Lo Named UCSF Distinguished Clinical Research Lecturer

Bernard Lo

Bernard Lo, MD, a leader in the field of medical ethics, has been honored by the UCSF Academic Senate, which has selected him to deliver the Eighth Annual Distinguished Clinical Research Lecture. Lo has made seminal contributions in the areas of end-of-life care, HIV infection and stem cell research. “I’m thrilled and honored,” Lo said of the award. “My work has depended on many fruitful collaborations with colleagues at UCSF and our institutional commitment to addressing ethical issues. Nationally, we have set the pace in clinical and research ethics.” The campus community is invited to hear Lo talk about his work at the Eighth Annual Distinguished Clinical Research Lecture on Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, at noon in Cole Hall on the UCSF Parnassus campus. Since 2001, this award has been bestowed on an individual member of the UCSF faculty with outstanding achievements in clinical research. Nominations are made by UCSF faculty, who consider the clinical research contributions of their colleagues and submit nominations for this prestigious award to the Academic Senate Committee on Research. Each year, the Committee on Research selects the recipient of this award. Lo joined the UCSF faculty in 1980 and is currently a professor in the Department of Medicine and the director of the Program in Medical Ethics. He is co-director of the Policy and Ethics Core of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, which provides technical advice and consultation to researchers carrying out clinical research, including research in resource-poor nations. At UCSF, Lo developed a course, Responsible Conduct of Research, which 100 postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty take each year. He and his research group also study ethical issues in human participant research, end-of-life decisions and stem cell research. Lo is national program director of the Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics and is co-chair of the Standards Working Group of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He serves on the data and safety monitoring committees for diabetes prevention trials and an HIV vaccine trial at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He is a member of the Ethics Working Group of the National Institutes of Health-sponsored HIV Prevention Trials Network, which carries out clinical trials in developing countries.