Bioethics Stories, Scholarship, and Connection: Five Years of Greenwall News

Five years ago—October 2020—the very first issue of Greenwall News arrived in inboxes.  What began as an effort to connect and communicate in new ways has grown into a monthly chronicle of how bioethics evolves, responds, and leads. Each edition tells a piece of that story: a new study reframing a policy debate, a Faculty Scholar or grantee featured in national media, a lecture or performance that brought ethics questions to life. Taken together, these snapshots trace how bioethics continues to shape some of the most pressing conversations in science and society.

Five Years by the Numbers — and the Stories Behind Them

Since its launch, Greenwall News has published 61 monthly editions, uninterrupted. Within those emails, readers have encountered 241 peer-reviewed publications from our community—research that’s redefined how we think about trust, equity, technology, and care.

Our In the News section has featured Greenwall voices in more than 200 media stories—from The New York Times and STAT to NPR and The Washington Post. Their insights have helped bring ethical perspectives into national conversations, showing how bioethics informs the public’s understanding of science, medicine, and policy.

And through our Coming Up announcements, more than a dozen Greenwall events — from the annual William C. Stubing Memorial Lecture to topical webinars and performances like A REFUTATION—have brought those ideas to wider audiences, proving that ethical reflection thrives when it meets the public square.

Bioethics Topics Through the Years

The editorial evolution of Greenwall News mirrors the shifting landscape of bioethics itself.

• In 2020, Greenwall News reflected a world in crisis. The earliest issues focused on the ethics of COVID-19—triage and vaccine allocation, the relationship between public health and civil liberties, and the inequities the pandemic laid bare.
• By 2021 and 2022, the focus had shifted from emergency response to questions of trust, policy, and public accountability. Faculty Scholars and grantees examined topics like vaccine mandates, FDA decision-making, and misinformation, while exploring emerging ethical frontiers in AI, data privacy, and remote monitoring.
• Our 2023 and 2024 issues traced intersections between bioethics and systems—covering topics such as addiction care, public health ethics in carceral settings, and the growing connection between climate and health. Across this period, the conversation increasingly centered on applying ethics insights to complex, real-world contexts.
• In 2025, Greenwall News has spotlighted a field still grappling with trust—from cybersecurity in medical devices to privacy in genetic testing, venture philanthropy ethics, and questions about whose perspectives are represented in autism care and research. 

Continuing the Conversation

Over the last half decade, Greenwall News has been shaped by many hands. Faculty Scholars and grantees, journalists, policymakers, and readers have all played a part—by sharing research, reflections, and the bioethics questions that keep this field moving forward. 

Thank you for helping us build a community that cares deeply about how ethics shapes science, medicine, and public life. Here’s to the next five years of learning together and keeping the conversation going.

To see all 61 past issues of Greenwall News, visit our Newsletters page.

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