhD
The Undergraduate Teaching Affinity Group’s focus is excellence in undergraduate teaching. We provide a forum to share and learn from others with similar teaching responsibilities in bioethics and the humanities.
ListServes
Many affinity groups offer participation in ListServes in specialized areas. ASBH members may also participate in the ASBH ListServe in which members share announcements of scholarly meetings and events of general interest to the field of bioethics and humanities. Refer to the benefits of ASBH membership for more information.
Leaders can connect with ASBH Education and Operations Manager Lauren Winters at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions. Those interested in starting a new affinity group can reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request an application form and more information about the approval process.