Dr. John A. Di Camillo Appointed 7th President of The National Catholic Bioethics Center

January 6, 2025

The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) is pleased to announce that on December 13, 2024, following a six-month national search, the Board of Directors appointed John A. Di Camillo, PhD, BeL, as its 7th president. Dr. Di Camillo assumed the position on January 1, 2025. 

Dr. Di Camillo has long been committed to the mission and work of the NCBC. He excelled during his thirteen years as an ethicist, serving under Presidents Dr. John Haas and Dr. Joseph Meaney. During that time, he built a track record of fruitful collaboration with his NCBC colleagues and external stakeholders, honed his skills in leadership and fundraising, and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the mission of the Center. 

From June 2022 to December 2024, Dr. Di Camillo served as the first personal consultations director of the NCBC. Spearheading this new initiative, he managed and promoted the Center’s 24/7 free ethics consultation service for individuals, leading and mentoring a team of more than 10 interns, fellows, and ethicists, and galvanizing financial support for the NCBC.  

“For several years, my fellow board members and I have been impressed with the work of Dr. John Di Camillo at the NCBC, especially his leadership of the personal consultations department,” said Archbishop Gregory Aymond, Chairman of the Board of the NCBC. “Dr. Di Camillo is the ideal leader to bring the Center to new levels of excellence. We look forward to supporting and working alongside him as the president of The National Catholic Bioethics Center.”   

The appointment of Dr. Di Camillo follows a brief interim period during which the Center was led for a second time by Dr. John Haas. Dr. Haas made immeasurable contributions to the mission and work of the Center as President from 1996 until his retirement in 2019. He has continued to support the Center as President Emeritus under the leadership of Dr. Joseph Meaney and now Dr. John Di Camillo.   

“It was one of the great joys of my time leading the NCBC to hire Dr. Di Camillo and to witness his growth into a capable leader and advocate for the mission of The National Catholic Bioethics Center,” said Dr. Haas. “I have full confidence in his abilities and in the remarkable team that supports him. The future of the Center is bright with Dr. Di Camillo at the helm, and I look forward to seeing the great work that will be realized in the years ahead.”  

Dr. Joseph Meaney faithfully advanced the mission of the NCBC as president for five years, bringing the Center’s prominent voice and exceptional work to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic, before moving into the role of Senior Fellow in June 2024. The NCBC increased its impact during his term in several notable ways, including through a greater media presence and a new diocesan parish partnership program. One major success was the launch of the personal consultations department in 2022, headed by Dr. Di Camillo.  

“I was struck from the start by Dr. Di Camillo’s profound faith and his passion for helping Catholics in the pew,” Dr. Meaney recalled. “His personal attentiveness, together with his organization, clarity, and initiative, made him a solid fit for building up the new department and mentoring a new generation of ethicists. I am very proud of what he accomplished and I am eager to help him succeed in his new role as president.”  

Dr. Di Camillo first joined the NCBC as a staff ethicist in 2011 and has become a familiar public presence in the field of Catholic bioethics. He has given scores of health care ethics presentations, including for the Center’s Workshops for Bishops, diocesan clergy convocations, grand rounds for health care professionals, and the Catholic Medical Association’s Annual Boot Camp for medical students and residents.  

Dr. Di Camillo’s wide-ranging experience includes fielding thousands of personal ethics consultations, working with hospital ethics committees, assessing the Catholic identity and ethical integrity of health care organizations, and reviewing health benefit plans for alignment with Catholic moral teaching. He has regularly collaborated with colleagues in developing ethical recommendations for bishops and various organs of the Church.  

“I am very grateful to the board for the trust they have placed in me. It is an immense honor to serve the NCBC as president,” said Dr. Di Camillo. “Throughout my time at the Center, my colleagues have helped to equip me for this great responsibility. I am constantly inspired by their deep love for Christ and His Church, their bioethical expertise, and their tireless commitment to the dignity of the human person. I am humbled to lead this exceptional team.”  

Dr. Di Camillo graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with majors in the biological basis of behavior and Italian studies in 2006. He was recognized as the top student in his class in both fields. He went on to earn his bioethics doctorate and licentiate degrees summa cum laude from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome. He received the Academic Excellence Award for his doctoral dissertation on institutional collaborative arrangements in Catholic health care (2016). He co-translated Elio Cardinal Sgreccia’s monumental bioethics manual, Personalist Bioethics: Foundations and Applications, which the NCBC published in 2012.