The MacLean Center faculty have published books and scholarly peer-reviewed articles on a wide range of ethical issues. Dr. Mark Siegler, director of the MacLean Center, was one of the first physician-ethicists to write on clinical medical ethics and has held a career-long clinical and research interest in the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Siegler has also published widely on end-of-life issues, organ transplantation, ethical aspects of medical and surgical innovation, and on the ethics of clinical research. Other faculty members have published prolifically on subjects such as research ethics, medical futility, pediatric outcomes, genetics, and transplantation ethics, among many others.

Because of the number of practicing physicians on the faculty, MacLean research has always been on the cutting edge of both medicine and ethics, with ethical research proceeding in tandem with medical advances. For instance, the MacLean Center was involved in the introduction of pediatric live-donor liver transplantation in 1989. This novel procedure held therapeutic promise but also raised complex ethical questions about medical innovation, risk/benefit balancing, and informed consent. The MacLean Center worked with transplant experts at the University of Chicago to review the ethical issues, publish protocols, and encourage professional discussion of the procedure before it was first performed on a patient.

The MacLean Center’s fellowship program has trained physicians and other professionals since 1984, providing current and future researchers with a solid foundation in clinical ethics.