Barbara F. Mishkin Papers
Collection
Identifier: BRL-030
The collection contains documents related to U.S. bioethics commissions and other federal agencies that belonged to Barbara F. Mishkin. This includes the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, the Ethics Advisory Board, the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research Records, and the Office of Technology Assessment.
It includes printed materials, memorandum, notes, reports, court documents (briefs, transcripts), and correspondence. Topics include termination of treatment, right to die, and human and animal experimentation.
Materials are open without restrictions.
Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.
Barbara F. Mishkin (1936-2022) was a life-long, fourth generation Washingtonian. She graduated from Sidwell Friends School, received her A.B. from Mount Holyoke College (cum laude), M.A. from Yale University, and a J.D. from American University (cum laude), Washington College of Law. Mishkin began her career as a bioethicist, working at NICHD, the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (Assistant Director), where she helped draft the Belmont Report, which has become the touchstone of research ethics in the United States, and assisted in the drafting of what have become federal regulations governing Institutional Review Boards. She later served as Director of the Ethics Advisory Board (HHS) and then as Deputy Director of the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. She became the pre-eminent voice in the protection of human subjects in biomedical research and Institutional Review Boards in the United States.
Mishkin obtained her JD (attending school at night) while working for the government and then joined Hogan and Hartson’s Washington, D.C. office where she enjoyed a successful career as a lawyer continuing to advise universities and hospitals throughout the country. She received the D.C. Bar’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award in 1985 and contributed to the broader DC community by providing guidance to, among others, the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington and the Bon Secours Health System.
1.5 Cubic Feet (in 4 manuscript boxes)
English
The collection contains documents related to U.S. bioethics commissions and other federal agencies that belonged to Barbara F. Mishkin. This includes the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, the Ethics Advisory Board, the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research Records, and the Office of Technology Assessment.
Gift of Barbara F. Mishkin, 1987.
The collection has been rehoused in archival-quality boxes. Original folders in good condition were retained, while other materials were rehoused in archival-quality folders as needed.
Part of the Bioethics Research Library Archives Repository