Joanna Smolenski CV A.O. 09.20.23
Joanna Smolenski CV A.O. 09.20.23
Joanna Smolenski CV A.O. 09.20.23
EMPLOYMENT
Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine July 2023 –
Assistant Professor
Health Ethics Center, University of California, Los Angeles August 2021 – June 2023
Senior Clinical Ethics Fellow (2022 – 2023)
Clinical Ethics Fellow (2021 – 2022)
EDUCATION
Ph.D. The Graduate Center, City University of New York September 2021
Philosophy (M.Phil., 2017; M.A., 2016)
Dissertation: Informed Consent: Foundations and Applications
Committee: David Papineau (supervisor), Miranda Fricker, Jesse Prinz
RESEARCH INTERESTS
RESEARCH
WEB-BASED PUBLICATIONS
[3] “Involuntary Withdrawal: A 'Bridge' Too Far?” Clinical Ethics Case Series, Hastings Bioethics Forum
(2023). Available at https://www.thehastingscenter.org/involuntary-withdrawal-a-bridge-too-far/.
[2] “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?: Erzsébet Báthory and the curative power
of blood in medieval Europe” Hektoen International: A Journal of Medical Humanities 5:3 (Summer
2013).
[1] “Handicapped Spaces: Disability, Identity Politics, and Embodiment in Collaborative Artwork”
Recess Sessions (December 2012). Written in Parallel with Artists Yve Laris Cohen and Park
McArthur.
IN PROGRESS
ARTICLES
“Germline Gene Editing and the Limits of Informed Consent”
“Informed Consent and Bodily Self-Sovereignty”
“Psychiatric Care and Epistemic Injustice”
“Invincible Indecision and Decisional Capacity”
“Assessing Capacity in Locked-In Syndrome” (with Daniel Karlin, Daniel E. Callies, and Joseph A. Raho)
“The Moralizing Effect: Self-Directed Emotions and their Impact on Culpability Attributions” (with
Elisabetta Sirgiovanni, Ben Abelson, and Taylor Webb)
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
“Cryoablation: Ethical Issues Affecting Patient Treatment with Turf Conflicts Between Radiology and
Surgery”
(with Luz A. Venta)
Cryoablation for Breast Cancer Program September 2023
Houston Methodist Hospital
“How Should Clinicians Address Parental False Beliefs Generated by Denial or Grief?”
Pediatric Speech Rounds May 2023
UCLA Speech Clinic
“Clinical Ethics Consultation in the US: Putting Theory into Practice”
Research Ethics in Medicine Study Group (REMEDY) Working Seminar March 2023
Department of Philosophy and Bioethics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian
University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
“The Comparative Effectiveness of Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Bioethics Lecture
Delivery on Student Learning in Discussion Board Posts”
(with Jenny Schiff, Michael Greer, Ryan Felder, Julia Kolak, Kyle Ferguson, Paul Cummins &
Rosamond Rhodes)
Fogarty Reunion Retreat July 2022
University of Belgrade, Serbia
“The Abusive Patient”
Translational Endocrinology Conference June 2022
Division of Endocrinology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
“Future Perfect? CRISPR and its Discontents”
The Future of Humanity Panel, World Philosophy Day (Zoom) November 2021
Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY
Bioethics Club and Philosophy Colloquium Talk April 2019
William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
REFEREED PRESENTATIONS
“Epistemic Injustice and Informed Consent in Psychiatry”
Diversity and Bioethics - 34th Conference of the European Society for August 2022
Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care (ESPMH)
Warsaw, Poland
International Association of Bioethics World Congress of Bioethics (WCB) June 2020
Virtual presentation, due to COVID-19
Oxford-Mount Sinai Consortium on Bioethics 29th Annual Meeting April 2020
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Conference cancelled, due to COVID-19
Experts in Mental Health – 21st Annual Conference of the International October 2019
Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry (INPP)
Warsaw, Poland
“The Comparative Effectiveness of Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Bioethics Lecture Delivery
on Student Learning in Discussion Board Posts”
(with Jenny Schiff, Michael Greer, Ryan Felder, Julia Kolak, Kyle Ferguson, Paul Cummins &
Rosamond Rhodes)
37th Annual Conference of the European Association of Centres of September 2021
Medical Ethics (EACME) (Zoom)
Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
CHAIRED SESSIONS
“Session 3.2: Sex and Gender” (invited)
Diversity and Bioethics - 34th Conference of the European Society for August 2022
Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care (ESPMH)
Warsaw, Poland
COMMENTARIES
On Eleonore Neufeld and Junhyo Lee’s “Pornography, Discourse, and Desires” January 2021
American Philosophical Association (APA) Eastern Division meeting
Virtual presentation, due to COVID-19
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
“Are Contaminated Intuitions Bad Intuitions?”
25th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology (ESPP) August 2017
Hertfordshire, UK
GRANT-FUNDED RESEARCH
“Establishing a Masters Program in Research Ethics at the University of 2020-2021
Belgrade School of Medicine”
PI: Rosamond Rhodes, Ivanka Markovic
Fogarty International Center, NIH
“Establishing a Masters Program in Research Ethics and Methodology in 2020-2021
Cluj-Napoca, Romania”
PI: Rosamond Rhodes, Horatiu Alexandru Colosi
Fogarty International Center, NIH
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
AS ATTENDING ETHICIST
Houston Methodist Hospital (current)
Total Consults with Lead or Active Role: >20
ISSUES ADDRESSED
Futility, Unilateral treatment limitations, Incapable and unrepresented patient care, Surrogate decision-
making, Capacity, Consent, Involuntary treatment, Emergency treatment, Confidentiality and
information disclosure, Complex goals of care, Inappropriate surrogate behavior, Discharge planning,
Moral distress, Advance care planning, End of life care, Brain death, Decision-maker uncertainty,
Challenging patients or surrogates, Medical holds, Organ donation.
TEAMS ADVISED
Medicine, Intensive Care, Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neuro Critical Care, Coronary Care,
Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplant Intensivists, Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Neurosurgery,
Neurology, Neuro-Stroke, Liver Transplant, Advance Lung Disease, Trauma Surgery, Orthopedic
Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Head and Neck Surgery, Hematology Oncology, Radiation Oncology,
Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Palliative
Care, Social Work, Outpatient Teams, Primary Care Providers.
COMMITTEE SERVICE
COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Houston Methodist Hospital Biomedical Ethics Committee August 2023 –
Ronald Reagan Medical Center Ethics Committee August 2021 – June 2023
Santa Monica Hospital Ethics Committee August 2021 – June 2023
Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital Ethics Committee August 2021 – June 2023
Cardiothoracic Transplant Program – Pediatric Selection Committee* February 2022 – April 2023
*observational basis
COMMITTEE EDUCATION
Led the development of a comprehensive ethics training program for existing and incoming Resnick
Neuropsychiatric Hospital Ethics Committee members. This effort included performing an assessment
of educational needs, producing pedagogical materials on relevant ethical issues, and developing
institutional relationships with relevant experts and stakeholders throughout UCLA.
POLICY WORK
REPORTS PREPARED
AMA Discharge Policy (UCLA Health)
Prepared a memorandum analyzing the proposed revisions to the Health System’s “Leaving the
Hospital Against Medical Advice (AMA)” Policy, also referred to as the AMA discharge policy.
ACADEMIC LECTURES
“Capacity and Decision-Making”
Doctorate of Nursing Practice Student Lecture October 2022
Seattle Children's Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics Conference July 2022
Scholarship, 17 Annual Pediatric Bioethics Conference, Seattle, WA
th
AS LEAD INSTRUCTOR
JOHN JAY COLLEGE, CUNY
Ethics and Law Spring 2021
Ethics and Information Technology Fall 2016 - Spring 2017
AS TEACHING ASSISTANT
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE, NYU
Environment and Society (David Kanter) Spring 2021
Texts and Ideas (Sharon Street) Fall 2019
Central Problems in Philosophy (Ian Grubb) Spring 2019
Ethics and the Environment (Dale Jamieson) Fall 2018
PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY
MEDIA APPEARANCES
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PEDAGOGICAL TRAINING
Effective Practices for Hybrid Education Workshop June 2021
Department of Online Education and Support, John Jay College, CUNY
Microcredential in Promoting Active Learning Online April 2021
Association of College and University Educators (ACUE)
ePortfolio Faculty Development Program Fall 2016
Teaching & Learning Center, John Jay College, CUNY
EDITORIAL WORK
Managing Editor: Journal of Critical Care February 2018 - June 2019
Feedback and Editing Services: How God Became Good: The Spirituality of the February - March 2018
English and American Deists (Joseph Waligore)
Journal Referee: Episteme
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
LANGUAGES
Polish (Fluent); German (conversational, 2 years study); French (conversational, 8 years study)