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2011 Awards 

The 2011 joint recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award are Ruth R. Faden, PhD, MPH, and Tom L. Beauchamp, PhD.

The work on which Drs. Faden and Beauchamp have collaborated, as well as their individual achievements, is considerable and influential. Their scholarship has led to the development of public discourse and policy on a host of important issues in biomedical ethics and health policy, and PRIM&R is honored to formally recognize their achievements with its highest award. 

Although their joint and individual accomplishments are too numerous to catalogue exhaustively, the highlights include A History and Theory of Informed Consent (Oxford University Press, 1986), their co-authored work which is still widely regarded as the most authoritative and comprehensive canon on informed consent. 

Ruth FadenRuth R. Faden, PhD, MPH
Dr. Faden is the Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics; Director, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics; Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Professor, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. 

Dr. Faden is the founding director of the Berman Institute, and has taught what is believed to be the first public health ethics course in the country. She is also a senior research scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. She is a co-founder of the Hinxton Group, a global community committed to advancing ethical and policy challenges in stem cell science, and the Second Wave project, an effort to ensure that the health interests of pregnant women are fairly represented in biomedical research and drug and device policies. 

Dr. Faden has served on numerous national advisory committees and commissions including the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, which she chaired, and which produced a comprehensive report of the experiments conducted by various US federal government agencies. 

Dr. Faden’s current research focuses on questions of social justice in health policy and global health, including the national and global challenges in pandemic influenza planning and response, vaccine policy and funding, health systems design, and fair access to the benefits of global investments in biomedical research. She also works on ethical challenges in biomedical science and women’s health. 

Dr. Faden is the author and editor of many books and articles on biomedical ethics and health policy, including Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy (with Madison Powers, Oxford University Press, 2006), AIDS, Women and the Next Generation (with Madison Powers, Oxford University Press, 1991), and HIV, AIDS and Childbearing: Public Policy, Private Lives (Ruth Faden and Nancy Kass, eds., Oxford University Press, 1996). 

Dr. Faden earned graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of California, Berkley. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the Hastings Center and the American Psychological Association. She was the 2011 recipient of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Lifetime Achievement Award, and PRIM&R is pleased to similarly honor her with its Lifetime Achievement Award

Tom BeauchampTom L. Beauchamp, PhD
Dr. Beauchamp is Professor of Philosophy and Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. He received graduate degrees from Yale University and The Johns Hopkins University, where he received his PhD in 1970. He then joined the faculty of the philosophy department at Georgetown University, and in the mid-1970s, accepted a joint appointment at the Kennedy Institute. In 1975, he joined the staff of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, where he wrote the bulk of The Belmont Report (1978). 

Dr. Beauchamp’s research interests include the ethics of human and animal subjects research, as well as the place of universal principles and rights in biomedical ethics, methods of bioethics, Hume, the history of modern philosophy, and business ethics. He is currently conducting a study, in collaboration with several other investigators, including Dr. Faden, which focuses on the conceptual, moral, and policy dimensions of the distinction between research and treatment. 

Dr. Beauchamp currently holds a National Science Foundation award to advance work in animal research ethics, together with a group of investigators headed by Hope Ferdowsian at The George Washington University. This project is centered on an analysis of the concept of vulnerability to harm, and the creation of an anatomy of potential harms from research interventions. 

Another of Dr. Beauchamp’s priorities has been his participation in the development of a program in pharmaceutical ethics at the Eli Lilly Company. Lilly has been one of the first pharmaceutical companies to establish a standing bioethics committee, and Dr. Beauchamp has been involved in this initiative from its inception. 

Dr. Beauchamp is the author and co-author of numerous books, including Principles of Biomedical Ethics (Oxford University Press, 6th edition, 2008) which has become the standard book for medical ethics classes all over the world; The Human Use of Animals (Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 2008); and Philosophical Ethics (McGraw-Hill, 3rd edition, 2001). Many of his articles were republished in early 2010 under the title Standing on Principles: Collected Works (Oxford University Press, 2010). Dr. Beauchamp has edited and co-edited numerous anthologies, journals, and  books that span a number of distinct disciplines, including journalism and epidemiology, and he recently co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics

Dr. Beauchamp is a 2011 recipient of the Hastings Center’s Henry Knowles Beecher Award. He was also the 2004 recipient of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2003 recipient of the Georgetown University Career Recognition Award. In 1994 Dr. Beauchamp received the McDonald-Merrill- Ketcham Memorial Award from the University of Indiana. 

In The Belmont Report, Dr. Beauchamp articulated the three fundamental ethical principles: justice, beneficence, and respect for persons, which have become the worldwide standard for the conduct of ethical research with human subjects. These principles are further reflected and reinforced by the monumental contributions of these two extraordinary individuals to the field of research ethics. 

Although they have already been recognized in many ways and places, PRIM&R is honored to bestow its highest award on Drs. Faden and Beauchamp for their outstanding and sustained efforts, both collaboratively and individually, to advance the ethical conduct of medicine and research. 

In addition to their remarkable scholarship and leadership, both Drs. Faden and Beauchamp are legendary for their kindness, graciousness, and generosity to their students and colleagues. They truly walk the talk when it comes to ethics, and PRIM&R has been among their grateful beneficiaries. By permitting us to honor them, they honor us, and we are grateful for and privileged by their presence here today.

Congratulations to Gigi McMillan for receiving the ARENA Legacy Award!

Gigi McMillanThe ARENA Legacy Award recognizes a PRIM&R member who has made an exemplary contribution to the mission and goals of PRIM&R by significantly promoting the ethical conduct of research through mentoring, teaching, and leadership. This award has been developed to honor not only the recipient, but also the living legacy created by the Applied Research Ethics National Association (ARENA), which was the membership division of PRIM&R from 1986 to 2005. Gigi McMillan has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the ARENA Legacy Award
As noted in the award nomination submitted by a PRIM&R member: 
“Gigi has been a faculty member with PRIM&R since 2004. In that year she stunned us with her keynote address, riveting the audience by sharing her personal experiences as a parent of a son who had been enrolled in several clinical trials. Her description of the consent process changed what would have otherwise been a detached and boring concept in a text book to an intense, emotional experience; one that I will personally never forget.” 
That testimonial only begins to tell the tale of Ms. McMillan’s significant and innumerable contributions to the PRIM&R community. We’ve heard similar statements of gratitude from many other conference attendees.

As reflected above, Ms. McMillan has been a valued PRIM&R faculty member. All those who have been in her presence have benefited from her unique perspective, which has been informed by her legendary advocacy for pediatric research subjects and their families.

Ms. McMillan has also been an active PRIM&R member far beyond our conference corridors, serving on the Workshop/Didactic Session Sub- Committee that is responsible for developing all of the Advancing Ethical Research Conference breakout sessions. She also created and co-led the community member track for unaffiliated, nonscientific IRB members; co-created a short course for community members which is now part of PRIM&R’s regular educational offerings; and has served as a speaker on PRIM&R’s webinars. In short, Gigi has always stepped up to teach and mentor whenever she has been asked to do so. 

Ms. McMillan is the co-founder of We Can, Pediatric Brain Tumor Network, a nonprofit organization that reaches out to families of children with brain cancer. She has served as the executive director of We Can for 10 years and seen firsthand the importance of providing emotional support to children and families. 

The author of many book chapters, articles and pamphlets, Ms. McMillan’s publications include: “The Importance of the Nonscientific, Unaffiliated (Community) Member” (Community-Campus Partnerships for Health and the Tuskegee Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, A Case Story Collaborative Journal, October 2007); “Clinical Research: The Parent’s Dilemma” (The Monitor, April 2006); “What do Researchers Say? What do Subjects Hear?” (Protecting Human Subjects, Spring 2005); and “Childhood Brain & Spinal Cord Tumors: A Guide for Families, Friends & Caregivers,” (with T. Shiminski-Maher, et al. in Patient-Centered Guides, 2002). 

Ms. McMillan earned a bachelor’s degree in history with minors in German and business at Loyola Marymount University. She has four children, one of whom is a brain tumor survivor/”thriver.” 

Beyond her innumerable professional achievements, Ms. McMillan is a joy to know and work with. She is spirited, warm, articulate, well-organized, and always helpful. As noted above, she has enlightened all who have been fortunate enough to have been in one of the many conference sessions and/or courses she has led for PRIM&R by sharing her invaluable perspectives on the key issues facing research subjects and their families. Her very being reflects the name of the organization she leads, i.e “We Can.” 

With her continued participation, the PRIM&R community can and will continue to identify and address the needs of research subjects who make scientific advancement possible. Ms. McMillan is a true standard bearer of ARENA’s important legacy. We are therefore honored to be a beneficiary of her principled wisdom, and proud to present her with the ARENA Legacy Award. 

Congratulations to Ivor Pritchard for receiving the Distinguished Service Award!

Ivor PritchardIvor Pritchard has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. As noted by one of those who nominated Dr. Pritchard:

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a PRIM&R member who has made a valuable and unique contribution to the field of research ethics, and who has attained distinction in promoting PRIM&R’s purpose and ideals through writing, teaching, or research.

“Ivor is a sought-after speaker and has graced more conference podiums than can be named or even remembered. He is known not only for his keen intelligence, bone-deep principles and integrity, and prodigious work ethic, but also for his wry and warming sense of humor and his amazing talent as a folk guitarist and harmonica virtuoso. Dr. Pritchard is the closest thing the research ethics field has to a rock star, and he has written and performed songs at several conferences over the past 10+ years.” 

This passage is one of many similar testaments to just how fortunate the entire PRIM&R community is to have the multi-talented Dr. Pritchard as a partner in the weighty and complex work of human subjects protections. He possesses a wealth of knowledge about research ethics, moral and civic education research and practice, and educational policy, and, as noted in the above excerpt, is a constant source of entertainment as well as insight and information. 

Dr. Pritchard has generously and graciously shared his time by being a PRIM&R faculty member since 1995. He has also co-chaired the conference planning committee for the Advancing Ethical Research Conference for the past two years, taught at several of the pre-conference programs, and served as a speed mentor. 

Dr. Pritchard has worked tirelessly in the field of research ethics at the national level for 25 years. In 1986, he joined the US Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences, a department for which he would serve as a senior research analyst until 2004. That same year he transitioned to the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) as a senior fellow. He is currently the senior advisor to the director of OHRP, where his responsibilities include advising the director, developing policies and guidance documents, and representing OHRP at the national meetings focused on the protection of human subjects in research. 

Dr. Pritchard is a widely published author and has written dozens of articles on human subjects protections including, “Searching for ‘Research Involving Human Subjects:’ What is Examined? What is Exempt? What is Exasperating?” (IRB: Ethics & Human Research, 2001); “Travelers and Trolls: Practitioner Research and Institutional Review Boards” (Educational Researcher, 2002); “Ethical Standards of the American Educational Research Association: Cases and Commentary” (Strike et. al., 2002); “Students as Research Subjects” (with Koski, in The Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 2004); and “Power, Truth and Justice in Youth Participatory Action Research: Ethical Questions” (Practicing Anthropology: A Career-Oriented Publication of the Society for Applied Anthropology, 2004). He is also the author of a book titled, Good Education: The Virtues of Learning (1998). 

Dr. Pritchard earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Haverford College (with honors in philosophy) and a master’s degree and a PhD in philosophy from Boston University. 

Beyond his academic and professional achievements, though, we often refer to Dr. Pritchard as one who was born with ethics in his DNA, or at least in his environment, as his mother, Marion Pritchard, rescued hundreds of Dutch Jews, mostly children, as a member of the resistance during World War II. As a reward for her actions during the Holocaust, Marion Pritchard was awarded the Wallenberg Medal in 1992. She is listed as one of the “Righteous Gentiles” at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. She is alive and well after a life dedicated to social services, Holocaust education, and tending to a large and close family, and Ivor is an “apple” who has not fallen far from her “tree.” 

With this type of moral grounding, it is not difficult to see how it was that Pritchard came to be committed to working for human rights and dignity. He is a subjects protection champion, and has been consistently generous with his limited time and many talents each time PRIM&R has come to call. It is thus with enormous gratitude for his service to both PRM&R and our community at large that we present the 2011 Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Pritchard.