Mangaluru: On the occasion of World Bioethics Day on 19 October 2018, the Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya (deemed to be) University felicitated and conferred a “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Distinguished University Professor Emerita Ruth Macklin in recognition of her contribution to the field of global researchbioethics.
Ruth Macklin is a Bioethics faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA. She is a prolific writer, an inspiring teacher and has a vast experience as member, advisor and consultant at various prestigious organizations including World Health Organization, United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is also the recipient of several awards including the prestigious Hasting’s Center’s Henry Beecher Award.
Yenepoya Deemed to be University was honored and privileged to confer the Lifetime Achievement award to Prof Ruth Macklin on this day.
The award was conferred by Prof. Dr. GangadharSomayyaji KS, Registrar in the presence of dignitaries FarhaadYenepoya Director, Finance, Dr. Moosabba MS Principal,Yenepoya Medical College, Prof. Abdul Rehman, Former Vice Chancellor of Kannur and Calicut Universities and Prof. Dr. Akhter Hussain, Secretary, Islamic Academy of Education.
After the award presentation, Prof Ruth Macklin spoke on ‘Vulnerable populations in the context of research’ which was followed by an interactive session with students and faculty.
Prof. Macklin informed the audience that rather than simply referring to vulnerable people using labels, it was better to consider the context and situations in which people might be rendered vulnerable. She also suggested that many of the guidelines – with the exception of the recently revised Council for International Organizations in Medical Sciences (CIOMS) guidelines – have failed to provide clear, actionable directions to identify, protect vulnerable populations and mitigate exploitation. Simply excluding vulnerable people from research, is to deny them the benefits of research.
Prof. Macklin has championed the cause of people living with HIV, and in large measure, the recruitment of this vulnerable section of society in research, is due to her untirng efforts to get them their due benefits emerging from research.
Prof. Macklin was visiting the Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya (deemed to be) University, where she is a faculty on the Yenepoya University-Fogarty International Center Research Ethics Master’s Program for India. This is a unique Master’s Program in the country, being offered only by Yenepoya deemed to be University, supported by an educational research grant from National Institutes of Health, USA.
