Yechiel Michael Barilan

Professor Yechiel Michael Barilan is a physician and scholar specializing in bioethics and medical education at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. His work explores the intersections of clinical ethics, social history, and fundamental moral concepts, including dignity, autonomy, and agency.

Barilan has authored several books, including Human Dignity, Human Rights, and Responsibility: The New Language of Global Bioethics and Bio-Law (MIT Press, 2012) and Jewish Bioethics: Rabbinic Law and Theology in Their Social and Historical Contexts (Cambridge University Press, 2014). His research examines human rights law, international humanitarian law, and ethical deliberation in medicine, integrating historical and philosophical perspectives.

At Tel Aviv University, he teaches medical ethics and leads the Bioethics and Law Initiative, which includes a seminar series on ethical and legal aspects of medicine. His ongoing projects focus on vaccination ethics, the history of children’s institutions, and the regulation of pregnancy and childbirth.

Barilan’s research interests extend to moral psychology, ethical expertise in medical education, and the representation of illness in Western visual art. He has contributed to studies on brain death in Jewish law, genetic testing, and the burden of care for patients with chronic diseases.

He is actively involved in curriculum development, aligning medical education with UNESCO’s core curriculum and enhancing moral deliberation skills among students. His work aims to integrate deep theoretical knowledge with applied ethical challenges, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.

Barilan has also participated in international research projects, including an ERA perMED study on personalized medicine and glioblastoma patients. He has co-edited a special issue on vaccine acceptance and served as an academic director for an international workshop on ethics in personalized medicine.

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