As the pandemic grew, the Center led a petition, signed by early 1,400 ethicists and health leaders, to Congress and the White House, calling for the use of expanded federal powers against COVID-19.  The next day, the Defense Production Act was invoked, although the federal government never fully used the powers it afforded.

The Center website became a critical resource for both guidance and discussion on the ethical questions facing the world in crisis, with three times the typical number of posts – and audience.
The Hastings Center Report published a special issue devoted to the pandemic, by far the longest we ever published, with the editors noting, “We did not set out to create a theme issue on the pandemic. The responses to our call, in April, for brief, exploratory papers on the ethical and social issues raised by Covid‐19, and particularly on the long‐term implications concerning health and for the field of bioethics itself, turned this May‐June 2020 issue into one.”  And Ethics & Human Research weighed in on the ethics of Covid-19 vaccine trials. The Center also produced a unique animation, “Stop the Spread.” And Hastings scholars spoke out and were quoted in hundreds of media outlets.

As questions grew about reviving the economy, the Center launched a series of virtual discussions on “Re-opening the Nation” with national leaders, including Zeke Emmanuel and Danielle Allen. A special “fireside chat” on public trust with Dr. Anthony Fauci bookended the series. The events were attended by thousands, expanding the reach of the Center in ways never seen previously.

Then as protests erupted across the nation this summer, the Center’s president issued a statement for the institution – and the field, and launched a series of virtual discussions on Health Equity, Racism, and This Moment in Time with the first one featuring the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Richard Besser and the Guttmacher Institute’s Herminia Palacio.
The core work of the Center continued, with the publication of the special report,  “For ’All of Us‘? On the Weight of Genomic Knowledge,” a new bioethics briefing that explains social and behavioral genomics, and the expansion of a unique exploration of meaningful lives: The Art of Flourishing: Conversations on Disability.  The pandemic forced this landmark public series to become virtual, yet more accessible, allowing thousands of people around the country – and the world – to participate. 

In the midst of all of this, the Center managed to grow its research team with the addition of Dr. Diane M. Korngiebel, who is exploring the ethics of using artificial intelligence in health care delivery and research, Dr. Liz Bowen as the Rice Family Fellow in Bioethics and the Humanities, and Danielle Pacia as a new Project Manager and Research Assistant.  The Center also added Dr. Faith Fletcher, Dr. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Dr. Joel Reynolds, and Gretchen Greene as senior advisors and brought aboard Ryan Sauder to lead advancement.

Much more is on the way in 2021.