WHAT WE DO
Vision Statement
Research and Scholarship for an Informed Social Response to Human Life Questions
Mission Statement
The deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research conducts and disseminates research on topics connected to human life in its biological, social and ethical dimensions. These topics are selected for study depending on emerging medical, technological and social developments. In undertaking this work the Institute believes that a sense of the inherent value and dignity of human life and of the human person as an end and not a means is a foundational perspective to bring to bear on its work.
The Institute’s research may be original or may consist of reviews of existing literature. In each case the Institute’s work is to be of the highest academic quality, though accessible to the general public.
The Institute conducts two kinds of research: original research and reviews of existing literature.
While our research is of high academic quality and intended for professionals and students alike, the research is written in plain language to be accessible to the general public.
If you are looking for information on a particular subject, please contact us.
Our research can be found published in books and scholarly journals, as well as in electronic format on the Internet and in the popular media.
The Institute was founded in 1982 and since that time has published studies on the following subjects:
- the medical and psychological consequences of induced abortion for women’s health.
- the relationship between legal and illegal abortion rates.
- the legal and societal trends regarding euthanasia in Canada, the United States and Great Britain. This included a survey of the attitudes regarding euthanasia of palliative care workers.
- the experience of unplanned single motherhood in Canada.
Consulting
The deVeber Institute is a free resource for the media, the public, students, and others. Drawing on the diverse strengths of our Board of Directors and Advisory Council, we answer your questions, simple or complex, on bioethical and social topics.
Our Board of Directors and Advisory Council have share their expertise in community forums on Palliative Care.
Board Members and Advisers are called upon for speaking engagements to students and community groups.
MEET US
Board of Directors
- Martha Crean — President
- Robert Parke — Vice-President
- Patricia Dolente-Matijczyk — Treasurer
- Ian Gentles
- Keith Cassidy
- Dr. Deborah Zeni
- Dr. Paul Zeni
Administration
- Zoe Stewart-Bedard — Executive Director
- Contact: bioethics@deveber.org
Advisory Council
- Dr. Thomas Bouchard
- Barbara Farlow
- Lorraine McCallum
- Dr. David Mikulis
- Dr. Nancy Olivieri
- Elizabeth Ring-Cassidy
- Dr. Jane Pritchard
- Dr. Paul Ranalli
Associates
- Paul McDougall — Financial Associate
- Paul Broughton — Publishing Associate
Our History
The deVeber Institute was founded in 1982 and first known as the Human Life Research Institute. A non-profit educational foundation, its mandate was to research and publish studies relating to the impact of biotechnological advances on the individual, family and society, and ethical issues in health care, especially those resulting from reproductive technologies. The Institute remains steadfast to its original vision of an uncompromising commitment to scholarly research.
The Institute, then and now, is composed of a Board of Directors and an Advisory Council. These men and women come from diverse disciplines including medicine, science, law, social work, history, philosophy, education, business, and journalism. With such depth and range of knowledge, the deVeber Institute takes pride in offering consultation and direction in bioethics. In particular, the media and students have always been encouraged to consult us.
In 1996, the Board of Directors renamed the organization the deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research. The new name features two key pieces of information, the name “deVeber” and “bioethics and social research.”
The Board chose to honour Dr L.L. (Barrie) deVeber, then Professor of Paediatrics and Oncology at the University of Western Ontario. Internationally recognized as a pioneer in palliative paediatric care, Dr deVeber had developed a psycho-social team approach to the child with cancer and the family.
Dr deVeber also directed a program to manage RH haemolytic disease. His team performed the first amniocentesis and intrauterine fetal transfusion in Eastern Canada. Dr deVeber administered the first dose of RH immune globulin in Canada. This treatment eventually eliminated the disease. As a professor, Dr deVeber directed a course in ethics and law for medical students at the University of Western Ontario.
Because of his experiences in these fields Dr deVeber became aware that there were serious ethical considerations in human life and death issues that were not being adequately and openly addressed.
The addition of “Bioethics and Social Research” identifies the scope and purpose of the Institute. As reproductive and biomedical technologies continue to affect human life as never before, the Institute addresses key issues with academic integrity and insight.
For over twenty years the Institute has probed, examined, analyzed, researched and published on topics such as the long-term effects of induced abortion on women’s health and assisted suicide and palliative care. The Institute also conducted original research on unplanned crisis pregnancies and single motherhood in Canada.