News

Lainie Friedman Ross Receives Honorary Doctorate of Humanities

On May 12, 2023, during the commencement ceremony at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, Lanie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree for her exemplary scholarship and leadership in bioethics. Ross recently joined URMC as the inaugural Chair of Health Humanities and Bioethics and serves as director of the Paul M. Schyve, MD Center for Bioethics.

At Oakland University, the William Beaumont School of Medicine is a relatively new institution, established in July 2008. Ross’s nomination comes during the creation of their first Center for Moral Values and Medicine. Three bioethicists at the university recommended her for this honor, stating that she is “arguably the most influential, accomplished, and important pediatric ethicist of our time.”

Ross’s core areas of expertise include ethical and policy issues in pediatrics, clinical decision making, death and organ transplantation, genetics/genomics, clinical research ethics, and human subject protections. She has published five books, over 225 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and is currently writing a sixth book examining ethical issues related to siblings in health care.

“I’m thrilled to receive this honorary Doctor of Humanities degree,” said Ross. “It is a validation of the importance of bioethics in academic medicine and the training of the next generation of clinicians in both the art and science of medicine.”

2018 Summer medical fellowship students Nina Rizk and Shaunpaul Jones publish paper from their URMC project

Rizk and Jones published the paper, "Using Forum Theater as a Teaching Tool to Combat Patient Bias Directed Toward Health Care Professionals" in MedEd Portal.  The paper was awarded the 2020 Editor's Choice. Exemplary Research.