Leading in These Times of Change

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** Leading in These Times of Change
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Last winter, the launch of ChatGPT captured the imagination of millions – and demanded attention to the almost inconceivable risks and benefits of generative artificial intelligence. With decades of experience understanding the ethical implications of emerging technologies, The Hastings Center responded by launching a series of virtual events with leading policy experts and ethicists to explore how to ensure ethical decision-making around AI.

Simultaneously, the Center conducted a global search for a new leader to build on its remarkable growth under Mildred Solomon, selecting Vardit Ravitsky as president. A leading voice in pandemic and reproductive ethics, Ravitsky brought two AI projects to the Center under the Bridge to AI ([link removed]) umbrella and joined the National Academy of Medicine’s initiative to develop an Artificial Intelligence Code of Conduct ([link removed]) .

Ravitsky and Athmeya Jayaram also forged a new partnership with NYU’s Medical Center at the intersection of AI, ethics, and health. Greg Kaebnick, editor of the Hastings Center Report, led an initiative with publishing peers to generate recommendations on the responsible use of generative AI tools ([link removed]) .

In 2023, the Center also led efforts to understand and rebuild trust in health and science:
* A major report, Time to Rebuild: Essays on Trust in Health Care and Science ([link removed]) , established conceptual common ground around the loss of trust and detailed clear steps to rebuild that trust for hospitals and the federal government.

* Another trust-related report explored the national effort to vaccinate the U.S. public—especially medically underserved patients—against Covid ([link removed]) . The work was led by Carolyn P. Neuhaus, Nancy Berlinger, Danielle Pacia, and collaborators at Albany Medical College and SUNY Upstate Medical University.

* Quoted in The Big Think ([link removed]) , Josephine Johnston weighed in on scientists’ responsibility to speak with appropriate nuance in order to promote trust.

The Center also issued recommendations for researchers and journalists in a landmark paper, Wrestling with Social and Behavioral Genomics: Risks, Potential Benefits, and Ethical Responsibility ([link removed]) .
The Center also issued recommendations for researchers and journalists in a landmark report, Wrestling with Social and Behavioral Genomics: Risks, Potential Benefits, and Ethical Responsibility ([link removed]) .

The consensus paper, led by Erik Parens and Michelle N. Meyer of Geisinger, reflects input from leaders with diverse perspectives on genomics. It provides a roadmap for ethically researching how genomic differences are associated with differences in various human characteristics such as anxiety, subjective well-being, and educational attainment, and ways to minimize its misinterpretation and misuse.

Karen Maschke, who leads a large project to develop ethical guidance for transplanting genetically modified organs from nonhuman animals into humans, was quoted in hundreds of media outlets worldwide after speaking to The Associated Press ([link removed]) about the recent transplantation of a pig heart into a dying patient to prolong his life.

The Center recruited a new scholar, Virginia Brown, a public sociologist and expert in community-engaged research who will help lead Hastings’ continued efforts to expand work on population health and health equity.
Throughout the year, the Center continued to lead pioneering efforts to broaden pathways into bioethics for undergraduates and graduate students from backgrounds underrepresented in the field.

Thank you for your interest and engagement with our work, much of it made possible by philanthropy. If you want to see more in 2024, please consider supporting us with a year-end contribution ([link removed]) . We wish you a happy and healthy new year.
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The Hastings Center seeks to ensure responsible health and science policy and practice. We work to secure the wisest possible use of emerging technologies and fair, compassionate, and just health care for people across their lifespan.

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