The Montefiore Einstein Center for Bioethics Presents the 30th Annual Trachtenberg Bioethics Essay Contest

The Montefiore Einstein Center for Bioethics Presents the 30th Annual Trachtenberg Bioethics Essay Contest

In honor of the late Shoshanah Trachtenberg Frackman, Graduate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. We invite current undergraduates in any US or Canadian college or university to enter. Three essays will be selected with awards of $1,000, $750, and $250 for first, second, and third place, respectively. Follow this link for essay prompts and submission instructions.

Essays must respond to ONE of the following topics:

  1. Does controlled organ donation after circulatory death violate the dead donor rule, and should it be permitted?
  2. What are potential harms to groups or populations in “big data” biomedical research such as genomic, machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) studies? Should human subjects research regulations be revised to account for those harms?
  3. What do you envision as the ideal role of community members on hospital bioethics committees?

Requirements for submission:

  • Respond to one of the essay questions above.
  • Papers must present arguments to support conclusions and address relevant counter-arguments.
  • Length: Essays should be blog-length; 800 to 1,200 words. Essays longer than 1,200 words will not be reviewed.
  • One entry per student.
  • Submissions from graduate students will not be reviewed.
  • Papers must be the student’s original work. Students should cite works that they have consulted, but paper should not include more than 3-5 citations.
How to Submit

Submit the essay using your college email address, with contact information and college affiliation and year to: bioethics@montefiore.org by May 13, 2024. Please put the term “Essays Contest” in the subject line.