Ethics Forum
COVID Vaccine Allocation and Race
Rueben C. Warren, D.D.S., M.P.H., Dr. P.H., M.Div.
Director of the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care at Tuskegee University
Dr. Rueben C. Warren is currently the Director of the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care and Professor of Bioethics at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama. He also served as Director of the Institute for Faith-Health Leadership
and Adjunct Professor of Public Health, Medicine and Ethics at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, GA. From 1988 to 1997, Dr. Warren served as Associate Director for Minority Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). From 1997 to 2004, he was Associate Director for Urban Affairs at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Warren served part-time as the Director of Infrastructure Development for the National Center
on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. From 2004 to 2009, he was on leave from the National Center for Environmental Health-CDC/ATSDR) in Atlanta, where he served as Associate Director for Environmental
Justice. As Associate Director at CDC/ATSDR, Dr. Warren had lead agency responsibility for Environmental Justice and Minority Health.
Prior to joining CDC, Dr. Warren served as Dean and Associate Professor in the School of Dentistry, Department of Preventive Dentistry and Community Health, at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also Clinical Professor, Department
of Community Health/Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, both in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Warren is also Adjunct
Professor in the Department of Dental Public Health, School of Dentistry and Adjunct Professor in the School of Graduate Studies and Research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN and Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta, GA.
Dr. Warren earned his undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University, his dental degree from Meharry Medical College, and both masters and doctorate degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health. He also completed a two-year residency at
the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in Dental Public Health. He is board certified in Dental Public Health. Dr. Warren also completed a Master of Divinity (M. Div) from the Interdenominational Theological Center with a concentration in theology
and ethics. Dr. Warren is an ordained minister. In June 1990, Dr. Warren received the Distinguished Harvard Alumni Award. In May 1999, he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Medical Science from Meharry Medical College. In 2000, he received
the President’s Distinguished Service Award, Meharry Medical College. In October 2003, Dr. Warren’s academic status at Meharry’s dental school was elevated to Dean Emeritus. Later in October of that same year, he was inducted into the American College
of Dentists. In 2009, he received a certificate through an Intensive Bioethics Course at Georgetown University, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Washington D. C. In May 2010, Dr. Warren received the Michael C. Alfano Award from New York College of Dentistry
for Promoting Diversity in Dental Education. In 2011, Dr. Warren was inducted (Honorary) into Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society. In 2013, Dr. Warren was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Meharry Medical College.
His extensive public health experience at community, state, local, national, and international levels range from clinical and research work in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, to heading the Public Health Dentistry Program at
the Mississippi State Department of Health. Dr. Warren has contributed to the scientific literature in public health, oral health, ethics, and health services research. His professional associations include: the Health Braintrust of the Congressional
Black Caucus of the United States, National Dental Association, American Board of Dental Public Health, American Public Health Association United Nations Children's Fund, and World Health Organization. Dr. Warren’s membership in health related associations
has expanded his perspective on health. In 1996-97, he served as Chairperson of the Caucus on Public Health and Faith Communities, an affiliate of the American Public Health Association.
David Hodge, PhD, DMin, M.Ed., M.T.S.
Associate Director of Education and Associate Processor, National Center of Bioethics in Research and Health Care at Tuskegee University
Dr. David Augustin Hodge Sr. currently serves as Associate Director of Education for the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Healthcare at Tuskegee University. He coordinates the Center’s Bioethics Honors Program and bioethics minor, its annual
Public Health Ethics Intensive Course, and various outreach programs designed to engage the Center’s target audience. He also teaches bioethics and public health ethics courses.
In addition to his academic and administrative duties, Dr. Hodge is a researcher, author and editor. This includes serving as senior associate editor for the Center’s Journal of Healthcare, Sciences, and Humanities, a double-blind, peer-reviewed
journal.
Before his current appointment at Tuskegee University, Dr. Hodge served as an adjunct/assistant professor of philosophy at Georgia State University and as a guest lecturer in philosophy, theology and ethics at the Interdenominational Theological Center
in Atlanta, Georgia. For nearly two decades prior, he provided leadership to the Religion and Philosophy Department at Florida Memorial University in Miami. During a portion of that time, he also taught moral theory and bioethics courses at Nova Southeastern
University in Fort Lauderdale.
A native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, David’s academic background also includes a Bachelor of arts degree in Bible, Theology and English from American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee; a Master of Arts degree in Education from Oral Roberts
University in Tulsa, Oklahoma; a Master of Theological Studies degree from Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; a Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia; and a PhD in Philosophy
from the University of Miami in Miami, Florida.
Dr. Hodge is presently in the research and writing stage of two books: Pragmatic Bioethics and Intersectionality: Public Health Ethics, Bioethics and African Americans (Springer’s Press) and Jesus, Trust and Virtue Ethics: A Philosophical Theology of Trustworthiness (Scholar’s Press). His work continues to intersect the role of virtue, empathy and care in our existential concerns.
Robert Truog, MD, MA
Director, Harvard Center for Bioethics, Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Legal Medicine, Professor of Anaesthesia (Pediatrics)
Dr. Robert Truog is the Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Medical Ethics, Anaesthesiology & Pediatrics and Director of the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Truog received his medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles
and is board certified in the practices of pediatrics, anesthesiology, and pediatric critical care medicine. He also holds a master’s degree in philosophy from Brown University and an honorary master of arts from Harvard University.
As director of the Center for Bioethics, he has overall responsibility for the Center’s many activities, including the master of bioethics graduate program, the bioethics fellowship program, required courses in medical ethics and professionalism for Harvard
medical students, and the Center’s many workshops, seminars, and public forums. As chair of Harvard University’s Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee (ESCRO), he is engaged in the interesting and difficult challenges of defining the ethical
parameters of stem cell research and regenerative biology.
Dr. Truog practices pediatric intensive care medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he has served for more than 30 years. He has published more than 300 articles in bioethics and related disciplines, and his writings on the subject of brain death
have been translated into several languages. He authored current national guidelines for providing end-of-life care in the intensive care unit. He was principal investigator on the recently completed NIH study Toward Optimal Palliative Care in the
PICU Setting. His books include “Talking with Patients and Families about Medical Error: A Guide for Education and Practice" (2010, JHUP, translated into Italian and Japanese), and "Death, Dying, and Organ Transplantation" (2012, Oxford).University
of Pennsylvania, worked in medical settings in several southern African settings, and at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, before moving back to Boston.
2020 Annual Oration
Diversity in Medicine Matters: The Benefits of a Diverse Workforce
Joan Y. Reede, MD, MPH, MS, MBA
Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Professor of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Dr. Reede has a lifelong passion for and experience with mentoring and supporting diversity in the biosciences. She is Harvard Medical School’s first Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership, responsible for the development and management of a comprehensive
program that provides leadership, guidance, and support to promote the increased recruitment, retention, and advancement of underrepresented minority faculty. She also serves in a number of other positions, including Faculty Director of Community
Outreach at HMS, Professor at HMS and at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Assistant in Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital.
While at HMS, Joan created more than 20 diversity and leadership-focused programs, including founding the HMS Minority Faculty Development Program and the Biomedical Science Careers Program. Before joining Harvard, she served as the medical director of
a Boston community health center and worked as a pediatrician in community and academic health centers, juvenile prisons, and public schools. She has held a number of advisory roles including serving on the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee
on Minority Health and the Secretary’s Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH. Dr. Reede graduated from Brown University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She holds an MPH and an MS in Health Policy Management from Harvard T. H. Chan School of
Public Health, and an MBA from Boston University.
