Institute for Medical Anthropology and Bioethics

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The Institute for Medical Anthropology and Bioethics (IMABE) was founded in Vienna in 1988 on the initiative of doctors, lawyers and humanities scholars. The aim is to promote the dialogue between medicine and ethics in research and practice on the basis of the Christian image of man . It works on behalf of the Austrian Bishops' Conference.

Legal form and organizational structure

The Austrian Bishops' Conference (ÖBK) established the IMABE Institute as a church legal entity in 1990 and issued corresponding statutes, which were updated in 2006 and 2017. It is managed by a board of trustees; its members are appointed by the ÖBK for a five-year term. The chairman of the board of trustees is currently Archbishop Franz Lackner from Salzburg, who replaced the long-time chairman Bishop Klaus Küng in 2018 . There is also a scientific advisory board with currently 15 university professors and lecturers from Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The director of the institute is appointed by the Austrian Bishops' Conference. The Viennese internist and palliative doctor Johannes Bonelli has held this position since 1990 . Bonelli was Medical Director of the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Vienna from 1980 to 2009 and a long-term member of the Pontifical Academy for Life (1996-2011). Other important employees of the IMABE Institute are Enrique H. Prat de la Riba and Susanne Kummer .

task

The advances in medicine and research have significantly improved the living conditions of individuals over the past few decades. At the same time, the ethical challenges have grown: What do we want to be able to do - with a view to the human being in his inviolable dignity, be it at the beginning of life, at the end of life or in the course of medical treatment?

IMABE works in an interdisciplinary manner . The most important task of the institute is interdisciplinary and independent research in the fields of medicine and ethics. In addition, the ethical implications in the development of medicine and research are to be examined and their socio-political dimension critically examined.

The institute is aimed at individuals as well as associations and organizations who are interested in dealing with current medical-ethical issues on the basis of human dignity and human rights. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn underlined the institute's task for interdisciplinary dialogue in the field of medicine and ethics.

activities

  • Research in the field of medical anthropology and bioethics ; ethical evaluation of medical procedures; Look for alternatives to unethical methods
  • Advice to people and institutions in the health sector
  • Case studies for doctors and nurses
  • Symposia
  • Interdisciplinary expert discussions on current medical-ethical topics: medicine, philosophy, psychology, pharmacy, law, demography, sociology and theology

Publications

  • Imago Hominis: Quarterly publication of the Institute for Medical Anthropology and Bioethics (since 1994)
  • Newsletter: News on bioethical topics from politics, medicine and society (monthly)
  • IMABE information: brief presentation of ethical aspects of medical procedures (topics: placebo, IVF, AIDS, therapy reduction, tobacco smoking, cloning, stem cell research, etc.)
  • IMABE studies: scientific publication series
  • Book series "Medicine and Ethics" ( Springer-Verlag )
  • Ethical declarations: declarations and statements on medical ethical issues

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See official gazette of the ÖBK, December 3rd, 1990; 02/15/2006; 05/01/2017.
  2. ↑ http://www.imabe.org/index.php?id=institut
  3. ↑ Christoph Cardinal Schönborn: 20 years of IMABE, in: Imago Hominis (2008); 15 (4): 281-282. https://www.imabe.org/index.php?id=1093