Center for Bioethics

Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, MD, MPH, MS is Assistant Dean for Diversity Affairs, as well as Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. She practices obstetrics & gynecology in the Indiana University Health system.

Dr. Tucker Edmonds is a board-certified OB/GYN who received her bachelor and medical degrees from Brown University and completed her OB/GYN residency at Duke University. She received her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health, and Master’s in Health Policy Research from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently serves as the Indiana State Legislative Chair for the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Dr. Tucker Edmonds specializes in social and cultural disparities in medicine, clinical ethics, and reproductive justice. Her research examines the manner in which social and cultural factors influence patient-provider communication and decision-making when faced with ethically complex and uncertain outcomes in the setting of extreme prematurity. The overarching goal of her program of research is to facilitate patient-centered care and shared decision-making between providers, patients, and families making end-of-life decisions at the very beginning of life for periviable (extremely premature) infants, and at the end of life in minority populations.

Selected guest lectures: 

“OB Ethics: On trade-offs, personhood, and reproductive justice,” 4^th year elective, Indiana School of Medicine

“Ethics and Reproductive Medicine,” Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics

Decision making in the setting of extreme prematurity:

Selected Papers:

• Tucker Edmonds, Brownsyne; McKenzie, Fatima; Barnato, Amber; Frankel, Richard. “Doctor, what would you do?”: physicians’ responses to patient inquiries about periviable delivery. Patient Education and Counseling 2015 Jan;98(1):49-54. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2014.09.014.
• Tucker Edmonds B, Hoffman SM, Laitano T, Bhamidipalli SS, Jeffries E, Fadel W, Kavanaugh K. Values clarification: Eliciting the values that inform and influence parents' treatment decisions for periviable birth. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2020 Sep;34(5):556-564. doi: 10.1111/ppe.12590.
• Tucker Edmonds B, Laitano T, Hoffman SM, Jeffries E, Fadel W, Bhamidipalli SS, Kavanaugh K. The impact of decision quality on mental health following periviable delivery. J Perinatol. 2019 Dec; 39(12): 1595-1601. doi: 10.1038/s41372-019-0403-0.

Selected Grants:

Exploring attitudes, perceptions, and coping responses related to death and disability from the perspective of families facing the threat of periviable birth

• Role: Principle Investigator
• Dates: 2016 – Aug. 2018
• Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD (R21HD089032-01)]
• Description: To utilize mixed methods to examine attitudes related to death and disability in relationship to coping and mental health outcomes among pregnant women (and their important others) upon admission to labor and delivery with threatened periviable delivery.

Race and End-of-Life Care:

Selected Papers:

• Tucker Edmonds, Brownsyne; Fager, Corinne; Srinivas, Sindhu; Lorch, Scott. Racial and Ethnic Differences in Utilization of Intubation for Periviable Neonates. Pediatrics. 2011 May; 127(5):e1120-7. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-2608.
• Tucker Edmonds, Brownsyne, MD, MPH: Moving Beyond the Impasse: Discussing Death and Dying with African American Patients. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2011 Feb;117(2 Pt 1):383-7. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e31820773e9.
• Tucker Edmonds, Brownsyne ; McKenzie, Fatima; Fadel, William F; Matthias, Marianne S; Salyers, Michelle P; Barnato, Amber E; Frankel, Richard, M. Using Simulation to Assess the Influence of Race and Insurer on Shared Decision-making in Periviable Counseling. Simulation in Healthcare. 2014 Dec;9(6):353-9. doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000049.

Selected Grants:

Amos Medical Faculty Development Program Award: Using simulation to assess race and class influence on periviable counseling among obstetricians and neonatologists

• Role: Principle Investigator
• Dates: 2013 – Jun. 2017
• Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Description: The goal of this study is to utilize mixed methods to assess the impact of patient race and insurer on the quality and content of periviable counseling in a pilot, simulation-based, randomized trial.

• Indiana State Legislative Chair, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; 2011 – present.
• Committee on Assessing Health Outcomes by Birth Setting, National Academy of Medicine; 2019 – present.
• Member, Medicaid Medical Advisory Cabinet, Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning; 2012 –2019.
• Committee on Ethics, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; 2013 – 2015.