Meet Us

Programs and Resources

The Treuman Katz Center serves as a national resource, helping physicians, researchers and policymakers advance their knowledge of bioethics and navigate complex moral dilemmas.

Center Highlights

Key Partnerships

Partnerships are an essential part of the Treuman Katz Center’s mission. Our researchers collaborate with colleagues across the nation and around the world in pursuit of answers to complex bioethics questions.

Our partners include the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the Department of Bioethics and Humanities and the Institute of Translational Health Sciences at the University of Washington.

Bioethics Consultations

Our bioethicists provide practical guidance to families, providers, researchers and policymakers about patient care, public health and research issues. Our consultation service is available to colleagues throughout Seattle Children’s and the University of Washington, and we offer informal advice to people at outside institutions. Learn more about our services.

Publications

Bogetz JF. Apples and Potatoes. Journal of Palliative Medicine. 2019 Jun;22(6):730-73. 

Kraft SA, Garrison NA, Wilfond BS. Understanding as an Ethical Aspiration in an Era of Digital Technology-Based Communication: An Analysis of Informed Consent Functions. The American Journal of Bioethics. 2019 May;19(5):34-36.

Eller NM, Henrikson NB, Opel DJ. Vaccine Information Sources and Parental Trust in Their Child's Health Care Provider. Health, Education & Behavior. 2019 Jun;46(3):445-453.

Cunningham RM, Kerr GB, Orobio J, Munoz FM, Correa A, Villafranco N, Monterrey AC, Opel DJ, Boom JA. Development of a Spanish version of the parent attitudes about childhood vaccines survey. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. 2019;15(5):1106-1110.

Moon M; COMMITTEE ON BIOETHICS (Opel DJ). Institutional Ethics Committees. Pediatrics. 2019 May;143(5). pii: e20190659.

Richardson LP, Zhou C, Gersh E, Spielvogle H, Taylor JA, McCarty CA. Effect of Electronic Screening With Personalized Feedback on Adolescent Health Risk Behaviors in a Primary Care Setting: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. 2019 May 3;2(5):e193581.

Dobrozsi S, Trowbridge A, Mack JW, Rosenberg AR. Effective Communication for Newly Diagnosed Pediatric Patients With Cancer: Considerations for the Patients, Family Members, Providers, and Multidisciplinary Team. American Society Clinical Oncology Educational Book. 2019 Jan;39:573-581.

Wong CS, Kogon AJ, Warady BA, Furth SL, Lantos JD, Wilfond BS. Ethical and Policy Considerations for Genomic Testing in Pediatric Research: The Path Toward Disclosing Individual Research Results. American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 2019 Jun;73(6):837-845.

 

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Our Experts in the Media

  • Flu fact sheet for parents increases vaccination rate in children – 7.10.19 - EurekaAlert!
    A pamphlet about the flu, handed to parents in their pediatrician's waiting room, can increase the number of children who get the flu vaccine, a new study from researchers at Columbia University has found. Additional authors of the study include Dr. Douglas Opel of Seattle Children’s and UW.

  • Amid measles outbreak, New York closes religious exemption for vaccinations – but most states retain it – 6.28.19 – Pew Research Center
    New York recently became the fifth state to enact a law requiring children in public school to be vaccinated unless they have a valid medical reason. Most states, however, allow children to be exempt from vaccinations due to religious concerns, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Some of these exemptions were added “at least in part owing to the lobbying efforts of the Christian Science Church,” according to an article in the Annual Review of Public Health by Dr. Douglas Diekema, a bioethicist at Seattle Children’s.  

  • We’re finally studying how to combat the anti-vax movement, but the methods may surprise you – 5.20.19 – Popular Science
    Perhaps one of the most promising methods thus far might come as something of a surprise: approach the conversation with parents as if it’s assumed that they’re going to vaccinate their kids. “I was having these conversations with parents and I heard about their concerns, and I realized that there wasn’t much I had in my communication toolkit to be able to draw upon,” said Dr. Doug Opel, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Parents, he explains, are looking to their pediatricians for reassurance – so clinicians better know what to say and how to say it. Opel’s first step toward understanding the problem was simply to look at how pediatricians were already dealing with it. 

  • Facing up to injustice in genome science – 4.18.19 – Nature
    A growing number of researchers have made consultation and community involvement central to their work with Indigenous and other marginalized populations. Dr. Nanibaa’ Garrison, a geneticist and bioethicist at Seattle Children’s, interviewed Native American leaders, educators and community members about their concerns and suggestions on how to improve genetic research in tribal communities. “If tribes feel empowered to make decisions for themselves, rather than relying on other people, that may lead to greater engagement,” Garrison said.

  • Photo Gallery: UC's 'Research & Innovation Week' showcases extraordinary work – 4.11.19 – University of Cincinnati News 
    At UC's R&I Hutton Ethics Lecture, keynote speaker Dr. Benjamin Wilfond from Seattle Children's Research Institute asked, "Why does medical research and clinical work have to exist separate from one another?"

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