Email

jennifer.blumenthal-barby@bcm.edu

Positions

Cullen Professor of Medical Ethics, Center Associate Director

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas

Addresses

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy (Office)

One Baylor Plaza
Suite 310D
Houston, TX 77030
United States

Education

M.A. from Bowling Green State University

05/2004 - Bowling Green, Ohio, United States

Ph.D. from Michigan State University

05/2008 - East Lansing, Michigan, United States

Honors & Awards

Associate Editor for Journal of Medical Ethics

Journal of Medical Ethics (01/2019)

Nominated as Member, American Philosophical Association Committee on Philosophy and Medicine

07/2014 - 07/2017

Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy (SSNAP) Fellowship

2016

Duke University

Greenwall Faculty Scholar in Bioethics

01/2011 - 12/2014

Fulbright and Jaworski L. L. P. Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching and Evaluation

07/2014

Fulbright and Jaworski L. L. P. Faculty Excellence Award in Educational Leadership

2014

Pfizer Bioethics Fellowship Recipient

01/2011 - 12/2014

Character Project Summer Seminar

Wake Forest University (06/2013 - 06/2013)

Junior Scholars in Bioethics Program

Wake Forest University (09/2011 - 09/2011)

Professional Interests

• Moral Psychology and Moral Philosophy
• Ethics
• Behavioral Economics
• Medical Decision Making
• Psychiatry

Professional Statement

Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Ph.D., is a professor (tenured) 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 and 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. Blumenthal-Barby's research focuses on the ethical issues raised by research on human judgment and decision-making (e.g., decisional biases and heuristics). She focuses on developing moral guidelines for the use of principles of behavioral economics and decisional psychology to shape people’s decisions and behaviors. Dr. Blumenthal-Barby has been the recipient of a Greenwall Faculty Scholar in Bioethics Fellowship, a Pfizer Bioethics Fellowship, and two Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Awards. She directs the undergraduate medical education ethics curriculum at BCM, has taught courses and advised graduate students in ethics at Rice University, and co-directs (on the BCM side) the Rice-BCM Health, Humanism and Society Scholars Program for undergraduates. She has published more than 75 articles in bioethics, philosophy, and medical journals and won several teaching awards.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Peterson A, Kostick K, O’Brien K, Blumenthal-Barby JS. "Seeing Minds in Disorders of Consciousness Patients." Brain Injury. 2019 : 1-9. Pubmed PMID: 31880960
• Kostick K, Kothari S, O’Brien K, Halm A, Blumenthal-Barby JS. "Conceptualizations of Consciousness and Continuation of Care Among Family Members and Health Professionals Caring for Patients in a Minimally Conscious State.." Disability and Rehabilitation. 2019 :
• Fridman, I., Ubel, P.A., Blumenthal-Barby, J., England, C., Currier, J.S., Eyal, N., Freedberg, K.A., Halpern, S.D., Kelley, C., Kuritzkes, D.R., Le, C.N., Lennox, J.L., Pollak, K.I., Zikmund-Fisher, B.J., Scherr, K.A. "Cure” versus “Clinical Remission”: The Impact of a Medication Description on the Willingness of People Living with HIV to Take a Medication." AIDS Behav. 2020 In press : Pubmed PMID: 31900813
• Blumenthal-Barby JS, Opel DJ, Dickert NW, Kramer DB, Tucker Edmonds B, Ladin K, Peek M, Peppercorn J, Tilburt JC "Potential Unintended Consequences of Recent Shared Decision Making Policy Initiatives." Health Affairs.. 2019 38 (11): 1876-1881. Pubmed PMID: 31682503

Memberships

American Philosophical Association Committee on Philosophy and Medicine

Member

American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Medical Decision Making Affinity Group

Co-Founder and Chair

Funding

Pediatric Deep Brain Stimulation: Neuroethics and Decision Making (Co-PI with Lazaro-Munoz, Storch)

$1,733,920.00 (09/18/2019 - 08/31/2023)

Grant funding from NIH BRAIN Initiative (R01)

Identify and address neuroethics issues and decisional needs related to pediatric deep brain stimulation for intractable movement disorders and psychiatric disorders.

Dissemination and Implementation of a Patient-Centered Decision Aid for Ventricular Assist Device Placement (PI)

$490,000.00 (09/01/2018 - 09/01/2020)

Grant funding from Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Award

Development and User Testing of a Decision Aid for Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Placement (PI)

$1,343,703.00 (01/01/2014 - 01/01/2017)

Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Creating a patient-centered decision aid that presents outcomes, risks, experiences, and uncertainties about ventricular assist device placement in a clear, comprehensive, scientifically valid and unbiased manner.

Senior Collaboration Project on “Ethically Responsible Choice Architecture in Medical Decision Making” (PI)

(07/01/2013 - 07/01/2015) The Greenwall Foundation Making a Difference in Real-World Bioethics Dilemmas Grant Initiative

This project aims to develop empirically-informed comprehensive normative guidelines for the use of choice architecture in (1) prostate cancer treatment decision-making, and (2) decision-making about tracheostomy placement in critically ill children.