Deciding with Children in Pediatrics

Professor John Massie is the Clinical Director of the Children’s Bioethics Centre and senior consultant in the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. He is also a Professorial Fellow, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne. In his clinical role, John looks after children with neuro-disability requiring ventilator support and also works in the RCH cystic fibrosis clinic. At the CBC, John provides clinical leadership, liaison with clinical staff, ethics advice to RCH executive and supports the CBC building capacity in bioethics across the campus. John has a particular interest in decision-making with children. He has published a number of papers and book chapters relating to ethical issues in paediatric respiratory medicine and the medical humanities. John is the host of the CBC podcast show, Essential Ethics. Dr Georgina Hall is a Clinical Ethicist at the CBC. She is trained in Bioethics (MBioeth, Monash, PhD Bioeth University of Melbourne) and communications (BAJourn, RMIT). Georgina has been involved with the Centre since its inception in 2008. She oversees the development and delivery of a wide range of traditional and innovative education and training programs within the Centre aimed at advancing the ethical literacy of all hospital staff. She is convenor of the monthly Bioethics Forum and a member of the Clinical Ethics Response Group. Her research interests include reproductive ethics and IVF access decision-making, the child's voice in pediatrics and the impact and implications of social media, AI and media coverage on healthcare delivery. Professor Lynn Gillam is the Academic Director and Clinical Ethicist at the Children’s Bioethics Centre. She is an experienced clinical ethicist, originally trained in philosophy (MA, 1988, Oxon) and bioethics (PhD, Monash, 2000). Lynn is also Professor in Health Ethics at the University of Melbourne, in the Department of Paediatrics. At the CBC, Lynn leads clinical ethics case consultations, ethics rounds and education sessions for clinical departments at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. She also provides policy advice and leads research into a range of issues in paediatric clinical ethics - including end of life decision-making, management of differences of sex development, information-giving to children, and parental refusal of treatment.