Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Christine Grady to Receive Bioethics Founders’ Award

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, and Christine Grady, RN, PhD, have been honored with the 2026 Bioethics Founders’ Award by The Hastings Center for Bioethics. This prestigious award is presented annually to individuals who significantly influence the fields of bioethics, medicine, life sciences, and public policy. The awards will be conferred by Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities annual conference in Indianapolis this October.

Emanuel serves as Vice Provost of Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and co-directs the Healthcare Transformation Institute. His pivotal role in shaping the Affordable Care Act during his tenure as Special Advisor for Health Policy in the Obama administration underscores his expertise in healthcare policy. Emanuel’s significant contributions to healthcare resource allocation and research ethics are highly recognized, with over 350 published articles and 16 books to his name.

Christine Grady, a renowned bioethicist, is currently the Senior Advisor on Bioethics and Neuroethics at Georgetown University. Her career includes pivotal leadership roles at the National Institutes of Health's Department of Bioethics. Grady’s substantial contributions to clinical research ethics and informed consent are reflected in over 240 journal articles and several books. Her recent research has focused on moral distress in health professions, particularly among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.