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Ruth R. Faden

Ruth R. Faden, PhD

Highlights

Languages

  • English

Gender

Female

Johns Hopkins Affiliations:

  • Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty

About Ruth R. Faden

Background

Dr. Ruth R. Faden is the Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She holds a joint appointment in health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

A renowned expert on biomedical ethics, Dr. Faden founded the Berman Institute of Bioethics in 1995 and served as its Andreas C. Dracopoulos Director until 2016.

She earned both a Ph.D. and an M.P.H. at the University of California.

In addition to serving on many national advisory committees and commissions, Dr. Faden has authored, co-authored or edited a number of books and articles on biomedical ethics and health policy. These include Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy; A History and Theory of Informed Consent; AIDS, Women and the Next Generation; and HIV, AIDS and Childbearing: Public Policy, Private Lives.

Centers and Institutes

Recent News Articles and Media Coverage

  • “40 Years After Tuskegee: Reuniting Medical Research and Practice,” The Atlantic, Jan. 16, 2013
  • “Coke's Unconscionable New Ad,” The Atlantic, Jan. 15, 2013
  • “The Moral Failings of Presidential Health Care Politics”, The Atlantic, Oct. 15, 2012

Additional Academic Titles

Joint Appointment in Medicine

Research Interests

Bioethics and public policy, Ethics, Ethics and bioterrorism, Ethics and cellular engineering, Ethics and neuroscience, Genetics and public policy, Health policy and management, Justice theory, Research ethics, Vaccine ethics

Lab Website

Ruth Faden Lab

  • Research in the Ruth Faden Lab focuses on biomedical ethics and health policy. Our specific areas of interest include justice theory; national and global challenges in learning health care systems, health-system design and priority setting; access global investments benefits in biomedical research; and ethical challenges in biomedical science and women's health.

Research Summary

Dr. Faden’s research focuses on justice theory; national and global challenges in learning health care systems, health systems design and priority settings; access to the benefits of global investments in biomedical research; and ethical challenges in biomedical science and women’s health. She is a co-principal investigator of the Global Food Ethics Initiative, sponsor of the 7 by 5 Agenda for Ethics and Global Food Security.

Selected Publications

  • Barnhill A, King KF, Kass N, Faden R. “The value of unhealthy eating and the ethics of healthy eating policies.” Kennedy Inst Ethics J. 2014 Sep;24(3):187-217.

  • Faden RR, Beauchamp TL, Kass NE. “Informed consent for comparative effectiveness trials.” N Engl J Med. 2014 May 15;370(20):1959-60. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc1403310. No abstract available.

  • Henry LM, Rushton C, Beach MC, Faden R. “Respect and dignity: a conceptual model for patients in the intensive care unit.” Narrat Inq Bioeth. 2015;5(1A):5A-14A. doi: 10.1353/nib.2015.0007.

  • Whicher D, Kass N, Faden R. “Stakeholders' views of alternatives to prospective informed consent for minimal-risk pragmatic comparative effectiveness trials.” J Law Med Ethics. 2015 Summer;43(2):397-409. doi: 10.1111/jlme.12256.

  • Whicher D, Kass N, Saghai Y, Faden R, Tunis S, Pronovost P. “The views of quality improvement professionals and comparative effectiveness researchers on ethics, IRBs, and oversight.” J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2015 Apr;10(2):132-44. doi: 10.1177/1556264615571558. Epub 2015 Feb 23.

Courses & Syllabi

Foundations of Bioethics, Berman Institute of Bioethics, 700.601.01, 1/1/16

Honors

  • Fellow, American Psychological Association
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, 1/1/11
  • Fellow, The Hastings Center Fellows Council, 1/1/98

Memberships

  • Institute of Medicine
  • Delta Omega

Professional Activities

  • President William J. Clinton's Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Chair
  • The Hinxton Group, Co-founder
  • The Second Wave Initiative, Co-founder