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Washington, D.C. — Kevin T. FitzGerald, S.J., Ph.D., Ph.D, has been appointed the David P. Lauler Chair in Catholic Health Care Ethics, Georgetown University Medical Center announced today. FitzGerald will be formally inaugurated in a September 10 ceremony hosted by Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia.
"As a scientist, a bioethicist and a Jesuit priest, Kevin brings a rare combination of talents and experiences to Georgetown," DeGioia said. "During this time of profound biomedical discovery and new frontiers in research, Kevin will help Georgetown play a leading role in addressing the critically important moral and ethical questions that lie ahead."
FitzGerald, who was previously an assistant professor at Loyola University in Chicago, is a research associate professor of oncology at Georgetown. He frequently testifies before Congress, and has published articles on scientific and ethical issues in a number of books and peer-reviewed journals, as well as in the popular press on a variety of topics including stem-cell research, cloning and the Human Genome Project. A nationally recognized authority on genetics and medical ethics, he has advised the American Academy for the Advancement of Science and the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops. FitzGerald received dual PhDs in philosophy and in molecular genetics from Georgetown, and his master of divinity at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif.
FitzGerald's scientific research efforts focus on the investigation of abnormal gene regulation in cancer—in particular, the MLL gene, which, when mutated, is a major cause of leukemia in infants—and research on ethical issues in human genetics.
"I am pleased to accept the Lauler Chair and look forward to working with my new colleagues here at Georgetown," FitzGerald said. "Bioethics, especially as it relates to embryonic stem-cell research, has been brought to the fore in recent months. I hope to refocus this debate using the lens of social justice to help us all look more carefully at how we, as a society, approach this and a variety of other moral and ethical issues."
The Lauler Chair is named in honor of the late David P. Lauler, a 1953 graduate of Georgetown College who also received his M.D. at Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1957. Lauler's family and friends established the chair in his name to recognize and honor his medical expertise, particularly in the areas of cardiology and endocrinology, as well as his focus on ethics and spirituality.
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Georgetown University Medical Center includes a biomedical research enterprise, and the nationally ranked School of Medicine, and School of Nursing and Health Studies. Lombardi Cancer Center, an integral component of Georgetown University Medical Center, is one of only 40 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States—and the only one in the Washington, D.C. area—designated by the National Cancer Institute.
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