University of Miami Special Report: Cuba and the Caribbean

Cuba & The Caribbean Special Report

  • The Environment
    • A Museum of Marine Life
    • Exploring Energy Options for Cuba
    • Working Together to Build a Sustainable Future
    • Influencing Hurricane Intensity
    • Finding Keys to Coral Survival
    • A Pregnancy Exam for Jaws
    • Protecting Flora, Fauna, and Humans in the Caribbean Biological Corridor
    • Father of Dust
    • Science as Diplomacy
  • The People
    • A Conversation with Yoani Sánchez
    • – Conversando con Yoani Sánchez
    • A Unique Cultural Perspective
    • – Una Perspectiva Cultural Única
    • Unearthing the Mysteries of the Caribbean
    • El Mar y Él
    • Helping Hands in Haiti
    • Tracing Circuitous Lines of the Black LGBTQ Experience
    • Student Organizations Embrace Caribbean Culture
    • A Winning Team
    • Exploring Shipwrecks in the Caribbean
    • Language and the Negotiation of Identities
    • Cuban Lecturer Inspires Students through Stories of Resilience
    • Chinese Influences on Life and Religion in Cuba
    • A Chinese-Cuban Secret Society in Havana
  • Business & Economy
    • Restoring Cuba’s Historic Infrastructure
    • Serving the Underserved in Dominican Republic
    • A Bright Future for Caribbean Fish
    • A Close Look at Cuba’s Health Care System
    • Studying Caribbean Currency
    • Haiti After Hurricane Matthew
  • Health Care
    • Sharing Ideas Amid a Changing Culture
    • Cuba Water Hassles
    • Sharing Insights On Trauma Care
    • Delaying Motherhood for Childhood
    • There’s Something in the Waters of Puerto Rico’s Guánica Bay
    • Health Care in Haiti
    • Missions of Mercy
    • Transforming Nursing Education in Guyana
    • Creative Insight on Cuba’s Wastewater System
    • A ‘Living Laboratory’ for Studying Multiple Sclerosis
    • A Hemispheric Approach to Bioethics and Health Policy
    • Campeche and UM Join Hands to Improve Public Health
    • Comparative Studies Could Identify IBD ‘Triggers’
    • A Close Look at Cervical Cancer in Haitian Women
  • Politics & Policy
    • A Renewed, Tenuous Relationship
    • A Trusted Ally for Leftists
    • GTMO: Mayberry with a Caribbean Breeze
    • On the Frontlines of Immigration
    • Marrying Science and Policy in The Bahamas
  • Arts & Culture
    • A UM Architect’s Connection to Cuba
    • Digital Home for Cuban Theater
    • Football Flashback: ‘Canes vs. Cuba
    • An Interdisciplinary Hemispheric Collaboration
    • Exploring Architectural Wonders
    • Sanctuaries Reveal ‘Otherworldly’ Past
    • Unexpected Reception
    • Connections to the Past
    • Havana: The ‘Rome of the New World’
    • The Lowe Features Caribbean Art
    • A Musician Grows in Cuba
    • Afro-Cuban Religion: Surviving and Thriving Underground
    • The Musical Divide of Charismatic Worship in Haiti
    • Impresiones: Sights and Sounds from Travels in Cuba
    • The Fruits of Caribbean Literary Studies
    • Jazz Cubano!
  • Centers & Institutes
    • ICCAS: A Hub for Information on Cuba at the University of Miami
    • Abess Center: Saving Coral Reefs
    • CCS: Hemispheric Collaboration
    • – CCS: Colaboración Hemisférica
    • UMIA: Collaborative Scholarship in the Americas
    • CCS: Using Computational Mapping to Communicate Culture
    • CHC: A Collection of Historical Gems
    • – CHC: La “joya” de las Colecciones Cubanas
    • UMIA: A Hub for Caribbean Research
    • UM Hillel: Connecting to Jewish Cuba
    • UM Hillel: A Vibrant Patronato, the Cuban Jewish Community
    • UM Hillel: Student Perspectives from Cuba
    • ‘Cane Talks: Examining the Culture of Cuba
A Hemispheric Approach to Bioetchics and Heath Policy
Slider

UM’s Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy is exploring opportunities for partnerships and collaborations with Cuba’s academic institutions.

For more than 20 years, the University of Miami Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy has fostered educational and research collaborations with institutions throughout Latin America. Today, the institute is a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center in Ethics and Health Policy – one of just seven centers worldwide.

“We contribute to WHO’s initiatives related to ethics, on everything from the Zika virus to the role of information technology in health care,” says Kenneth W. Goodman, professor and director of the UM Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, and co-director of the University of Miami Ethics Programs. “This contributes to the Miller School of Medicine’s mission of research, education and service, including identifying new professional opportunities for students and faculty.”

In keeping with that hemispheric and global approach, the Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy has reached out to Cuba’s academic institutions to explore opportunities for collaboration.

“The world is changing and the University of Miami needs to be front and center, building relationships with Cuban scholars, clinicians and students,” Goodman says, adding that because Cuba’s institutions are state-owned, this effort “raises a host of practical, political and ethical issues.”

About the Photo

Dr. Sergio Litewka, director of the Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy’s international programs, delivers a plenary lecture to scholars at Cuba’s National Coordination Center for Clinical Trials.

Join the Conversation:

Follow on Twitter:
UM Miller School of Medicine, @umiamimedicine
University of Miami, @univmiami
UM News, @univmiaminews

Goodman noted that the UM Ethics Programs have initiated a project, “Plataforma de Filosofía, Ética y Bioética en Cuba,” to support collaboration among academic institutions and specialists with varying perspectives on Cuban philosophy, ethics and bioethics.

In November 2016, Dr. Sergio G. Litewka, associate professor of surgery and director of International Programs for the Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, delivered two lectures to Cuba’s National Coordination Center for Clinical Trials (CENCEC), the country’s leading organization for human subjects research.

Litewka gave plenary lectures on “The History of Research Ethics: Tragedy and Progress” and “International Perspectives on Research Integrity” as part of the VI International Workshop on Design and Management of Clinical Trials at the Havana International Conference Center.

Litewka’s visit was coordinated by Dr. Maria Amparo Pascual, the founder and former director of CENCEC. She is now a consultant for the institution as well as a member of the experts group of the Cuban Technical and Scientific Program on Vaccines. The conference was sponsored by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, the Pan American Health Organization, the National Council of Science Organizations, the Cuban Society of Pharmacology, and Roche, the pharmaceutical company.

“Cuba’s ethics, research and science communities are keen to collaborate with us, and this was an unprecedented opportunity to foster those connections,” says Goodman.

While Cuban scholars do not yet enjoy academic freedom of speech or press, that is reported to be changing, he added, noting that Cuban scientists and clinicians want to be “participants on the global stage.” In keeping with that objective, Cuba’s researchers appear to follow international standards of informed consent and patient privacy when conducting clinical studies.

“We look forward to more opportunities to discuss and study bioethics, public health and health policy with Cuba’s academic community,” Goodman says. “Our students and faculty will benefit from these collaborations as UM’s presence grows in a changing, complex and exciting environment.”

- RICHARD WESTLUND / UM News

  • Home
  • The Environment
  • The People
  • Business & Economy
  • Health Care
  • Politics & Policy
  • Arts & Culture
  • Centers & Institutes
  • About This Report
University of Miami
  • Coral Gables, FL 33124
  • 305-284-2211
UM Network
  • About UM
  • UM News and Events
  • Admissions
  • Alumni Association
  • UHealth
  • Hurricane Sports
  • ’Cane Watch
  • UM Culture Transformation
Tools and Resources
  • Academic Calendar
  • People Search
  • myUM
  • CaneLink
  • Blackboard
  • Workday
  • Employment
Visit
  • Campus Map
  • Parking & Transportation
Connect

Copyright © 2023 University of Miami. All Rights Reserved. Emergency Information Privacy Statement & Legal Notices Title IX & Gender Equity Website Feedback