Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Ph.D., M.A.
Picture

Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Ph.D., M.A.
Cullen Professor of Medical Ethics, Center Associate Director
Phone
Phone
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 & Jaworski L. L. P. Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching and Evaluation
- 07/2014
- Fulbright & 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
Jenny Blumenthal-Barby, Ph.D., M.A. is the Cullen Professor of Medical Ethics and Associate Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy, with a specialization in bioethics, from Michigan State University in 2008.Dr. Blumenthal-Barby is a philosopher whose research focuses primarily on the ethical issues raised by research on human judgment and decision-making (e.g., decisional biases and heuristics, behavioral economics). Dr. Blumenthal-Barby has been the recipient of a prestigious Greenwall Faculty Scholar Award in Bioethics, a Pfizer Bioethics Fellowship, and has served as the Principal Investigator on four awards from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study and improve decision making in advanced heart failure. Most recently, she received funding as a Co-Principal Investigator to study ethics and decision making in pediatric deep brain stimulation through the NIH BRAIN initiative. She has also received funding as Principal Investigator from AHRQ to study the utilization of an AI/machine learning system that predicts personalized risks using big data. She has published more than 100 articles in bioethics, philosophy, and medical journals as well as served on several expert panels and committees related to bioethics and medical decision making. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Medical Ethics and is on the Board of Directors for the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities as well as the Editorial Board for The American Journal of Bioethics. She has a book forthcoming with MIT Press: Good Ethics and Bad Choices: The Relevance of Behavioral Economics for Medical Ethics. 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.
Websites
Selected Publications
- Munoz KA, Blumenthal-Barby JS, Storch EA, Torgerson L, Lazaro-Munoz, G. "Pediatric Deep Brain Stimulation for Dystonia: Current State and Ethical Considerations.." Cambridge Quarterly Healthcare Ethics. 2020 October 29; 4 : 557-573. Pubmed PMID: 32892777
- Blumenthal-Barby JS, Ubel PA. "Payment of COVID-19 Challenge Trials: Underpayment is a Bigger Worry Than Overpayment.." Journal of Medical Ethics. 2020 October 12; : E-pub ahead of print.. Pubmed PMID: 33046591
- Kostick KM, Blumenthal-Barby JS, Storch EA, Lazaro-Munoz G. "The Ethics of Getting Ahead When All Heads Are Enhanced.." American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience. 2020 11 (4): 256-258. Pubmed PMID: 33196357
- Blumenthal-Barby JS "COVID-19 Current Controversies.." Journal of Medical Ethics. 2020 46 (7): 419-420. Pubmed PMID: 32601258
- Blumenthal-Barby JS, Boyd K, Earp BD, McDougall RJ, McMillian J, Wall J. "Pandemic Medical Ethics." Journal of Medical Ethics,. 2020 46 (6): 353-354. Pubmed PMID: 32471955
- Kostick K, Trejo M, Volk R, Estep J, Blumenthal-Barby JS. "Using Nudges to Enhance Clinicians’ Implementation of Shared Decision Making with Patient Decision Aids.." 2020 April 26; 5 (1): 2381468320915906. Pubmed PMID: 32440570
- 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 24 (7): 2054-2061. Pubmed PMID: 31900813
- 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 :
- 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
- A Multi-Site Trial To Test Benefits of adding a personalized risk calculator to an online decision aid for left ventricular assist device (PI)
- $1,960,847.00 Grant funding from AHRQ
- This project tests the impact of a personalized, electronically integrated clinical decision support system for heart failure patients contemplating left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy. The study involves utilization of an AI/machine learning system that predicts personalized risks using big data. Our study focuses on the ethical issues raised and how patients and clinicians use this information to make decisions. This work is funded by the AHRQ (2020-2025)
- 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.
- Integration of Whole Genome Sequencing into Clinical Medicine (Co-I; PI: R. Green & A. McGuire) - #U01 HG 006500 (12/01/2011 - 12/31/2015) National Institutes of Health
- The MedSeq Project seeks to develop a process to integrate genome sequencing into clinical medicine and explore the impact of doing so.
- Integrating Ethics into the Science of Behavior Change: An Ethical Framework for Clinicians and Policymakers (PI) (07/01/2011 - 07/31/2014) Greenwall Faculty Scholar Award in Bioethics
- A career development award to enable outstanding junior faculty members to carry out original research that will help resolve important policy and clinical dilemmas at the intersection of ethics and the life sciences.
Log In to edit your profile