[Archive Interview from Jul 13, 2021]

The pandemic was a time when people in all spheres of society were being called up to be leaders.  “You have to take that role and responsibilities very seriously. It’s not just about yourself it’s about your community,”  Dr. David Agus tells Dov Seidman on part two of their HOW Conversation.  “As a leader, your behavior influences many, many others. We all have to realize that. This pandemic brought that out in spades.”  Dr. Agus explains how he makes values-based decisions when facing a dilemma where all the data may not be available and the importance of moral responsibility in science. 

Dr. Agus is the founding Director of the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine at the University of  Southern California and a professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and Viterbi School of Engineering.  Watch the full episode to learn why Dr. Agus believes the best treatments combine science with hope.  “When I can convey that hope to others, I know they feel better.”

READY TO START YOUR MORAL LEADERSHIP JOURNEY? Moral leadership is more imperative today than ever before. The HOW Institute for Society was founded on the belief that those in positions of formal authority should also have moral authority.  We are creating the tools leaders need to make principled, ethical and values-based decisions.  We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a world rooted in deep human values and trust in our social fabric. The Institute channels philosophical reasoning to address modern problems. Today, HOW we do what we do matters more than ever and in ways it never has before.  

Learn more at https://thehowinstitute.org/