Berman Institute Faculty Member Len Rubenstein Honored with Peace Award (web article)

Len Rubenstein, JD, LLM, faculty with the Center for Public Health and Human Rights and the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has been honored with the Sidel-Levi Award for Peace by the American Public Health Association (APHA). The award is given annually to an APHA member who has made outstanding contributions to preventing war and promoting international peace.

Rubenstein, a lawyer, has been a tireless advocate for the important role that public health workers can play in promoting human rights during times of conflict and violence across the globe. A former director of the campaign group Physicians for Human Rights, Rubenstein has been at the forefront of efforts to address major bioethical issues stemming from the conflicts faced by healthcare professionals during war. He has worked to develop ways of protecting health workers, health facilities, and patients during armed conflict, and has been instrumental in publicizing the problems of dual loyalty and human rights among U.S. physicians and psychologists who had involvement in the torture of prisoners during the War on Terror. Rubenstein is also an associate faculty member with the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.

“I am honored to receive this award,” Rubenstein said, “and encouraged by what it can highlight–that public health professionals can play a central role in ending impunity for those who inflict violence on civilians, and in advocating for policies that protect population health during and in the wake of war.”

The Sidel-Levi Award for Peace draws attention to the profound health consequences of war and what public health workers can do to help prevent war and promote international peace.

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