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Holly Fernandez Lynch Wins National Bioethics Research Award

Cited for Achievements in Bridging Divides Through Bioethics

July 14, 2026

By:

Hoag Levins

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Holly Fernandez Lynch is the 2026 winner of the Bernard Lo Award in Bioethics. (Photo: Hoag Levins)

LDI Senior Fellow Holly Fernandez Lynch, JD, MBE, has won the 2026 Greenwall Foundation Bernard Lo Award in Bioethics, a prestigious annual honor recognizing significant achievement in bioethics research.

An Associate Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine and of Law at Penn Carey Law School, Lynch was a Greenwall Faculty Scholar from 2019 to 2022.

Greenwall Foundation

The 77-year-old Greenwall Foundation is an independent private foundation that funds bioethics research with the goal of making medical and scientific decision-making more evidence-based, ethically sound, and patient-centered.

The Lo Award, which includes a $25,000 prize, is named for Dr. Bernard Lo, former President and CEO of the Greenwall Foundation, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern American bioethics, particularly for bridging the gap between abstract moral philosophy and practical bedside clinical medicine.

The annual award, which highlights a different area of bioethics each year, this year honored work on bridging divides through bioethics.

Respected National Voice

Lynch’s research focuses on clinical research ethics and regulation, access to investigational medicines, and FDA pharmaceutical policy, especially approaches to drug development and early approval pathways for diseases with unmet treatment needs like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Her work has made her a trusted resource for the ALS advocacy community and a respected voice in ongoing debates.

“At a time when it seems increasingly difficult to engage with perspectives different than our own, Holly reminds us that progress often comes from listening carefully, remaining open to challenge, and leaning in even when the path forward is uncomfortable,” said Michelle Groman, JD, President & CEO of The Greenwall Foundation. “Through her scholarship, engagement with policymakers, and allyship, she reminds us all how bioethics can help foster meaningful dialogue and generate practical solutions across difference.”

Lynch, the immediate past President of the American Society for Law, Medicine, and Ethics is also the Founder and Co-Chair of the Consortium to Advance Effective Research Ethics Oversight (AEREO), a collaborative initiative to define, measure, and improve the quality and effectiveness of institutional review boards and human research protection programs.

She previously served as a bioethicist in the National Institutes of Health Division of AIDS, an analyst for President Barack Obama’s Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, and Executive Director of Harvard Law School’s bioethics and health law research program. She earned graduate degrees in law and bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania.