The Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania is an internationally recognized leader in bioethical education and research. Its interdisciplinary faculty is drawn from the fields of medicine, philosophy, law, nursing, anthropology, sociology, psychology, religious studies, and public policy. Arthur L. Caplan, the Center's founding director, is recognized as one of the most influential experts in the field of American medicine and health care. He has authored numerous books and scholarly articles, writes the ""Breaking Bioethics"" column for MSNBC.com, and frequently appears on national media outlets. Now, Caplan combines his expertise with Senior Fellows of the Penn Center, Vardit Ravitsky and Autumn Fiester in ""The Penn Center Guide to Bioethics"". Ravitsky, faculty at the Department of Medical Ethics, and Fiester, Director of Graduate Studies, have worked with both national and international projects in bioethics and their work has been published in leading journals. With sixty-eight chapters written by eighty experts, the ""Guide"", written in accessible language, provides an integrated overview of this important and complex field. Starting with sections that present both classical and emerging topics in bioethics, the book journeys through the bioethical challenges faced along the life course, from reproduction through childhood to the end of life. The ""Guide"" contains chapters on controversial topics such as: Neuroethics, Research misconduct, Conscientious refusals by physicians, Human gene patenting and biobanks, Making decisions for children, Access to affordable medical care, Bioethics and national security, Public health ethics and the ethics of vaccination, Organ trafficking, and Hospice, advance directives and palliative care. ""The Penn Center Guide to Bioethics"", prepared under the auspices of the Center for Bioethics and drawing on its faculty, fellows and visitors past and present, will be an essential resource for all health care practitioners, researchers, and students who struggle daily with ethical issues. This book will also help patients, their family members, and loved ones as they seek answers to bioethical issues that have touched their lives. Finally, it will allow any reader a deeper understanding of the vibrant world of bioethics as it unfolds.