Center for Bioethics

Jane Hartsock JD, MA, is Director of Clinical Ethics for the Academic Health Center at IU Health, in the Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics. She is also an adjunct assistant professor and co-director fo the graduate program in the Medical Humanities and Health Studies program at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis.  Professor Hartsock is a Faculty Investigator at the Indiana University Center for Bioethics and a faculty member in the Bioethics and Participant Advocacy Program of the Indiana CTSI.  

Professor Hartsock received her Bachelor’s Degree in English with a concentration in writing from Butler University, her JD from McKinney School of Law, and her Master’s Degree in Philosophy (Bioethics) from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Additionally, she completed a fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics at the Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics at IU Health. Prior to becoming a faculty member at Indiana University, Professor Hartsock had an extensive career in healthcare litigation, primarily defending hospitals, clinicians, and long-term care facilities in Chicago, Illinois.

Professor Hartsock’s research interests include bioethics and law, specifically regarding issues of privacy and authorship, transplant ethics, clinical medical ethics, narrative ethics, and reproductive rights. She has previously published on organ allocation, issues of consent, and protecting vulnerable populations.

Selected Courses:

• MHHS- M 201 -- Intro to Medical Humanities
• MHHS- M 301-- Perspectives on Health, Disease, and Healing
• MHHS 492/592 -- Motherhood in Medical Humanities
• MHHS 492/592- Parts for Bodies: Ethics & Policy in Organ Transplantation
• MHHS 592 – A Body of Law: The Humanities, Medicine & the Law

Selected Guest Lectures:

• “Ethical Considerations in Short Term Medical Trips.” SCI 395: Timmy Global Health. IUPUI.
• “Ethics and Subject Advocacy.” Clinical Research Rotation. Indiana University School of Medicine.
• “Biobanks and Big Data.” GRDM 506: Responsible Conduct of Translational Research. Indiana University School of Medicine.
• “Authorship and Plagiarism.” GRDM 504: Responsible Conduct of Translational Research. Indiana University School of Medicine.

Biobanking:  Pediatric and adolescent

Selected Publication:

• Jane A. Hartsock, Peter H. Schwartz, Amy Waltz, Mary A. Ott. “Anticipatory Waivers of Consent for Pediatric Biobanking.” IRB: Ethics & Human Research. 18 (2018): 66-68

International Travel for Organ Transplantation

Selected Publications:

• Jane A Hartsock, Paul Helft. “Liver Allocation to Non‐US Citizen Non‐US Residents: An Ethical Framework for a Last‐in‐Line Approach” (2015)
• Jane Hartsock, Paul Helft. International travel for living donor kidney donation: a proposal for focused screening of vulnerable groups (2019)

Medical Humanities

Selected Publications:

• Kirkman AO, Hartsock JA, Torke AM. How The Fault in Our Stars illuminates four themes of the Adolescent End of Life Narrative. Med Humanit. 2019;45(3):240-246. doi:10.1136/medhum-2017-011400
• Hartsock, J. A., & Beckman, E. S. (2019). A Human Paradox: The Nazi Legacy of Pernkopf’s Atlas. Conatus, 4(2), 317-339.

Selected Activities:

• Co-Chair, Ethics Consultation Sub-committee, IU Health, 2018-present.
• Member, Ethics Consultation service, IU Health, 2016-present.