16th World Congress of Bioethics: "Bioethics post Covid-19: Responsibility and transparency in a globalized and interconnected world"

The World Congress of Bioethics (WCB) is the largest gathering of thought leaders in the field of bioethics. The academic conference takes place every two years, alternating in location between a high and low/middle income country (the past four WCBs were held in Philadelphia, USA; Bengaluru, India; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Mexico City, Mexico). As the only global conference in the field of bioethics, the WCB aims at facilitating interdisciplinary and cross-national discussion of cutting-edge issues in bioethics, and showcasing agenda-setting perspectives for the bioethics community. Hence, this event is the perfect opportunity for participants to engage with the most current developments in bioethics from a cutting-edge community of experts. The WCB 2022 therefore provides a leading platform to discuss important questions of social and scientific value and the role that bioethics can and should have for our society and future generations. This will be accomplished through a broad range of activities, both in-person and virtual, such as: a cutting edge scientific program exploring emerging issues in bioethics, public health ethics, global health, responsibility in scientific advancements and many more. With the participation of esteemed keynote speakers and panel experts; networking activities for both in-person and virtual participants, the Congress aims to facilitate exchange of information and ideas among the global bioethics community. Further, the WCB 2022 will ensure that early career participants gain the opportunity to engage with bioethics and enhance their skills to thrive in the academic environment."Bioethics post Covid-19: Responsibility and transparency in a globalized and interconnected world" is the topic that the WCB 2022 will focus on. The WCB 2022 is a "Hybrid" meeting. It includes (1) LIVE Plenary Sessions: 3 hours of Plenary sessions with Keynotes and Panels that will be live-streamed during each day of the congress. This Plenary session will be a common event that every Congress participant (virtual and in person) will follow together. (2) In-Person participation in Basel: Our Congress participants who will join us in-person Basel will have the opportunity to present their contributions during the days of the conference. Thus, they will experience a "normal" congress that we know of prior to the pandemic. Furthermore, parallel sessions taking place in Basel will be streamed via Zoom (like a webinar) to accommodate those virtual participants who wish to attend certain sessions. (3) All Virtual participants will also have the opportunity to present their talks during the days of the conference as virtual parallel sessions.We have put together an exciting list of key experts who will be part of the 3-Hours of Live Keynotes and Panel Discussions on topics ranging from inclusive bioethics, COVID-19, and Bioethics Leadership. Our experts are diverse since we have sought to have a balance of both male and female scholars, as well as scholars from different continents. This diversity is important in our ever interconnected world.The 16th WCB taking place between 20 - 22nd of July 2022 was awarded to the Institute of Biomedical Ethics, Universtiy of Basel after a competitive vetting process by the International Association of Bioethics (IAB). The Congress occurs under the aegis of this association. The WCB will be of great value for Swiss research. First, the congress will assist in elevating the Institute for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Basel, to become one of the main centers of bioethical investigation on a European and global scale. Second, it will support making Switzerland the cradle of the global discourse in bioethics for 2022 and beyond. Third, having the congress taking place in Basel, will facilitate Swiss scholars in participating to the event, thus promoting the dissemination of their novel research and allowing them to network with a cutting-edge community of experts from all over the world.