CBEL Report Volume 2, Issue 2

Caroline Beit

VoicesA Yale Student and Bioethicist in Training's Visit to the CBEL
Caroline Beit (Yale University)

My first exposure to formal bioethics training

solidified my formal academic bioethical training by

was a research ethics class in high school I took as aattending the Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute inpart of a summer science research program at theBioethics and Yale University. It was here I wasRockefeller University. It was there, that I wasexposed to cross-cultural perspectives in bioethics in a

exposed to how to determine ethicality in research;formal academic setting. My favorite class was thefrom not cherry-picking data, to the idea of informed

CBEL’s own Shizuko Takahashi’s class on “Ethicalconsent, to some of the ethical issues involved inIssues in Obstetrics & Pediatrics: Cross-Cultural

testing in animals.

Perspectives” where I was able to learn about

Before this, I was interested in manydifferences in bioethical approaches in Japan and thebioethical issues, like providing confidential treatment

United States. I really enjoyed getting to learn thefor those with HIV/Aids and reducing disadvantages

differences in approaches between the two countries,

based on social determinants of health (which I learned

and further solidified my interest in the cross-cultural

about through volunteering at a medical clinic for low-approaches to medicine and bioethics.

income individuals and reading to their children to

When I traveled to Tokyo this January, I knew

promote early childhood literacy). It was after thisI wanted to experience firsthand how academic

research ethics class that I became obsessed withbioethics was practiced in a foreign country. Dr.

bioethics. In my senior year, I took an ethics class andTakahashi kindly extended an invitation for me to visit

learned about the many different forms of ethicalthe CBEL. After passing through the historic red gate

reasoning. During a gap year between high school andof Tokyo University, I was led to the building thatcollege, I continued learning about bioethics (bothhoused the CBEL. Once inside, I was introduced to Dr.

academically and through real-world experiences) byAkira Akabayashi, Director of the CBEL who insistedauditing a Jewish sexual ethics class and volunteeringon giving me a tour of the center. I was thoroughlywith the Missionaries of Charity in a pharmacy in

impressed by the large library on numerous bioethics

Calcutta India. While volunteering in India, I learned

texts and journals, which Dr. Akabayashi proudly

first hand about the different approaches to medicine

exclaimed was the largest bioethics library in Asia. Iand bioethics in different cultural contexts.

was also fortunate to meet many graduate students andThe30

summerbeforecollege,Ifurtherother faculty members of the CBEL. Dr. Takahashi

A Yale Student and Bioethicist in Training’s visit to the CBEL

CBEL Report Volume 2, Issue 2

and Akabayashi told me about the multifaceted ways
in which the center is involved in promoting crosscultural education and research in bioethics both in
Asia and globally. The center is highly involved intranslating bioethics resources into Japanese andcreating informational videos for a wider audience, aswell as publishing and contributing to exciting andimportant bioethics research.
The CBEL is an incredibly important voicecontributing to the advancement of bioethics in Japan,Asia, and globally. As Japan faces many bioethicalissues including a shrinking and aging population,bioethical research will be needed to address current
and upcoming issues. The CBEL is a great center toexecute this type of research and add culturally
informed and specific bioethical guidance in theJapanese context, and more broadly. As a Yale student,
It was a joy to visit with the Center and I cannot wait
to see the Center’s future contributions.

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