Dr. Paul Lombardo dons a Pakol (a traditional hat commonly in the Northern parts of Pakistan). In January 2023, Dr. Lombardo was awarded the title, “Distinguished Professor of Bioethics and Law,” Sindh Institute of Medical Sciences.
CBEC AT 20 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Paul A. Lambardo
When Dr. Farhat Moazam invited me to visit Karachi in 2004 to speak at the inauguration of CBEC, I was thrilled that I would be visiting a part of the world that I knew only from newsreels and travel photos. I assumed I would be making a few talks, seeing a few sights, and collecting an unusual stamp in my passport to display as I reported my experiences at a destination that would prompt remarks from friends and colleagues.
Next winter I hope to make my 10th visit to Pakistan, with an entirely different set of expectations. On my first trip, I was treated as a special guest alongside visitors whose achievements should have earned them far more deference than I could claim. Since then I have learned that the warmth of hospitality is a hallmark of Pakistani response to all guests. The relationships I have developed with friends and valued colleagues in Pakistan draw me back time after time.
But the trajectory that CBEC has followed is much more important than my impressions as a visitor. It began as a small outpost on the subcontinent that trained a handful of physicians and others in the health science world to think clearly as they confronted the complex bioethical questions raised all around Pakistan. A critical mass of well-informed CBEC graduates has now developed into a cohort of experts who serve in all regions of the country. In two decades, CBEC has become a well-recognized hub for training, consultation and access to expertise on crucial issues.
CBEC has also developed an extraordinary outreach program, including a joint training venture that has sent CBEC faculty to Nairobi, Kenya, and has brought Kenyan students to Karachi to further enrich the mixture of those who matriculate in the bioethics curriculum. The Centre has published a series of educational videos and is regularly represented in academic journals and through presentations nationally and internationally. It would have seemed foolhardy twenty years ago to predict this level of success.
I have had the good fortune to teach each of the current faculty members at CBEC as they received their training in bioethics, and to watch them grow over the years into seasoned teachers themselves whose work is recognized far beyond SIUT and the Karachi community. Over forty years of teaching I have often been reminded of the comment of American historian Henry Adams: “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” I am proud to have been associated with a place where I had a small hand in creating the big splash that CBEC now produces. I am confident in saying that the influence that these efforts generate in many parts of the world will outlive us all.