At The Center for Health Justice and Bioethics, we envision a world where everyone has the conditions and resources necessary to achieve health as a collective right.  

Our mission is to generate and share knowledge on health justice through education, research, and community capacity building. We equip future health professionals with the skills to advocate for justice and create ethical healthcare systems. 

We believe that health is shaped not only within hospitals and clinics but also in schools, neighborhoods, families, and communities. True wellbeing begins with opportunity—the ability to be safe, nourished, educated, and free from violence and trauma. We reach beyond the four walls of healthcare facilities to advance community-driven health policy and initiatives that provide social justice in healthcare for all. 

Our Center is led by the most interdisciplinary faculty in the school of medicine, representing experts in sociology, psychology, anthropology, law, medicine, ethics, public health, social work, pharmacy, midwifery, and more. With these perspectives, we examine the structures and systems that impact health from multiple angles.  

Our master’s program in bioethics is the only one in the country specifically dedicated to health justice. In our classrooms, we address health disparities and inequities as the pressing ethical issues of today.  

Our students also come from a range of disciplines. We have many dual MD students and other kinds of clinicians, as well as people studying philosophy, law, public health, and social sciences.  

Regardless of their career path, our students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to advocate for ethical issues in their communities. Our program integrates real world community engagement throughout the curriculum, with students spending time in a number of community-engaged programs.  

Our programs include:  

• Cure Violence—An evidence-based approach to treating community violence in North Philadelphia 
• Philadelphia Health and Safe Schools (PHASeS)—A program that builds trauma-sensitive communities in K-8 schools near Katz 
• Begin the Turn—A mobile opioid use disorder treatment program that meets patients in Kensington and reduces harm and deaths from overdose. 
• Program for Maternal Health Equity—An initiative focused on improving maternal healthcare and reducing complications from childbirth. 

These programs tackle the structural inequalities that impact our community’s health. Informed by research, our work at the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics ultimately advances health policy and promotes the collective right of health for all people.  

Nicolle K. Strand, JD, MBE, MPH 
Director, Center for Health Justice and Bioethics