Hastings Center Inc

THE CENTER PRODUCES PUBLICATIONS ON ETHICAL QUESTIONS IN MEDICINE, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY THAT HELP INFORM POLICY, PRACTICE, AND PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING.

THE HASTINGS CENTER'S RESEARCHERS INVESTIGATED A DIVERSE RANGE OF ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND POLICY QUESTIONS RELATED TO SCIENCE, MEDICINE, AND HEALTH. PROJECTS ADDRESSED: THE IMPACT OF AND LESSONS FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC; RACISM AND HEALTH; DEMENTIA AND ASSISTED DYING; XENOTRANSPLANTATION; ADVANCES IN GENETICS INCLUDING PSYCHIATRIC GENETICS, SOCIOGENOMICS, AND INDIVIDUALIZED GENETIC INTERVENTIONS; DISABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY; CHIMERIC RESEARCH; AND PUBLIC DELIBERATION ON AND INVOLVEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES. WE PRODUCED ANALYSIS AND FORMULATED ADVICE ON THESE QUESTIONS, WHICH WE DISSEMINATED TO SPECIALIST AND NON-SPECIALIST AUDIENCES THROUGH THE PUBLICATION OF 3 SPECIAL REPORTS OF HASTINGS CENTER REPORT, MORE THAN 40 ARTICLES, BOOK CHAPTERS, AND COMMENTARIES. IN ADDITION, WE OFFERED ALMOST 60 TALKS AND LECTURES TO AUDIENCES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD, AS WELL AS DOZENS OF INTERVIEWS WITH JOURNALISTS AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS. HASTINGS PRODUCED 9 WEBINARS ADDRESSING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND RACISM IN HEALTH. OUR RESEARCHERS ALSO SERVED ON ADVISORY COMMITTEES FOR INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL, AND LOCAL ENTITIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND FOUNDATIONS, AND THE EDITORIAL BOARDS OF DOZENS OF ACADEMIC JOURNALS. THIS RESEARCH WAS SUPPORTED BY GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND DONATIONS FROM PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FUNDERS, INCLUDING THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION, RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION, THE DONGAHUE FOUNDATION, AND THE GREENWALL FOUNDATION.

IN 2021, THE HASTINGS CENTER REPORT, A BIOETHICS JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY THE CENTER, FEATURED DISCUSSIONS OF LIFE-YEARS AND RATIONING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, SOLIDARITY AND GLOBAL VACCINE DISTRIBUTION, RACIAL CAPITALISM AND PUBLIC HEALTH, AND MANY OTHER TOPICS IN MEDICAL CARE, HEALTH POLICY, BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, AND BIOTECHNOLOGY. SIX ISSUES OF THE REPORT APPEARED, CONTAINING A MIXTURE OF SCHOLARLY ANALYSIS AND EXPERT COMMENTARY. THE REPORT ALSO PUBLISHED TWO SUPPLEMENTS, ON CIVIC LEARNING, DEMOCRACY, AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF COMMON PURPOSE (WITH THE JANUARY-FEBRUARY ISSUE) AND ON GENE EDITING IN THE WILD AND PUBLIC DELIBERATION (WITH THE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER ISSUE). THE REPORT WAS DISTRIBUTED BY JOHN T. WILEY AND SONS, PRIMARILY IN ONLINE FORM, TO 11,250 LIBRARIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS (WITH ROUGHLY 6000 SUBSCRIBING THROUGH THE WILEY ONLINE LIBRARY AND 5250 GAINING ACCESS THROUGH DISTRIBUTION SERVICES), AND TO ROUGHLY 300 INDIVIDUALS. ROUGHLY 590,000 ITEMS WERE DOWNLOADED. ETHICS AND HUMAN RESEARCH, A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO ISSUES IN THE ETHICS AND REGULATION OF RESEARCH ON HUMAN SUBJECTS, OFFERED SIX ISSUES IN 2021 ON TOPICS IN MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, INCLUDING ENROLLING CHILDREN IN CLINICAL TRIALS FOR GENETIC NEURODEVELOPMENTAL CONDITIONS, COMPETING DEMANDS OF CLINICAL RESEARCH AND THE PROTECTION OF PATIENT PRIVACY, BIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH IN MALAWI, ENROLLMENT OF AMERICAN INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES IN CLINICAL STUDIES OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, AND RECRUITMENT OF PARTICIPANTS FOR HUMAN CHALLENGE TRIALS FOR SARS-COV-2 VACCINES. E&HR WAS ALSO DISTRIBUTED BY WILEY AND SONS, PRIMARILY IN ONLINE FORM. ROUGHLY 5200 INSTITUTIONS AND LIBRARIES, ALONG WITH 150 INDIVIDUALS, SUBSCRIBED TO E&HR, AND ROUGHLY 70,000 ITEMS WERE DOWNLOADED. HASTINGS BIOETHICS FORUM, THE HASTINGS CENTER'S BLOG, FEATURES SCORES OF COMMENTARIES ON BIOETHICS TOPICS IN THE NEWS.

THE ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR INFORMING AND ENGAGING DIVERSE AUDIENCES ABOUT THE RESEARCH, PUBLICATIONS, PUBLIC EVENTS, AND OTHERACTIVITIES OF THE HASTINGS CENTER. TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS, THE DEPARTMENT PREPARES AND DISTRIBUTES PRESS RELEASES, PITCHES STORIES TO SELECTED JOURNALISTS, WORKS WITH RESEARCH SCHOLARS TO DEVELOP AND PLACE OP-EDS AND OTHER COMMENTARIES, PRODUCES A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, EDITS THE HASTINGS BIOETHICS FORUM BLOG, USES SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PROMOTION AND AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT, OVERSEES THE WEBSITE (INCLUDING DEVLEOPING ALL CONTENT), PRODUCES VIDEOS OF HASTINGS EVENTS AND HELPS PLAN AND MANAGE THE EVENTS. IN 2021, THE CENTER CONTINUED TO BUILD ITS COMMITMENT TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH THREE KEY AUDIENCES: MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, POLICY MAKERS AND THE EDUCATED PUBLIC, SPECIFICALLY THROUGH JOURNALISTS. AS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CONTINUED, THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM CONTINUED TO EXPAND ITS DIGITAL EFFORTS WITH WIDE-RANGING VIRTUAL EVENTS THAT CONTINUED TO DRAW ENGAGED AUDIENCES WORLDWIDE. THE CENTER RETAINED THE SERVICES OF AN OUTSIDE DIGITIAL MARKETING FIRM THAT BOOSTED THE CENTER'S VISIBILITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA. IN 2021, THE CENTER'S EMAIL LIST, A KEY MEASURE OF ENGAGEMENT, GREW BY OVER 50% AND THE BIOETHICS FORUM CONTINUED TO BE A KEY SOURCE OF CRITICAL THINKING ON PANDEMIC ETHICS.