Updates & Activities Spring-Winter 2020

The CBHD Academy of Fellows met February 14–15 on the campus of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois for a consultation entitled “The State of Bioethics in 2020.”

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In March, CBHD relaunched The Bioethics Podcast, which has previously run from 2006 to 2014. We published 12 episodes in 2020 on topics ranging from “The Ethics of Emergency Consent Research” to “The Old Testament and Bioethics” to “Advent Hope for a MedTech World.” The Bioethics Podcast is available through all of the major podcasting services.

Paige C. Cunningham, JD, PhD was asked to continue serving Taylor University as Interim President for an additional year and resigned as Exeutive Director of CBHD.

Staff Transitions

Matthew Eppinette, MBA, PHD

• Was appointed Executive Director of CBHD in May after having served as Interim Director since September 2019.
• Attended The John Collins Harvey Lecture and the Centennial Pellegrino Seminar at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of Edmund D. Pellegrino, MD, who was a longtime friend and fellow of CBHD.
• Was featured on the episode of the CMDA Matters podcast released on May 14.

Mario Tafferner, PHD (CAND.)

• Concluded his time as CBHD’s Robert D. Orr Endowed Fellow in December 2019.
• A native of Germany, Mario and his family returned to Europe where he is finishing his dissertation in Old Testament and serving as Instructor for Old Testament Language and Literature and Tyndale Theological Seminary, Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands.
• He is currently pursuing a PhD in Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Wilson Jeremiah, THM

• Began serving as the Robert D. Orr Endowed Fellow in January.
• He recieved his MDiv in Theological Studies from Southeast Asia Bible Seminary, and his ThM in Philosophical and Moral Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• He is currently pursuing a PhD in Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Sharon Gustafson

• Retired from her role as Event and Executive Services Manager for CBHD in January.
• Her service to Trinity and CBHD over the past seven and a half years was exemplary and we pray God’s richest blessings for her and family in this new season of life.

Changes We've Made Due to COVID

Our campus and offices were closed from mid-March to mid-August, and all staff worked faithfully from home. We returned to campus with great care, and by God’s grace the 2020–2021 academic year began smoothly.

Our planned topic for the 27th annual summer conference, Bioethics & the Body, was postponed until 2021, and in its place we planned a one-day conference, Bioethics in Real Life: Lessons We’re Learning from COVID-19, addressing several aspects of the pandemic.

COVID Ebook

We are working to complete a volume of proceedings from the Bioethics in Real Life conference. Dónal O’Mathúna, PhD, Associate Professor in The Ohio State University College of Nursing and member of the CBHD Academy of Fellow is serving as lead editor alongside Wilson Jeremiah, ThM; Bryan Just, MA; and Matthew Eppinette, MBA, PhD. We anticipate releasing the volume in both ebook and printed version in 2021.