Jennifer S. Swindell, Ph.D.
J.S. Swindell, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of medicine and medical ethics with the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. She received her B.S. in applied health science (with a minor in philosophy), magna cum laude with University Honors, from Bowling Green State University in May 2002, and her Ph.D. in philosophy (with a specialization in bioethics) from Michigan State University in May 2008.
Dr. Swindell's research interests focus on decision making and the philosophy of action. She is particularly interested in how cognitive and emotional biases affect patient decision making and autonomy, in the ethical implications of those effects, and in practical solutions for helping patients make better decisions. Dr. Swindell also works on ethical and philosophical issues in psychiatry, and is involved weekly with inpatient psychiatry rounds. Dr. Swindell has a strong interest in continental philosophy and what it may contribute to bioethics debates. For example, her work on facial transplantation has made use of Sartre’s work on otherness and Merleau-Ponty’s work on bodily identity.
Dr. Swindell's responsibilities at Baylor include directing the second-year ethical theory elective and the fourth-year research elective of Baylor’s Ethics Track for its medical students, and directing the BCM and Methodist Ethics Grand Rounds. She also teaches an undergraduate medical ethics course (Philosophy 336) at Rice University in the spring.
Contact:
J.S. Swindell, Ph.D.
Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Baylor College of Medicine
Room 310D
One Baylor Plaza
Houston, Texas 77030
713-798-3785 (phone)
713-798-5678 (fax)
jsswinde@bcm.edu
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