We address social and ethical challenges in medicine, healthcare, science, and technology wisely and responsibly.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly polarized world, where misinformation and broken trust impede people’s ability to have deep conversations and listen to one another, The Hastings Center for Bioethics fills an important gap and creates opportunities for exchanges that rarely happen elsewhere.

• We address critical bioethical issues facing professional practice and public policy.
• We promote collaborative deliberative exchanges that foster an inclusive, equitable, intellectually rich, and well-informed discourse, in the service of society. 
• We aspire for these exchanges to result in recommendations and guidelines that help patients and families, healthcare providers and systems, the scientific community, policy makers, and society at large.

Founded in 1969 by philosopher Daniel Callahan and psychoanalyst Willard Gaylin, The Hastings Center for Bioethics is the oldest independent, nonpartisan, interdisciplinary research institute of its kind in the world. 

Our Vision is to engage diverse voices in informed conversations to address bioethical challenges in medicine, healthcare, science, and technology wisely and responsibly.

Our work strives to promote justice and equity, remove systemic barriers to health and human flourishing, and reinstate trust and trustworthiness in medicine and science.

Our Values are:

Independence

• We are a nonpartisan unaffiliated center. We do not represent any particular group or set of interests. We set our own research and engagement agendas.

Justice and equity

• We strive to promote a world where health and human flourishing are accessible to all. Our research addresses challenges to justice and equity in bioethical contexts.

Inclusiveness and diversity

• We engage with a wide range of perspectives and values with humility. We work to create inclusive, welcoming environments for deliberation, nationally and globally. We promote a diverse workforce. We invest in diversifying the field of bioethics.

Rigor and excellence

• Our research, publications, and engagement activities adhere to the highest academic standards.

Relevance and impact

• We prioritize research topics and engagement activities that matter to our target audiences and make a difference in the lives of individuals, communities, and society at large.

Integrity and moral courage

• We do not avoid controversial topics. We tackle challenging issues that require open-mindedness, listening, patience, and trust.

Philanthropy typically accounts for 45% of The Hastings Center for Bioethics’s annual revenue.