University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics

A global leader in bioethics

The JCB was formed in 1995, and since then we have been a global leader in bioethics. In 2002, we became the first World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Bioethics (WHO-CC). The Global Network of WHO-CCs for Bioethics now includes 12 bioethics centres world-wide.

Improving health and health systems through excellence and innovation in bioethics research, education, and practice

We are dedicated to anticipating and addressing complex ethical issues of contemporary health systems through bioethics research, education and practice in partnership with other academic and health sector institutions. At the JCB, we put theory into practice for the public’s health.

Since 2015, we have been based in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and report to our Dean Adelsteinn (Steini) Brown. In addition, we have strong academic ties with 12 collaborating graduate units across the University of Toronto, and affiliated healthcare organizations. We have over 40 faculty and affiliates who teach in our academic programs, supervise our graduate students, and produce high-quality interdisciplinary research. We have trained over 450 students and fellows, many of whom are now leading bioethics research and education activities locally and globally. We are also the academic home of the Clinical, Organizational and Research Ethics (CORE) Network which is the largest Practicing Healthcare Ethicists community of practice in Canada.

Achieving our strategic aims

By 2023, we will achieve our vision of being a global leader in population health and health system ethics by pursuing an integrated knowledge-to-action approach in bioethics across four key strategic areas:

1. Fostering Innovation in Bioethics
   By anticipating new and emerging ethical issues and developing methods and ways of thinking to understand and address them.
2. Applying Bioethics Knowledge in Practice
   By designing applied bioethics interventions to facilitate translation of ethics knowledge into health system policies and practices.
3. Building People Capacity for 21st Century Bioethics
   By providing diverse health system actors with relevant knowledge, skills and competencies to meet today’s ethical challenges.
4. Partnering for Excellence and Impact
   By bringing together the right partners and collaborators, resources, and processes to transform health through bioethics.

These aims will help the JCB to evolve into a centre for excellence in bioethics that will have the foundation to continue to be a world leader in its field, and an attractive and innovative partner. We are excited to be currently developing another facet of the JCB, the Bioethics Design Lab.