Dr. Schwartz is Director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics, and Professor of Medicine and Professor of Bioethics at IU School of Medicine.  He is Professor of Philosophy at the IU School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University - Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI). He directs the Bioethics and Participant Advocacy Program of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI), and led the Behavioral Science and Ethics pillar of the IU Precision Health Initiative.  Dr. Schwartz practices adult outpatient medicine in the Eskenazi Health System. 

Dr. Schwartz received his B.A. from Harvard College and his M.D. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.

Dr. Schwartz has conducted research and written on ethical issues in many areas including informed consent, risk communication, electronic health information, opiates, and ideas of health, disease, and risk.  He leads research projects on patient decision-making and risk communication in preventive and precision healthcare, with funding from the American Cancer Society and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.  He is currently the principal investigator of a project examining the impact of providing personalized risk information to patients due for colorectal cancer screening, and to their providers, funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). 

Selected courses:

• Philosophy Department, IUPUI: P393/547 - Biomedical Ethics / Foundations of Bioethics
• Philosophy Department, IUPUI: P383/696 - Ethics, Autonomy, and Consent
• School of Medicine, IUPUI: G506 - Responsible Conduct of Translational Research
• School of Medicine, IUPUI: 937P700 - Medical Ethics and Professionalism

Selected guest lectures:

• “Return Research Findings to Participants,” and “Collaborative Research with Industry” - GRDM-G504 – Introduction to Research Ethics, IUPUI
• “Autonomy and Respect for Persons,” Foundations of Clinical Practice, Year 1, IU School of Medicine
• “Genetic Engineering and Enhancement,” Medical Ethics and Professionalism elective, Year 4, IU School of Medicine
• “Kass on ‘Death with Dignity,” Medical Humanities and Health Studies M301: Perspectives on Health, Disease, and Healing, IUPUI. 

Selected publications:

• Schwartz PH, Sachs G. Rethinking Decision Quality: Measurement, Meaning, and Bioethics. Hastings Center Report, 2022.
• Schwartz PH, O’Doherty KC, Bentley C, Schmidt KK, Burgess MM. Layperson Views About the Design and Evaluation of Decision Aids about Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Public Deliberation. Medical Decision Making, 2021.
• Schwartz PH, Imperiale TF, Perkins SM, Schmidt KK, Althouse S, Rawl SM. Impact of Including Quantitative Information in a Decision Aid for Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Patient Education and Counseling, 2019.

Additional publications: PubMed

Funding:

Screening in Primary Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Responses, and Implementation (PI)

$309,000 from PCORI 11/01/2020 – 01/31/2022

To identify barriers, responses, and facilitators for cancer screening (breast, colorectal, cervical, and lung) during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on interviews of leadership, providers, staff, and patients at primary care clinics at IU Health and Eskenazi. This work was funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. 

Measuring the Impact of Providing Personalized Risk Information to Patients and their Providers on Colorectal Cancer Screening Decisions and Uptake (PI) 

$2,800,000 from PCORI 11/01/2019 – 02/29/2024

To test whether providing patients and their providers with personalized messages about the patient’s risk of colorectal cancer increases screening uptake and decision quality, and to identify facilitators and barriers to using this and other approaches to improving colorectal cancer screening. This work is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. 

Human Post-Mortem Tissue Conatus (CI)

$1,837,805 from the Templeton Foundation 05/01/2021 – 04/30/2024                  

Description:  To advance understanding of the ways in which cells and tissues, and the genes in them, strive for life or function to support life even as the body dies; Also, to interrogate related philosophical questions about what it means to be alive, including the nature of death, the unity of organisms, and emergence as a function of living systems. This work was funded by the Templeton Foundation.