History of the Journal

Now in its twentieth year of publication, the KIEJ is an interdisciplinary quarterly journal of the Joseph and Rose Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Over time, the journal's focus has evolved as the field of bioethics has itself shifted and matured.

From an early emphasis on traditional concerns in bioethics -- such as the ethics of clinical research and physician-patient relations -- the journal soon broadened its perspective to include moral issues in emerging medical technologies (like human embryonic stem cell research and genetic testing), then further to include other aspects of human health and well-being, publishing articles in public health ethics and environmental justice. Today, the editors continue to expand the journal's horizons to keep the journal at the forefront of further developments in the discipline: only fitting for a journal which has for so long been a leader in the field.

Mission Statement

The KIEJ seeks to publish philosophically rigorous, practically relevant articles that explore the conceptual foundations and complexities of bioethical issues. The editors construe 'bioethics' maximally broadly, so as to include ethical, social, and political issues concerning public health, medicine, the environment, the natural sciences, nutrition, human embodiment, and sustainability and development, along with all standard bioethical topics.

We solicit in-depth articles (average 8000-12,000 words) that combine detailed conceptual analysis with practical engagement. While we accept papers in all areas of bioethics, we are especially interested in publishing papers that explore ethical and social issues in science practice, and/or philosophical approaches to health, environmental, and science policy. We encourage articles that situate philosophical and ethical issues in a global context.

Prospective authors should feel free to contact the editors for advice concerning whether their manuscripts are suitable for submission to KIEJ and how to bring them in line with our mission.

John Keown, Editor in Chief

1. John Keown, D.Phil., Ph.D., is Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Christian Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. Professor Keown's research has been cited by distinguished bodies worldwide, including the United States Supreme Court, the Law Lords, the House of Commons, the House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics, and the Australian Senate, before which he was invited to testify. He has served as a member of the ethics committee of the British Medical Association and has been regularly consulted, not least by politicians and the media, on legal and ethical aspects of medicine. Professor Keown is currently completing a book on law, medicine and life for Oxford University Press.
   

Rebecca Kukla, Editor in Chief

1. Rebecca Kukla, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. Professor Kukla's research interests include reproductive ethics and the culture of pregnancy and motherhood, public health ethics, the ethics of health communication, research ethics, methodological issues in medical research, and the social epistemology of medicine. Much of her research bridges bioethics, epistemology, and philosophy of language. Of late, she has particularly been interested in ethical and epistemological issues surrounding risk reasoning and communication. She explores these issues at all levels of medical practice, from trial design and the interpretation of scientific results, to evidence-based medicine guidelines, to physician-patient communication, to health promotion campaigns and media representations of risk, to laypeople's judgments and discussions about risk.
   

Madison Powers, Editor in Chief

1. Madison Powers, J.D., D.Phil., is a Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. The theoretical focus of Professor Powers's research is best described as political philosophy, or more specifically the moral relationship between the state and the individual. He writes mainly on social justice, individual privacy, and personal freedom. He has a special interest in the application of these concepts to issues arising in health and environmental policy, and more generally, as they pertain to the moral status of markets. He served as a member of the Privacy Working Group of the Clinton Health Care Task Force and was appointed by President George W. Bush as a member of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. Professor Powers was also a recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Investigator Award.
   

Jake Earl, Managing Editor

1. Jake Earl, M.A., is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Philosophy at Georgetown University. In 2011, Jake began working with the Kennedy Institute of Ethics as a communications assistant for the Intensive Bioethics Course, and since then has continued to lend a hand with the KIE's website and marketing efforts.