Bioethics & Healthcare Ethics (BHE)

Within the field of Applied and Professional Ethics, the IES has dedicated research expertise in Bioethics, Medical Ethics and Ethics Education in healthcare contexts. Our research excellence in these fields is central to the work of Notre Dame as a Catholic University that trains students for the medical and nursing professions.

Institute researchers are presently investigators on a number of grants and have worked with industry partners in the healthcare sector on research projects and consultancy reports. The Institute has an ongoing partnership with St Vincent’s Health Network Australia, collaborating with hospital staff on projects over a number of years.

In recent years, BHE has led projects in the field of bioethics, including the ethical issues at the beginning and end of life, genomics, and conscientious objection in healthcare.

IES researchers have been published in leading journals such as The Medical Journal of Australia, Palliative Medicine, The Journal of Medical Ethics and The Journal of Religion and Health.

BHE also has an active research interests in the ethics of palliative care and in the intersections between spirituality and health, which traverses the fields of ethics and the philosophy of medicine. BHE researchers are working on topics including existential distress at the end of life, suffering and meaning, spiritual care, and how best to meet the pastoral care needs of patients at all stages of illness.

Researchers

• Professor Megan Best (Professor and Convener, Bioethics & Healthcare Ethics research focus area; Research Integrity Officer, Faculty of Education, Philosophy & Theology)
• Professor Sandy Lynch (Adjunct Professor and Founding Director IES)

Highlights

	Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics Annual Lecture 2025 Training the frontline to be able to deal with death, dying and bereavement Even though many non-medical frontline workers deal with death and loss on a frequent basis, they often receive little formal training in this area. At the Centre for the Art of Living and Dying Well at St Mary’s University, London, work has focused on training the non-medical frontline – seminarians (priests), carers and volunteers – to be able to deal with death, dying and bereavement. In partnership with Child Bereavement UK and St Mary’s University’s School of Education, teacher trainees have also been taught to navigate the experience of grief by being able to look after themselves and the children and young adults that are in their care. By offering real-world knowledge and experience, this training and research helps to fill this crucial gap. In the annual Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics lecture, the Director of the centre for the Art of Living and dying Well, Ms Maggie Doherty, will unpack more about these programs and their impact. Learn more about the annual lecture.
	Spiritual care in palliative care Professor Megan Best is editor of a new book in spiritual care, Spiritual Care in Palliative Care. It features an international panel of experts who have contributed to create the first comprehensive guide to spiritual care focusing on the palliative care setting from neonatal to aged care, combining the theoretical underpinnings of spirituality research with practical applications for its introduction into patient care.
	Researchers in Spirituality The IES is proud to host Researchers in Spirituality, an online community which aims to promote research in spiritual care. We welcome all researchers regardless of discipline or the area in which you work. You are also welcome if you are not a researcher but want to keep up to date with the latest developments. Please contact Professor Megan Best at megan.best@nd.edu.au to be added to our mailing list.
	Dignity in palliative care Professor Megan Best has published a chapter explaining the concept of dignity for palliative care patients in a new edition of the Textbook of Palliative Care.

Our researchers' grants and institutional partnerships

• John Templeton Foundation. Eating Disorders and Christian Spirituality: An Exploratory and Co-design Approach to Prevention, Whole Person Care and Recovery. 2024-2026. $614,865.
• Developing a Framework for Children’s Spiritual Capabilities. Mercy Health.
• The University of Notre Dame and Royal Rehab, Industry-linked Team-based PhD Scholarship, “Enhancing resilience after spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury”. 2022-2024 ($90,000)
• The University of Notre Dame and St Vincents Health Australia, Industry-linked Team-based Early Career Researcher Fellowship, “Developing Spiritual Care Training for Hospital Staff”. 2020-2022 ($555,000)
• IHIF Award for “Identifying Aboriginal Pastoral and spiritual care needs”. ($200,000)
• Cancer Institute New South Wales Early Career Researcher Fellowship  Grant.  “Overcoming psychosocial and ethical issues in cancer genomics: Translating test results into behavioural change”. 2017-2020 ($564,666)
• National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant “Cancer genomics; Psychosocial, behavioural and ethical issues and outcomes, two inter-related longitudinal studies”. 2017-2020 ($506,654)

Events

• 2024

  • The Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics Annual Lecture was delivered by Dr Lauris Kaldijan (University of Iowa, Iowa City). His presentation was entitled ‘Conscientious Practice and the Ethics of Cooperation in Healthcare’. Acting with integrity and conscience allows us to flourish as healthcare professionals by promoting the good of health, discerning what is harmful, and giving ethical reasons for our own actions which aim to benefit patients and respect their dignity as persons. A response was given by Emeritus Professor Sandra Lynch (Institute for Ethics and Society, University of Notre Dame Australia). The event was moderated by Professor Megan Best.

• 2023

  • Visiting Scholar: Professor Piret Paal, director of the Palliative Care Institute at the Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität (PMU), Austria, was a visiting scholar at the IES for two months in 2023. She undertook collaborative research with scholars in the Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics research focus area, and delivered the BHE Annual Lecture to over 70 attendees on the topic “Workplace Spirituality and Why it Matters.” A response was given by Mr Matthew Kearney (St Vincent’s Health Network, Sydney). The event was moderated by Professor Megan Best.

• 2022

  • The Bioethics and Health Ethics Annual Lecture was delivered by Professor Kenneth Pargament (Bowling Green State University and Baylor College of Medicine, USA). His presentation was entitled, ”Shaken to the Core: addressing spiritual struggles in the context of healthcare.” A response was given by Ms Kate Bradford (Westmead Hospital Chaplaincy, Sydney). The event was moderated by Professor Megan Best.

Postgraduate research

We welcome inquiries regarding postgraduate supervision from prospective M.Phil or PhD students interested in working within the IES’s BHE research focus area.

• Professor Megan Best

  Professor Megan Best welcomes research students in the following areas:

  • Spirituality in healthcare
  • Existential suffering
  • Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide
  • Whole person care
  • Ethics at the end of life