Canadian Bioethics Society
Société canadienne de bioéthique

2022: Dianne Godkin

Dr. Dianne Godkin's commitment to the field of bioethics in Canada has been evident in a number of domains including the broader bioethics community and the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique, in particular.  

 

Dianne has been a long-standing member of the Society throughout her career. She served as a student representative and was a regular presenter and moderator at CBS-SCB events over the years. Dianne completed her four-year team as CBS-SCB President in 2021, at the helm during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was co-chair of the CBS-SCB Conference Local Organizing Committee (LOC) in 2016 and a supporting member of the LOC in both 2020 and 2021. As those who collaborated with Dianne knows, she was pivotal in creating the conference themes, designing the conference logos, developing the web content and call for abstracts, program planning, fundraising, grant-applications, and creating a detailed conference schedule. During her term as President of the CBS-SCB, Dianne has also shaped the CBS-SCB for the future through spearheading the first virtual Annual Conference and guiding the CBS-SCB in its incorporation as a not-for-profit.

 

Her dedication beyond CBS-SCB is apparent in her roles as the lead of the high performing Regional Bioethics Program at Trillium Health Partners, former Chair of the Clinical, Organizational, and Research Ethics Community of Practice at the University of Toronto’s Joint Centre for Bioethics, Member and Co-Chair of Ontario’s Bioethics Advisory Table during the COVID pandemic. She has also served as member and former Chair of the Canadian Association of Practicing Healthcare Ethicists-Association canadienne des éthiciens en soins de santé.

Dianne gives her support generously when asked.  Even more importantly, the support she provides is always laudable.

 

2017: Edward Keyserlingk

En 1937, Edward Keyserlingk a émigré de Berlin au Canada, et il a grandi à Vancouver et à Montréal. Il a étudié en philosophie et en études religieuses à Montréal et a poursuivi ses études de troisième cycle en éthique à Montréal et ses études bibliques à Rome. Il a ensuite étudié à McGill, où il a obtenu un diplôme d'études supérieures en droit en 1983 et un doctorat en bioéthique et droit de la santé en 1985. Au cours de la même année, le Professeur Keyserlingk s'est joint au personnel enseignant de McGill. Il a été nommé directeur de l'Unité d'éthique biomédicale de la Faculté de médecine de McGill en 1995, poste qu'il a occupé jusqu'à sa retraite en 2000.

 

En recherche, le Professeur Keyserlingk s'intéresse principalement aux domaines suivants : éthique, normes et responsabilités professionnelles; éthique institutionnelle; réforme du droit et conception de politiques de santé; établissement de liens entre l'éthique et l'élaboration de politiques dans le secteur public; rôle de l'éthique et du droit et leur interaction; soins intensifs et décisions en fin de vie; euthanasie, suicide et abandon des moyens de réanimation; responsabilités des chercheurs et des institutions de recherche; éthique en contexte multiculturel. Il a publié de nombreux documents dans des journaux universitaires et il est l'auteur de nombreux documents de travail et rapports au Parlement, y compris des communications produites sur invitation pour le Comité sénatorial spécial sur l'euthanasie et le suicide assisté. Ses analyses éthiques et légales ont été citées dans des jugements de tribunaux, y compris ceux de la Cour suprême du Canada.

 

Le Professeur Keyserlingk a été président fondateur de la Société canadienne de bioéthique, réunissant des éthiciens des milieux universitaires et des médecins pour élaborer une solide approche interdisciplinaire de l'éthique en médecine. Le modèle suscite l'admiration sur la scène internationale pour son optique unique axée sur la collaboration. Par son travail, Edward Keyserlingk a apporté une contribution profonde et durable à l'éthique médicale au Canada. Ses contributions à l'éthique de la recherche et aux politiques de santé ont orienté directement la jurisprudence et la législation canadiennes, ont été bénéfiques pour les Canadiens oeuvrant auprès des patients en milieu hospitalier et ont fixé des normes élevées aux responsables des politiques et aux médecins.

 

In 2004 he received the Medal of Honour from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in recognition of his work as a clinician, scholar, teacher, humanitarian and pioneer in medical ethics. Dr Keyserlingk also served as the Government of Canada Public Service Integrity Officer, during which time he proposed a Canada law reform commission report on physician assisted death in 1994-5. Dr Keyserlingk is the former Director of the Biomedical Ethics Unit and retired Professor, Department of Social Studies in Medicine, an Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Religious Studies, Clinical Ethicist, Montreal General Hospital, and Associate Member, McGill Centre for Studies in Aging.

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2015: Ian Mitchell

Dr. Ian Mitchell is a Professor of Paediatrics in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He is a long-standing member of the Canadian Bioethics Society, serving as CBS-SCB President from 2003-2004 and chairing the CBS-SCB conference in 2004. Dr. Mitchell was previously the Director of Bioethics in the Faculty of Medicine at University of Calgary. He led undergraduate medical education in ethics at University of Calgary for many years and has been honoured with numerous awards for excellence in teaching. In 2013, the Canadian Medical Association honoured Dr. Mitchell with the Marsden Award in Medical Ethics, describing him as practicing with "insight, innovation and fearlessness".

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2014: Patricia (Paddy) Rodney

Dr. Patricia (Paddy) Rodney is an Associate Professor with the University of British Columbia (UBC) School of Nursing. She is also a Faculty Associate with the UBC Centre for Applied Ethics, a Research Associate with Providence Health Care Ethics Services, an ethics consultant for the BC Provincial Advisory Panel on Cardiac Health, and a Board Member of the Association of Registered Nurses of BC (ARNBC). Paddy's research and publications focus on end-of-life care for seriously ill older adults and the moral climate of health care delivery. Paddy has a long-standing affiliation with the Canadian Bioethics Society, which she considers to be a great source of wisdom and terrific colleagues. She is a Past President of the Canadian Bioethics Society (2007-2009; President-Elect 2006-2007 and Past President 2009-2010). Further, she has co-chaired two Canadian Bioethics Society (CBS) Conferences--one in 1997 and now in 2014.

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2013: Al-Noor Nenshi Nathoo​

Al-Noor served as a Coordinator and subsequently Executive Director of the Provincial Health Ethics Network of Alberta over a period of 16 years. In 2013, he assumed the role of Executive Director of the Clinical Ethics Service for Alberta Health Services. He is a past President of the Canadian Bioethics Society and has served on a number of ethics committees in Calgary and Edmonton. Al-Noor has worked with a number of NGOs in the area of international/community development and social justice, including the Arusha Centre, Canadian Council on International Cooperation, University of Calgary International Centre, YMCA International and Aga Khan Foundation Canada. His primary interests include poverty and moral obligation, resource allocation and ethics education in organizations. 

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2005: Nuala Kenny

Nuala Kenny was born in New York and entered the Sisters of Charity of Halifax in 1962. She received her BA from Mount Saint Vincent University in 1967 and an MD from Dalhousie University in 1972.

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After an extensive career in pediatrics and medical education, Dr. Kenny founded the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University in 1996. She is currently a professor in the Departments of Bioethics and Pediatrics at Dalhousie University.

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She was a founding member of the National Council for Bioethics in Human Research. She is Past President of both the Canadian Pediatric Society and the Canadian Bioethics Society. Her research interests include professional character formation, ethics in health policy and public health, pediatric ethics, and end-of-life care.

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2004: Michael Coughlin

​Dr. Michael D. Coughlin has worked as a clinical ethicist for over 20 years and is an Associate Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. His background includes degrees in philosophy, theology and developmental biology, and he has held Faculty appointments at New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical College and at McMaster University.

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Michael recently retired from the position of Ethics Consultant at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, a position he initiated in 1986. During that time he served both as clinical ethicist and as secretary and ethicist for their Research Ethics Board.

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Michael was involved with the Catholic Health Association of Canada in helping to draft the Health Care Ethics Guide and the current Health Ethics Guide. He is a founding member and a Past President of the Canadian Bioethics Society.

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