Einstein Experts

Ruth Macklin, Ph.D.

Distinguished University Professor Emerita, Epidemiology & Population Health

Dr. Shoshanah Trachtenberg Frackman Faculty Scholar in Biomedical Ethics

BioethicsMultinational researchEthics in reproductive healthBioethics of research involving human subjectsGlobal health

Dr. Macklin is considered one of the founders of the field of bioethics. In a career dating to the early seventies, Dr. Macklin has lectured and published widely on a variety of medical ethics topics, including research using human subjects, global health, stem cell research, reproductive health, public health ethics, end-of-life issues and HIV/AIDS. She is a past president of the International Association of Bioethics and currently serves on its board of directors.

Dr. Macklin is the author or editor of eleven books and has served on committees of the World Health Organization, including its vaccine advisory committee. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine), a branch of the National Academy of Science. From 2005 to 2008, she served as chair of the external ethics committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She currently co-directs an NIH Fogarty International Center Training Program on research ethics, which takes place in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in the Bronx. In 2002, she received the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions and significant publications in bioethics and humanities; in 2014 she received the Henry Beecher Award from the Hastings Center and also an award from the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research for contributions to progress in international research ethics.