Essential Leadership in Bioethics

Dr. Jim Welch
Executive Director
Elizabeth R Griffin Foundation

The sciences of health are about improving the everyday lives of humans, animals and the natural resources that sustain us all. We are about working to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks that can threaten villages, nations, regions and the world. In that mission, we must often confront situations where risks are uncertain, approaches and methodologies are unique and the potential for misuse by intent or accident can be catastrophic. The requirement that we do that as institutions places us in the category of ‘high reliability organizations.” To maintain high reliability, it is a prerequisite that we commit to an unquestionable path of maintaining public trust in our work. That commitment requires everyone involved to be a leader in the ethics of our work.