Lindeboom Chair of Care Ethics

The Lindeboom Chair in Ethics of Healthcare has been established by the Prof. Dr. G.A. Lindeboom Institute. The mission of this chair is to think through medical and health care ethics issues from a Christian perspective.

Through academic teaching and research, the chair aims to make a meaningful, Christian-informed contribution to the academic education of students of theology, medicine and other healthcare-oriented studies. The chair also aims to assist churches and Christians in deepening their understanding of medical-ethical issues. There is a clear need for this among pastors as well as Christian schools and organizations. Finally, the chair can also have a function in public debate.

Prof. dr. Stef Groenewoud

Since Sept. 1, 2022, Prof. Stef Groenewoud holds the Lindeboom Chair in Ethics of Healthcare. In addition to his work for the Lindeboom Institute, Groenewoud is also affiliated with IQ Health, a scientific research department of the Radboudumc, as a health scientist and ethicist. His teaching assignment focuses on a wide range of topics from the practice of healthcare and medical practice. These include:

• Moral questions regarding health care at the end of life, such as
  • (Over)treatment,
  • Quality of life,
  • Human dignity,
  • Meaningfulness of old age;
• Issues related to beginning of life (related to the principles of protectability of life and autonomy);
• Issues of meaning in health care, and Christian mental health care;
• Health system ethics, and other current issues in the political-social debate, such as
  • health care costs,
  • health care insurance,
  • responsibility,
  • solidarity,
  • equity, equality, access, and fair opportunities;
• Predictive medicine, including preventive population screening, prenatal diagnosis, genetic testing.

Previous Lindeboom professors were Prof. Dr. Jochem Douma (1993-1997), Prof. Dr. Henk Jochemsen (1998-2009) and Prof. Dr. Theo Boer (2014-2019).