John Balint

John Balint, MD, founder of the bioethics program, joined the faculty at Albany Medical College in 1963 as head of the Division of Gastroenterology. In 1981, he was appointed chair of the Department of Medicine. In 1994 he completed a one-year fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics at the MacClean Center of the University of Chicago and established the Center for Medical Ethics Education and Research at Albany Medical College. Dr. Balint retired from the Bioethics Institute in 2014. From 1960 to 1981, Dr. Balint directed a research program in lipid biochemistry funded by NIH grants. He served as Chair of the IRB in the early 1970s. He has published over 80 papers on lipid research and clinical gastroenterology in major journals. His current research interests include the patient–doctor relationship, the social responsibilities of physicians and stem cell research. He was the Founding Chair of the Ethics Committee of the AGA from 1994-99 and has been the Chair of the AASLD since 2000. Dr. Balint is a graduate of Cambridge University with a BA in Natural Sciences and the MBB Chair in Medicine. Following 10 years of postgraduate training in the UK, he completed fellowships at the University of Cincinnati and Johns Hopkins University, followed by a faculty appointment at the University of Alabama Birmingham from 1960 to 1963