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37th Annual MacLean Center Conference on Clinical Medical Ethics
Chicago, IL US
April 10, 2026 to April 11, 2026
Join us for this premiere medical ethics conference!
Join leading experts and colleagues for an engaging exploration of today’s most pressing ethical challenges in medicine. This dynamic conference equips healthcare professionals with practical tools and fresh perspectives to navigate complex ethical dilemmas across diverse clinical settings.
Through thought-provoking lectures, interactive panel discussions, and rich collaboration, participants will gain strategies to strengthen the patient-physician relationship, ensure informed consent, and address disparities in care and outcomes.
Walk away with new insights and actionable approaches you can apply immediately in your practice, enhancing decision-making, communication, and ultimately, patient care.
Target Audience
This activity is designed for physicians and other healthcare professionals interested in clinical medical ethics.
Learning Objectives
After this activity, participants will be able to:
- Analyze ethical situations that arise in routine clinical encounters.
- Evaluate diverse perspectives, including legal, medical, cultural, and religious, when addressing clinical ethical dilemmas.
- Integrate current literature, policies, and directives in clinical medical ethics to support decision-making in practice.
- Examine how clinical medical ethics principles influence both the American healthcare system and specialty-specific practice.
- Apply the tenets of clinical medical ethics to case-based scenarios within participants’ specialties.
| Time | Session | Faculty |
|---|---|---|
| FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2026 | ||
| 8:00 – 9:00 AM | Breakfast & Small Group Discussions – Empirical Ethics Research | Moderator: Micah Prochaska, MD |
| Breakfast & Small Group Discussions – External Grant Funding in Ethics | Moderator: Will Parker, MD, PhD | |
| Breakfast & Small Group Discussions – Publishing in Ethics | Moderator: Norman Quist | |
| Breakfast & Small Group Discussions – Pediatric Ethics | Moderator: Rebecca Propper, MD | |
| 9:00 – 9:15 AM | Welcome & Introduction | Peter Angelos, MD, PhD, HEC-C |
| 9:15 – 10:35 AM | Plenary: Systems, Policy, and Clinical Workflow Ethics | Moderator: Monica Peek, MD |
| Patient Transfers and Expectation Inertia | Arnav Shandilya | |
| The Electronic Medical Record | Gabrelle Sudilovsky | |
| The Devil in the Details | Jay Carlson, PhD | |
| Scope Creep in Ethics Consulting | L. August Yu | |
| 10:35 – 11:00 AM | Break | |
| 11:00 – 12:00 PM | Breakout – Room 501 | Moderator: Baddr Shakhsheer, MD, HEC-C |
| Trust in Virtual Surgical Care | Dana I. Anderson, MD | |
| Healthcare Equity in Transplant Surgery | Ashley N. Suah, MD, FACS; Roy Wilson | |
| Goals of Care Communication Notes | Gina Piscitello, MD, MS | |
| Breakout – Room 502 | Moderator: TBD | |
| Ethics Consultation Services | Charlotte Harrington, MD | |
| HLA Fairness in TCR Therapies | Yifei Hu, MD, PhD | |
| Clinical Ethics Practice | Erika “Ann” Jeschke, PhD | |
| Breakout – Room 503 | Moderator: Daniel Brudney, PhD | |
| Transhumanism and Medicine | Aasim I. Padela, MD, MSc, FACEP | |
| Salutogenic Medicine | Andrew J. Baldassarre | |
| Moral Distress Study | Peter McCarthy, BA; Daniel Kim, PhD, MPH | |
| Breakout – Room 504 | Moderator: TBD | |
| Ethics in the Medfluencer Era | Ava Shoal Randel, MA, MDiv | |
| The Good Surgeon Curriculum | Ryan Antiel | |
| Physician Compensation Ethics | Nathaniel Mattera | |
| 12:00 – 1:00 PM | Lunch | |
| 1:00 – 1:45 PM | Panel – Moral Distress in Genetic Counseling | Jay Moore, MS, CGC; Darcy Huismann, MS, CGC; Justin Horn, PhD; Yazmin Enchautegui-Colon, MD |
| Panel – Physician Mental Health | Val Bellman, MD, PsyD; Pringl Miller, MD, FACS; Eden Nohra, MD | |
| 1:45 – 2:00 PM | Break | |
| 2:00 – 2:45 PM | Panel – DNR/DNI Ethics | Braylee Grisel, MD; Rebecca Propper, MD; Gregg Robbins-Welty, MD, MS, HEC-C; Nathan Scheiner, MD, MA |
| Panel – Oral Health Justice | Carlos S. Smith, DDS, MDiv, FACD, FICD; Francine D. Lynch, JD, D. Bioethics; Nanette Elster, JD, MPH | |
| 2:45 – 3:15 PM | Break | |
| 3:15 – 4:15 PM | Breakout – Room 501 | Moderator: Will Parker, MD, PhD |
| Ethical Triage in the ER | Kimberly Vargas Barreto, PhD | |
| End-of-Life Training Needs | Jacob Schulman, MD, MHPE | |
| Life-Sustaining Treatment Patterns | Ellen Cohn, MD, MPH | |
| Breakout – Room 502 | Moderator: TBD | |
| Bereavement Birth Planning | Luke Gatta, MD; Allison M. McCarthy, PhD | |
| Best Interest vs Judgment | Arnav Shandilya | |
| Guardianship Decisions | Kimberly Martin, DNP, APN-C | |
| Breakout – Room 503 | Moderator: Rebecca Propper, MD | |
| Autonomy in Intellectual Disabilities | L. August Yu | |
| Shared Decision-Making | Mary Simmerling, PhD | |
| Quality-of-Life Directive | Julie L. Campbell, JD, LL.M, CHC | |
| Breakout – Room 504 | Moderator: TBD | |
| DNR Orders After Suicide Attempts | Charley D. Maples, PhD | |
| Withdrawal of Care Ethics | Daniel Fu | |
| Ethical Challenges After Suicide Attempt | Patrick D. Herron | |
| Distributive Justice | Bharat Ranganathan, PhD, HEC-C; Karlie Zychowski, MD | |
| 4:30 PM | Adjourn Day 1 | |
| Time | Session | Faculty |
| SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2026 | ||
| 8:00 – 9:00 AM | Breakfast Discussions | Sean Wightman, MD; Julie Chor, MD; Kimberly Martin, DNP, APN-C; Elizabeth Kieff, MD |
| 9:00 – 10:00 AM | FASPE Session | TBD |
| 10:00 – 10:40 AM | Plenary | Moderator: Marshall Chin, MD |
| OB/GYN Ethics Curriculum | Heather Straub, MD | |
| Decision-Making in Pediatric Care | Hans C. Baertsch, MD | |
| 10:40 – 11:00 AM | Break | |
| 11:00 – 11:15 AM | MacLean Prize | Dean Mark Anderson |
| 11:15 AM | Keynote | Margaret “Gretchen” Schwarze, MD, MPP |
| 12:00 – 1:00 PM | Lunch | |
| 1:00 – 2:40 PM | Plenary | Moderator: Megan Applewhite, MD, MA |
| Normothermic Regional Perfusion | Christos Lazaridis, MD, EDIC, BPhil | |
| CPR Misconceptions | Julie L. Campbell, JD, LL.M, CHC | |
| Physician Assistance in Dying | Timothy F. Murphy, PhD | |
| Surgical M&M | Ursula Francis, JD, PhD, MSc | |
| Surgical Paternalism | Hannah R. Bentz | |
| 2:40 – 3:00 PM | Break | |
| 3:00 – 4:40 PM | Plenary | Moderator: Baddr Shakhsheer, MD |
| Ethics of Adhesion | Mnotho Ngcobo | |
| Depression and Autonomy | Jeffrey T. Poomkudy, MD, MA | |
| Pregnancy & Advance Directives | Madeline Canal, BS; Lauren Solberg, JD, MTS | |
| Conflicts of Interest | Robert Tran; Kyron Wicker | |
| Goals of Care in Surgery | Sofia Cohen, BA | |
| 4:40 – 5:00 PM | Closing Remarks | Peter Angelos, MD, PhD, HEC-C |
David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago
1201 E 60th St
Chicago, IL
60637
United States
HYBRID MEETING
Learners can participate in this conference in person or virtually. For more information, contact Natasha Megherea via email.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Visit the David Rubenstrein Forum's website!
The David Rubenstein Forum combines a variety of spaces, both formal and informal, large and small, calm and animated, focused and diffuse, scheduled and spontaneous. Its ten-story tower features vibrant and distinct “neighborhoods.” For example, the third and fourth floors are home to Friedman Hall, a 285-seat auditorium optimized for spoken word, including keynote speeches, invited-speaker addresses, and select performances; these floors and other neighborhoods are connected by a two-story lounge. Meeting rooms on the eighth and ninth floors feature premium furnishings, finishes, and equipment, such as the Peter May Boardroom, a tiered meeting space that seats over 70. The Rubenstein Forum’s unique position on the Midway allows for expansive views toward the campus and surrounding communities as well as downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan.
VISITING CHICAGO
Discover why Condé Nast Traveler readers voted Chicago the Best Big City in the U.S. for a historic ninth year in a row. To help plan your stay in Chicago, visit the Choose Chicago website.
ACCESSIBILITY The University of Chicago is committed to providing equal access appropriate to need and circumstances and complies fully with legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you are in need of special accommodation, please contact our office via email.
The University of Chicago reserves the right to cancel or postpone this conference due to unforeseen circumstances. In the unlikely event this activity must be cancelled or postponed, the registration fee will be refunded; however, the University of Chicago is not responsible for any related costs, charges, or expenses to participants, including fees assessed by airline/travel/lodging agencies.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO COURSE DIRECTOR
Peter Angelos, MD, PhDLinda Kohler Anderson Professor of Surgery
Chief of Endocrine Surgery
Director, MacLean Center for Clinical Ethics
Disclosure Declarations
As a provider accredited by the ACCME, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine asks everyone in a position to control the content of an education activity to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies. This includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if a financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company during the past 24 months, and the content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship. Mechanisms are in place to identify and mitigate any relevant financial relationships prior to the start of the activity.
Additionally, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine requires Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
As a provider accredited by the ACCME, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine asks everyone in a position to control the content of an education activity to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies. This includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if a financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company during the past 24 months, and the content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship. Mechanisms are in place to identify and mitigate any relevant financial relationships prior to the start of the activity.
Additionally, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine requires Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
Physician Credit
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 12.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Social Worker Credit
University of Chicago Medicine is a Registered Social Work Continuing Education Sponsor through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and will offer continuing education units for the 37th Annual MacLean Center Conference on Clinical Medical Ethics for LSW and LCSW social workers in the state of Illinois.
University of Chicago Medicine is a Registered Social Work Continuing Education Sponsor through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and will offer continuing education units for the 37th Annual MacLean Center Conference on Clinical Medical Ethics for LSW and LCSW social workers in the state of Illinois.
12.75 social work continuing education units are provided for this live activity.
Other Participant Credit
Other participants will receive a Certificate of Participation. For information on the applicability and acceptance of Certificates of Participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME, please consult your professional licensing board.
Please note: The credit-claiming process will close one month after the activity ends. Requests to claim credit after one month may incur additional fees.
HOW TO REGISTER
Please log in or create an account to register. Once logged in, select the appropriate registration type and click "Register Now!". To receive the early registration rate, enter the early registration discount code during registration. For help, follow our 
registration guide
registration guide| IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL FEES Early registration ends March 2, 2026, so don't delay! | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Profession Type | Early Registration | Discount Code | Regular Registration |
| General | $300 | EXPIRED | $350 |
| MacLean Fellow Alumni | $250 | EXPIRED | $300 |
| MacLean Faculty | - | - | $175 |
| Residents & Fellows | - | - | $150 |
| Students | - | - | $100 |
| CANCELLATION POLICY: If you cancel your participation in this conference, your registration fee less a 50% administrative fee will be refunded when written notification is received by March 10, 2026. No refunds will be made after March 10, 2026. | |||
CLAIMING CREDIT
After the activity, the credit-claiming process will unlock. Return to this page and click on "Complete Activity" to proceed.
Please note: Requests to claim AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ after three months may incur additional fees.
Please note: Requests to claim AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ after three months may incur additional fees.
Please login or create an account to proceed.