The Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM) is a joint program sponsored by the University of Michigan Medical School and the Ann Arbor VA, and is co-directed by Drs. Angela Fagerlin and Scott Kim. It is a multidisciplinary unit that integrates bioethics with key social science disciplines, bringing together in one entity research, education, policy work, and service. CBSSM attracts scholars from across departmental and disciplinary boundaries and in so doing, provides fertile ground for new synergies.  The primary research interests of CBSSM faculty focus on five overarching themes: (1) clinical and research ethics, (2) health communication and decision making, (3) medicine and society, (4) health, justice and community, and (5) genomics, health and society.   

If you would like to contact CBSSM, please call (734) 615-8377 or email nbirk@umich.edu.

Working Groups at CBSSM

The Program in Health Communication and Decision Making (PIHCD) Working Group explores topics related to understanding and improving patient decision making about medical issues. 

The Bioethics Working Group (BWG) is a bioethics focused "lab meeting" with an aim to promote an intellectual community of bioethics scholars at UM. 

For more information about the working groups, see www.cbssm.org/research_groups/.

Coming up at CBSSM in 2011-12

Exciting things will be happening at CBSSM in the coming year!  Mark your calendars for the following events, and look for details soon:

February 1, 2012

Zachary Schrag of George Mason University will discuss his book, "Ethical Imperialism: Institutional Review Boards and the Social Sciences, 1965-2009," followed by a panel discussion on February 1, 2012, at Palmer Commons Great Lakes Room, 3-6 pm.  Panelists include Carl Schneider, Cleo Caldwell, and Alford Young, faculty members at U-M.  Additional details will be forthcoming.

February 3-April 13, 2012

In collaboration with the Taubman Health Sciences Library and the Center for the History of Medicine, CBSSM will co-sponsor an exhibit entitled "Deadly medicine: Creating the Master Race" on the 4th floor of the Taubman library.  This traveling exhibit is a spin-off of the larger exhibit that debuted at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.  Planning is currently under way for programming connected to the exhibit, so please watch our website for more information about this fascinating event.

Check out our events page for the CBSSM 2011-12 seminar series at www.cbssm.org/events. 

U of M Hosiptal--arial view U of M Hosiptal--arial view

Center Highlights