Past Events

McDonald-Merrill-Ketcham Award Recipient: Norman Fost, M.D., M.P.H., Professor Emeritus, Pediatrics and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Director, Program in Bioethics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Award Lecture: 12:00 - 1:00  pm

Panel: 1:00 - 2:00 pm

This is a free event, but registration is required.

Norman Fost, M.D., M.P.H., serves as Professor Emeritus, Pediatrics and Bioethics, at the University of Wisconsin—Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. He completed an A.B. at Princeton University in 1960 and received his M.D. from Yale University in 1964.  In 1973, he earned his M.P.H. from Harvard University.  He completed residency training in pediatrics and two years as Chief Resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital as well as a fellowship in the Kennedy Program in Law, Medicine and Ethics at Harvard University.

Since 1973 Dr. Fost has been a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, where he is Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics and Medical History and Bioethics. He founded and was Director of the Program in Bioethics for 40 years. He chaired the Hospital Ethics Committee for 31 years and the Health Sciences IRB for 31 years. Dr. Fost served as Director of the Pediatric Residency Training Program for 21 years, the founder and director of the Child Protection Team for 33 years, and as Vice Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Medical History and Bioethics for 10 years.

He has served on numerous federal committees. He is currently a consultant to the FDA Pediatric Drug Advisory Committee and past-chair of the FDA Pediatric Ethics Subcommittee.  He was a member of President Clinton’s Health Care Task Force.

Dr. Fost has received numerous honors, including election to the Princeton University Board of Trustees, the Nellie Westermann Prize for Research Ethics, the William G. Bartholome Award for Excellence in Ethics from the American Academy of Pediatrics, a lifetime achievement award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for excellence in human research protection, and induction into the Society of Scholars at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Fost is a frequent speaker on issues related to the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. 

Panelists:

Mary Wilfert, M. Ed., serves as the Associate Director of the NCAA Sport Science Institute.  She has administered the NCAA drug-education and drug-testing programs since 1999 and has worked to promote policies and develop resources to help student-athletes make healthy life choices.  She serves as primary liaison to the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, the Association-wide committee charged with providing health and safety recommendations to the NCAA membership.  Mary has worked in the health education field for more than 35 years to empower individuals to make informed choices for lifelong health and success. She is also the 2015 recipient of the NCAA President’s Award, one of the highest honors an NCAA staff member can receive.

Mary received her bachelor of science degree in in health education from the University of Dayton and her master of education degree in community health education from the University of Cincinnati.

Peter Schwartz, Ph.D., M.D., serves as the Interim Director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics.  In addition to his leadership role with the Center, he is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI).  He practices adult outpatient medicine in the Eskenazi Health System. In the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI), Dr. Schwartz directs the Translational Research Ethics Consultation Service (TREX) and serves as a member of the Bioethics and Subject Advocacy Program (BSAP).

Dr. Schwartz received his B.A. from Harvard College and his Ph.D. in Philosophy and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.   He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.

Dr. Schwartz’s research focuses on patient decision-making and risk communication in prevention and personalized medicine.  His team conducts empirical research on colorectal cancer screening, especially the impact of including quantitative information about risk and benefit in patient decision aids.  Dr. Schwartz has also worked on a project evaluating how to allow patients to control access to personal information in the electronic health record.

In 2010, he received a Cancer Control Career Development Award for Primary Care Physicians from the American Cancer Society.  He is the Principal Investigator for a project funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) entitled “Describing the Comparative Effectiveness of Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests:  The Impact of Quantitative Information.”

Daniel Rusyniak, M.D., is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Division Chief of Toxicology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.  He grew up in Bluefield, Virginia a small coal town in Appalachia. After graduating from Villanova University, he worked for Pharmaceutical Giant Hoffman La Roche designing assays for drugs-of-abuse. Dr. Rusyniak received his medical degree from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University and did his clinical training in the IU Emergency Medicine residency program followed by a fellowship in clinical toxicology. At the completion of his training in 2001, he joined the newly formed IU Academic Emergency Department.

Dr. Rusyniak’s research and educational focus is on the toxicological effects of drugs of abuse and heavy metal intoxication. He has had numerous grants, including two NIH grants, focused on identifying the neural mechanisms underlying amphetamine-related hyperthermia. In addition, he is a national expert in the management of heavy metal poisoned patients and has published numerous articles and textbook chapters on the topic including in the prestigious textbook Cecil’s Medicine.

Dr. Rusyniak has held several national positions including board member and research committee chair for the American College of Medical Toxicology and faculty development chair for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. He is a reviewer for numerous journals and is an editor for the Journal of Medical Toxicology and the journal Temperature. He is also a co-host of a quarterly podcast on toxicology topics put out by the American College of Medical Toxicology.  

Richard Kovacs, M.D., Dr. Kovacs is a professor of clinical medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and the clinical director of the Krannert Institute. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Dr. Kovacs completed an internship and residency at the Indiana University Medical Center. His fellowship training also was at Indiana University, where he served chief fellow and chief medical resident.

He joined the full time faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1986 as Assistant Professor, subsequently serving as the medical director and CEO of Methodist Research Institute. He also served as senior clinical research physician at the Lilly Research Laboratories of Eli Lilly and Company. He returned to the full time IU School of Medicine faculty in 2003.

Dr. Kovacs is a clinical cardiologist, and serves as the Clinical Director of the Krannert Institute of Cardiology. In this role, he is responsible for the coordination of patient care activities across all the hospitals served by the faculty physicians. He is the Medical Director of the Methodist Hospital Chest Pain Center, a member of Cardiology Executive Committee, and Chairs the Acute MI Performance Improvement Team. At the IU Health System level, he is Chair of the Quality Committee for the cardiovascular strategic service line.

At the IU School of Medicine, Dr. Kovacs serves as the Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Associate Director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. He is the Chair of Institutional Review Board for the Biomedical Sciences and is the Chair of the IRB Executive Committee.

Dr. Kovacs plays a prominent role at the national level. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the American College of Cardiology, has chaired the ACC Board of Governors, and served as Secretary of the ACC.

His research focusses on three clinical topics: quality and measurement of quality, drug safety and sports cardiology.

Dr. Kovacs serves on the Management Board of the National Cardiovascular Data Registries, the Guidelines Taskforce of the American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology, and is Chair of the Best Practices and Quality Improvement Subcommittee of the ACC Clinical Quality Committee.

He is interested in drug safety, and serves as a consultant to industry and regulatory agencies on issues regarding the cardiovascular safety of non-cardiovascular drugs.

Dr. Kovacs will be co-chair of the committee revising the Bethesda Conference #46 Eligibility Recommendations for Competitive Atheletes with Cardiovascular Abnormalities. He co-chairs the ACC Sports and Cardiology Council and oversees the cardiovascular evaluations of players at the Annual National Football League Scouting Combine.

Michael Emery, M.D., is a practicing cardiologist and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine with the Krannert Institute of Cardiology of the Indiana University School of Medicine. 

Dr. Emery received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan. He completed his fellowship in cardiology and in general and noninvasive imaging at the Krannert Institute of Cardiology at IUSM. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Nuclear Cardiology and Echocardiography.

Dr. Emery has been interested in athletes and athletic performance since obtaining a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology/Human Performance prior to medical school. He works to promote the cardiovascular care of athletes as a member of the American College of Cardiology Sports and Exercise Council as well as consulting with Clemson and Furman Universities. He understands the specific physiology, pathology, and risks with sports and exercise from a cardiovascular standpoint.

This is a free event, but registration is required.

Parking:

Parking is available for a nominal fee at the campus Gateway Garage, located on the corner of Michigan and California Streets (Address is 525 Blackford Street).

Parking is also available for a nominal fee at the Natatorium Garage two blocks west of the law school.

Special Accommodations:

Individuals with disabilities who need special assistance should call (317) 278-4789 no later than one week prior to the event. Special arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs.