Lombardo honored for enhancing academic bioethics program in Pakistan

by Holly Cline

aul Lombardo, Regents’ Professor and Bobby Lee Cook Professor of Law, is well known for his expertise in bioethics, medical history, and the law. For nearly 20 years, he has shared his knowledge on these topics and mentorship with students and faculty affiliated with the academic programs of the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC) at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Karachi, Pakistan.

He was recently named Distinguished Professor of Bioethics and Law by the Sindh Institute of Medical Sciences in acknowledgment of his valuable contributions.

Lombardo has been a member of the CBEC associate faculty since 2009, but his association with the institution dates back to 2004 when he was the guest of honor at its inauguration. The CBEC, which is the first center of its kind in Pakistan, offers a one-year postgraduate diploma in biomedical ethics and a two-year master’s degree in bioethics. Lombardo teaches the Law and Bioethics course in the foundation module.

“Professor Lombardo has been key in the development of the Law and Bioethics sessions we teach, which are unique to what exists in this region of the world. He helps us make the curriculum relevant and of practical value to our clinicians and researchers through participation with Pakistani legal colleagues,” said Farhat Moazam, professor and chairperson at the CBEC.

Lombardo has published extensively on topics in health law, medico-legal history, and bioethics. He is best known for his work on the legal history of the American eugenics movement. Mainstream media, including the BBC, USA Today, NPR, CBS Evening News, Anderson Cooper 360, and The New York Times have cited his work and interviewed him as a subject matter expert. In his courses at CBEC, Lombardo incorporates topics included in his two books, “Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court and Buck v. Bell,” and “A Century of Eugenics in America: From the Indiana Experiment to the Human Genome Era.”

Dr. Moazam was one of Lombardo’s students at the University of Virginia in 1998. She took a sabbatical from her role as professor of surgery and associate dean of postgraduate medical education at Aga Khan University to pursue a master’s degree in bioethics. She took Lombardo’s Bioethics and Law course, which had a lasting impact. In fact, her thesis was an expanded version of an assignment she wrote for his course.

“At that time, most of Professor Lombardo’s students were callow youth about half my age. I learned that a talented teacher could make law interesting to even hotshot surgeons,” Dr. Moazam said.

In 2006 the same year Lombardo joined the Georgia State College of Law faculty Dr. Moazam asked Lombardo to recreate the course she took for the CBEC, which attracts students from all parts of the Middle East.

Since then, he has returned to teach in Karachi every other year.

“My CBEC course covers the principles of bioethics in a western context, the role that law plays, and how it intersects with culture and religion. It’s a real hybrid examining the relationship between lawyers, doctors, and patients, in a context that also pays attention to the theological perspective of students,” Lombardo said.

In addition to teaching the course, Lombardo virtually provides faculty consultations, thesis advice, student evaluations, and other program support on a pro bono basis. According to Dr. Moazam, he also has been an important contributor to the academic growth of CBEC’s faculty, “enhancing their knowledge about how law intersects with bioethics and how the two influence and shape each other. [Just as important,] he has demonstrated the intangibles that go into making an engaging teacher.”

Lombardo helped extend the CBEC program in 2016 by writing letters to secure a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, to include a number of students from the Kenyan Medical Research Institute in Nairobi.

Lombardo has found his experience with the program, people, and Pakistan to be invaluable, on a personal and professional level.

“At the most simple level, for a person who loves to travel, this has been a great opportunity to go to places I had only heard about. As a historian, I’m very interested in learning their history,” he said. “My hosts always show me something new. The faculty and students are kind and generous. Developing friendships and mentoring the students is a source of richness for me.”

As a professor, Lombardo says his affiliation with the CBEC has enhanced his approach to teaching.

“It’s the ultimate culture shock with different languages, expectations, and religions. I’ve been able to stretch myself by being surrounded by people of various ages, backgrounds, and social statuses. We all have different motivators, and I’ve enjoyed learning from others associated with the program,” he said.

Lombardo’s distinguished professorship designation came as a surprise to him, and it’s the first of its kind. He said it is a “great thrill” to be recognized by colleagues most of whom were previous students.

“On Professor Lombardo’s first visit, we didn’t even have books on the shelves. He’s helped our program and faculty grow in so many ways. I believe that what one achieves in life comes from standing on a lot of broad shoulders. Professor Lombardo has provided us with his, and we are most grateful,” Dr. Moazam said.