Head of the Bioethics Consultation Service

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites candidates with strong scientific and clinical
credentials to apply for the position of Head of the Bioethics Consultation Service in the Department of
Bioethics, at the NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD.
The NIH is the nation’s foremost federally-funded biomedical research institution. The NIH Clinical
Research Center (CRC) is the onsite hospital for the NIH campus providing full support for clinical
research in inpatient and outpatient settings. The NIH Clinical Center is the world’s largest clinical
research complex serving a dual role; providing humane and healing patient care as well as the
environment clinical researchers need to advance clinical science. The NIH Clinical Center provides a full
range of services from ambulatory clinical to critical care and special procedures. Patients come from all
over the world to participate in a research program aimed at developing new knowledge of disease
processes, new treatments, and expanded comprehension of basic biologic systems. The focus on early
phase and first-in-human clinical trials and on the study of rare diseases makes it possible to rapidly
translate scientific observations and laboratory discoveries into new approaches for diagnosing,
treating, and preventing disease. The patient population generally has a clinical intensity higher than
that of comparable specialties in academic medical centers, and patients are seen for prolonged periods
of assessment, treatment and recovery.

The Department of Bioethics is a center for research, training, and service related to bioethical issues.
The Department provides high quality ethics consultation services to clinicians, patients, and families of
the NIH's Clinical Center and advice to the NIH IRBs, investigators, and others on ethical issues in clinical
care and clinical research. In addition, members of the department conduct conceptual, empirical, and
policy-related research into bioethical issues; offers comprehensive training to future bioethicists and
educational programs for biomedical researchers and clinical providers.

The selected candidate is expected to lead, organize, and guide the planning, management, and
implementation of the CC Bioethics Consultation Service. The Bioethics Consultation Service provides
ethical analysis and facilitates discussion about a range of ethical issues that arise in caring for patients
or research participants and during the course of research conducted at the NIH. The Bioethics
Consultation Service provides both clinical ethics consultation and research ethics consultation, and is
available to anyone with an ethical question or concern including investigators, research participants,
families, physicians, nurses, administrators, social workers, pastoral care providers, and others who
work at the NIH. In addition, the incumbent will rotate as an attending consultant on the Bioethics
Consultation service; provide guidance about consultation to other attendings; orient and train fellows
regarding bioethics consultation; represent the Consult Service to the CC and NIH; serve as vice-chair of
the CC Ethics Committee; and participating in weekly clinical rounds as appropriate.

The incumbent will conduct empirical and/or conceptual research on theoretical and applied issues in
bioethics and health policy. The Department currently has five major research foci: 1) research ethics; 2)
ethics of genetics and emerging technologies, 3) ethics and health policy, 4) global health ethics; and 5)
clinical ethics. Topics might include, but are not limited to, the allocation of health care resources;
approaches for decision-making to resolve complex ethical problems; research on methods and systems 
involved in patient care; and investigation of methods to engage family members to maximize clinical
outcomes and engage community members to inform or enhance health policies.

The incumbent will also contribute to educational programs in bioethics through planning and teaching
and mentor fellows in the bioethics fellowship program. The incumbent will advise the Chief of the
Bioethics Department, the CC Director, NIH Institute Clinical Directors, DDIR, and others at NIH, as
needed on issues in bioethics.

Candidates must possess superior clinical and academic credentials. The Candidate must have an M.D.
or equivalent medical degree, an active medical license (in any of the United States), and be a U.S.
Citizen or U.S. National. Candidates should demonstrate experience and proven skill in bioethics
consultation, and the ability to provide ethical analysis and facilitate discussion on a range of ethical
issues that arise in patient care or during the course of research as well as a record of accomplishment in
research and training in the field of bioethics.