National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care

Journal of Healthcare, Science and The Humanities

The Journal of Healthcare, Science and The Humanities is an official journal of the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care 


Submission Guidelines

IRB Application and Informed Consent 

Journal Editorial Board      

Double-Blind Peer Review Process | Video


Published Journals

Click here to download the 2022 Special Issue on HIV/AIDS and the Black Community

The 2022 Special Issue is focused on exploring factors that drive the disproportionate impact of HIV on Black communities and the solutions that must be adopted to eliminate these health disparities. The Special Issue features articles and commentaries that explore the social, cultural and economic factors associated with advocacy, public policy and health outcomes related to HIV/AIDS in the Black community, including an opening commentary from Harold Phillips, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has disproportionately affected Black people since the beginning of the epidemic, and that disparity has deepened over time. In 2019, Black people represented 42% of all new HIV diagnoses, 40% of all people living with HIV, and 42% of HIV-related deaths despite comprising only 13% of the U.S. population. These disparities are even more pronounced when you examine data on sub-populations within the Black community, including gay and bisexual men, transgender individuals, rural populations, and Black women. Underlying and driving these inequalities are systemic factors including, but not limited to, poverty, access to affordable healthcare, access to stable housing and transportation, medical mistrust, anti-Black racism, mass incarceration, stigma, and discrimination. Today, the nation's annual new HIV infections have declined from their peak in the mid-1980s, and advances in science, medicine, healthcare delivery and advocacy have enabled people with HIV and those at risk for HIV to live longer, healthier lives. However, in order to achieve the goal of ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030, it is critical that resources, programs and policies are directed towards ending the HIV epidemic within Black communities. The Special Issue was sponsored by Gilead Sciences, Inc. and was developed with input from community stakeholders and in partnership with Gilead Sciences. The views expressed are solely those of the authors through the peer-review process.

Click here to download the 2020 Fall Journal

The Fall 2019 edition of the Journal of Healthcare, Science and the Humanities includes selected articles from the Annual Public Health Ethics Forum (PHEF) co-sponsored by the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, Tuskegee University (National Bioethics Center), and the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other peer-reviewed articles and commentaries address a broad array of issues from the lens of a transdisciplinary group of contributors. The first PHEF in 2015, was co-sponsored by the National Bioethics Center, CDC, and the Master of Public Health Program, Morehouse School of Medicine honoring the 100 Year Anniversary of the death of Booker T. Washington, Founding President of Tuskegee Institute (aka. Tuskegee University). Since then, every year the National Bioethics Center and CDC have co-hosted the PHEF focusing on public health ethics considerations targeting specific vulnerable population groups. In 2019, the PHEF focused on children and youth. The Program Agenda is included in this edition. The keynote address, transformed into a publishable manuscript, an extraordinary youth panel with students from Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia and Tuskegee, Alabama, and the agenda from 2019 PHEF is included in this edition, so the reader will have a sense of the depth and breadth of the session. Other articles included in this edition have all been peer-reviewed.

Click here to download the 2019 Summer Journal

This edition of the Journal of the Healthcare, Science and the Humanities includes selected articles from the Public Health Ethics Intensive Course (PHEI). The PHEI was a part of the Commemoration of the 21st Anniversary of 1997 Presidential Apology by William J. Clinton for the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, conducted between1932 to 1972. The Commemoration Events also highlighted the 1999 opening of the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care (National Bioethics Center). The overall theme for the year’s activities was “Ethics Across Generations” The theme alludes to the importance of intergenerational trust and trustworthiness that must continue particularly, in times, such as these. There were energy, excitement, and optimism among the young people who attended the activities, and the wisdom, experience, faith, as well as optimism, among the elders was palpable. The Public Health Ethics Intensive (PHEI) course attracted cross-section presenters from several different disciples working in a variety of professional areas.

Click here to download the 2018 Fall Journal

The December edition of the Journal of Healthcare, Science and the Humanities usually includes selected articles from the Annual Public Health Ethics Forum co-sponsored by the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, Tuskegee University (National BioethicsCenter) and the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other peer-reviewed articles, a commentary, and reflections from an elders’ panel are included to commemorate National Minority Health Month, which occurs in April every year. Since 2015, the National Bioethics Center and the CDC have cohosted this forum. This year the forum focused on elders and was held in September during Senior Citizens Month instead of April, which limited the time needed to translate and transform the excellent presentations into peer-reviewed articles.

Click here to download the 2018 Spring Journal 

The Spring 2018 Journal of Healthcare, Sciences, and the Humanities is primarily derived from peer-reviewed articles on the Public Health Ethics Intensive Course topic, “Untold Stories of Healing for Social Justice.” Here, scholars from several different domains, respond to unique areas like the environment, ethics, science, education, racism, faith, and collaboration, raising questions about context and social justice.

Click here to download the 2017 Fall Journal.

This 2017 Fall edition of the Journal of Healthcare, Science and the Humanities includes selected articles from the May 2017 Public Health Ethics Symposium entitled, “Optimal Health for Her Whole Life.” The symposium was held on May 19, 2017, on the main campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. The symposium was intentionally scheduled in May, Women’s Health Month, and focused on the health of women and girls.

Click here to download the 2017 Spring JHSH

The 2017 Spring edition of The Journal for Healthcare, Science, and the Humanities (JHSH) includes peer-reviewed articles focused on the theme, “Healing the Family through Social Justice” which derived from lectures presented at the 2016 Public Health Ethics Intensive. In addition, a critique is offered within the context of the intersectionality of health equity for people of color, impoverished communities, corporate profits, and ethics.

Click Here to Download the Fall 2016 Journal

The Fall 2016 Journal of Healthcare Science and the Humanities offers scholarly work in Spanish and English. The focus is “Making Latino/Hispanic Health Count: Advancing a Public Health Ethics Framework on Data Collection for Social Justice.”

Click Here to Download the Spring 2016 Journal

The Spring 2016 Journal of Healthcare, Science, and the Humanities provides peer-reviewed articles derived from lectures presented within the thematic context “Assuring Ethics from Generation to Generation” at the 2015 Commemoration of the National Apology for the United States Syphilis Study and the Public Health Ethics Intensive Course at Tuskegee University.