Kinsman Bioethics Conference
The annual Kinsman Bioethics Conference was established in 1989 through an endowment from the late John Kinsman. The conference convenes leaders in ethics from across the state and is hosted by a different city in Oregon each year. The conference is a collaborative partnership, designed to draw on and nurture the strengths of each community it serves. Breakout sessions promote shared learning among medical facilities throughout the region and offer powerful new tools for improvements in health care ethics. Many times, the conference is also a special time for attendees to build collaborative relationships and an opportunity to mentor and support future leaders in the field.
22026 Kinsman Bioethics Conference - "Communities Under Pressure"
Date:
Friday, May 1, 2026 at 8 AM - 5PM
Location:
Westside Commons
801 NE 34th Ave
Hillsboro, OR 97124
Registration will open in January 2026!
We are excited to announce Dr. Tenzin Wangmo as our Keynote Speaker!
Prof. Dr. Tenzin Wangmo has been working at the IBMB since May 2011. She obtained her PhD in Gerontology from the Graduate Center for Gerontology, University of Kentucky (USA) and has a BA in Biology from Berea College, KY (USA). Her research interests are at the nexus of aging, caregiving, public policy, vulnerability, and responsibility. Her research expertise in ethics include access to health, well-being of older adults, health of older persons in prisons, technology and aging, caring for older persons, and empirical research methodology. She has published more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the field of bioethics, medicine, and gerontology. She is the vice-president of the International Association of Bioethics, board member of European Association of Centers of Medical Ethics, and was the co-Chair of the 16th World Congress in Bioethics.
To learn more about Dr. Wangmo, click here.
The following lodging options are within five miles of the conference venue. Please note, rooms blocks are not setup through any of these hotels.
Distance from conference venue: 2.1 miles away
Place: Holiday Inn Express Portland West/Hillsboro
Location: 5900 NE Ray Cir, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Price Range Per Night: $116-$144
Distance from conference venue: 2.6 miles away
Place: Residence Inn by Marriott Portland Hillsboro/Brookwood
Location: 3160 NE Brookwood Pkwy, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Price Range Per Night: $195-$205
Distance from conference venue: 2.8 miles away
Place: SpringHill Suites by Marriott Portland
Location: 7351 NE Butler St, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Price Range Per Night: $144-$169
Past Kinsman Presentations
April 17 - 18, 2025
View agenda.
Featured Keynote Speaker
Cynda Rushton, RN, PhD, MSN, BSN
Dr. Cynda Hylton Rushton, an international leader in bioethics and nursing, is the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the School of Nursing, and co-chairs the Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Ethics Committee and Consultation Service. A founding member of the Berman Institute, she co-led the first National Nursing Ethics Summit that produced a Blueprint for 21st Century Nursing Ethics.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify common sources of moral adversity in healthcare.
2. Discuss the six pillars of moral resilience.
3. Explore the application of moral resilience in clinical practice.
Recordings and Slides:
Opening Reflection & Keynote Opening Address
View Recording
Panel: Nowhere to Go - Ethical Issues with Boarding in the ED
View Recording
View Slides
Breakout Session: The Cost of Delay: Ethical Concerns in ED Boarding
View Slides
Panel: Avian Flu—Do the OHA Crisis Guidelines Prepare Us for the Next Pandemic?
View Recording
View Slides
Breakout Session: Rapidly Changing Healthcare Landscape: Observations and Adaptations in End of Life Care
View Recording
View Slides
Breakout Session: Trauma Informed Strategies for Regulating and De-escalating
View Slides
Breakout Session: Caregiver Resilience: Improving Individual, Family and Global Health
View Slides
Presentation: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction - Resilience in the Eye of the Storm
View Recording
Panel: The Things That Keep Us Up at Night - Moral Distress in the System
View Slides
Breakout Session: Financial Distress in Workplace: Caring for the Neighbor in our Midst
View Slides
Presentation – “Practical Narrative Medicine: Workshop & Tool Kit”
View Slides
Breakout Session: Art Heals
View Recording
View Slides
Closing Reflection
View Recording
April 25, 2024
View the Agenda
Featured Keynote Speaker
Denise M. Dudzinski, PhD, HEC-C
Professor (Joint) in Bioethics & Humanities and Pediatrics, Division of Bioethics & Palliative Care Fellow of the Hastings Center
Adjunct Professor, School of Law and in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington
Chief of the UW Medicine Ethics Consultation Service, Director of Organizational Ethics at Seattle Children's Hospital
Conference Course Objectives
- Examine common ethical dilemmas faced at the bedside through various ethics-based frameworks
- Explain the ways in which structural inequities through policy, legislation, etc... negatively impact marginalized patients and their loved ones
- Consider the role that policy has on both clinical ethics at the bedside and broader organizational ethics issues
Recordings:
Opening Reflection, Keynote, 3 Plenary Events & Closing Remarks
Breakout Session: Ethical Dilemmas in Complex Discharge Planning
Breakout Session: Digesting the Ethics
Breakout Session: Guardianship and the Goldilocks Problem
Breakout Session: Considerations of Parental Authority
Breakout Session: Breaking the Covenant of Trust
Breakout Session: Local Public Health Ethics Committees
Breakout Session: Practical Applications of De-Escalation
Moving Towards a Beloved Community Bioethics - Patrick T. Smith, PhD
Reflection - Patrick T. Smith, PhD
Patrick T. Smith, PhD - Associate Research Professor of Theological Ethics and Bioethics; Senior Fellow, Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University
Along with his work at the Divinity School, Smith is the director of the bioethics program for the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine and associate professor in population health sciences, Department of Health Sciences, Duke University Medical School. He has served as a member of the board of directors and the executive committee for the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities. His current research and writing are in the areas of moral philosophy, bioethics, theological ethics, end-of-life care, and religious social ethics. Professor Smith was named a 2016-17 Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology, was the recipient of the 2019 Paul Ramsey Award for Excellence in Bioethics, and in 2022 received the Edmund Pellegrino Medalist Award in health care ethics.
James Mason, PhD
April 28, 2022 - View Recording
Password: VtnBiY6g