Co-convened by Jonathan Marks and Francisco Javier Lopez Frias, the Rock Ethics Institute’s Ethics and Health Initiative brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars who share an interest in the systemic and institutional influences on health, and in their ethical and policy implications.

Among the topics of interest to the group: the relationship between individual and public health; the influence of industry actors on health research and policy; the impact on health of food systems and the environment (whether local or global; both natural and built); the framing of exercise as medicine; and the social construction of gender.

The Rock Ethics Institute frequently partners with the Penn State Bioethics Program for this initiative. The Bioethics Program is directed by Jonathan Marks and assistant director Michele Mekel, an REI affiliate faculty member.