The Perelman School of Medicine and the department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania announce the creation of the Penn Neurodegenerative Disease Ethics and Policy Program. The new program will support research, education and training to identify and address the ethical and policy implications of advances in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, and work toward forming best practices for how these advances can be successfully translated into clinical practice.

With support from the Provost’s Office, the MetLife Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the program will examine the ethical, legal and social impact of neurodegenerative diseases; develop best practices and guidelines for biomarker testing in clinical trials and clinical care; and examine the value of biomarker-based diagnostics and therapeutics. The program will also create “Making sense of Alzheimer’s Disease,” a web-based resource to educate patients, families and clinicians about these issues.

Jason Karlawish, MD, Associate Director of the Penn Memory Center and an international leader in the neuroethics of aging, will serve as the program's inaugural director. Karlawish describes the Program as “first of its kind. I’m honored to serve as the inaugural director.”

Read the full Penn Medicine news release