The Center for Health Care Ethics was established in 1979 to serve the Health Sciences Center at Saint Louis University and Saint Louis University Hospital. In 1996 the Department initiated an interdisciplinary PhD Program in health care ethics, and began offering a graduate Certificate Program in Clinical Health Care Ethics in 2005. The Department's faculty include full-time tenured and tenure-track appointments, plus part-time adjunct and secondary appointments from across the Health Sciences Center and the Health Law Program of Saint Louis University.

Our mission is academic research integrated with teaching, learning, and service in bioethics. Departmental faculty provide instruction and mentoring in our PhD Program and graduate Certificate Program. Faculty also offer professional education courses at the Health Sciences Center of Saint Louis University and Saint Louis University Hospital.

Faculty conduct empirical and normative research in a wide range of areas in bioethics, including: medical ethics, nursing ethics, organizational ethics, public health ethics, research ethics, the philosophical and religious foundations of health care ethics, bioterrorism and ethics, ethics education and moral development, genetics and genomics research, medical error and patient safety, pain management and palliative care, and stem cell research. This expertise allows faculty to mentor students in specific specialties, reflected in our PhD concentrations in Research Ethics, Catholic Health Care Ethics and Empirical Research.

The Department has two endowed lecture series: the Drummond Lecture, which is held each spring semester, and the Distinguished Lecturer Series, which is held each fall semester.

Department of Health Care Ethics
Mailing Address: Department of Health Care Ethics
221 North Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103-2006
Campus address: O'Brien Hall, Frost Campus
Telephone: (314) 977-6661
Fax: (314) 977-5150