“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.
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.”
