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

Elected a Hastings Center Fellow

01/2023

Associate Editor for The American Journal of Bioethics

01/2022

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

• Blumenthal-Barby JS "Pandemic Ethics: From COVID-19 to Disease X." Oxford University Press. 2023 May 1;
• Dorfman, N. J., Blumenthal-Barby, J., Ubel, P. A., Moore, B., Nelson, R., Kious, B. M. "What Do Psychiatrists Think About Caring for Patients Who Have Extremely Treatment-Refractory Illness?." AJOB Neurosci. 2023 Jun;(28):1-8. Pubmed PMID: 37379054
• Largent EA, Clapp J, Blumenthal-Barby JS, Grady C, McGuire AL, Karlawish J, Grill JD, Stites SD, Peterson A. "Deciding with Others: Interdependent Decision Making." Hastings Cent Rep. 2023 Nov;52(6):23-32. Pubmed PMID: 36537275
• Nelson R, Fernandez-Lynch H, Moore B, Waggoner M, Blumenthal-Barby JS, "Bioethics and the Moral Authority of Experience." Am J Bioeth. 2023 Jan;23(1):12-24. Pubmed PMID: 36219208

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.