It is a thin line between medical miracles and playing God.
This intertwining relationship between religion and ethics in medicine has brought the University and its bioethics program, which examines moral issues within the field of medicine, to the forefront of academic discussion.
Exploring just how far scientists can go in their medical advances without violating religious principles will be the focus of the University's Center for Biomedical Ethics-sponsored bioethics conference, "Belief and Bioethics: Religious Faith and Secular Medical Ethics."
A variety of issues relating to both research advancements and basic medical treatment will be the topics for discussion. The conference also will address many religious fears such as scientists trying to play God by expanding technology.
The event, which will take place March 15-16, will feature many distinguished speakers in the fields of religious studies, medicine and bioethics, including University Religious Studies Prof. James F. Childress.
Childress will participate in a debate with Kevin Wildes, associate director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.
Childress said they will discuss the role of bioethics principles in relation to religious traditions, specifically examining "whether these principles, or similar ones, can be used in accordance with religious beliefs in reflecting on problems in health care."
Childress complimented the bioethics personnel at the University. "U.Va. is fortunate in having some of the most prominent bioethicists in the nation," he said.
Jonathan Moreno, director of the University's Center for Biomedical Ethics, also noted the strength of the University's bioethicists.
"U.Va. has one of the strongest bioethics groups in the country ... there are many people at U.Va. who are interested in the intersection between religion and bioethics," Moreno said.
He cited this strength as one of the reasons why the University was chosen to host this event.
He added that the University also has a strong medical school environment that is open to issues of spirituality, which creates an ideal conference location.
Childress said he hopes the conference will provide broad coverage of a range of approaches to bioethics, many of which arise in religious contexts.
He said when the field of bioethics was created in the late 1960s, religious figures and theologians were involved intimately with bioethics discussions, but they slowly became marginal. Childress said religion recently has resurfaced.
The issue of bioethetics and society will come to Grounds again at the end of March, as the second National Undergraduate Conference on bioethics will be held March 31 and April 1.
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