Maxwell J. Smith, PhD

Assistant Professor and CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics & Health Emergencies

Contact Information

maxwell.smith@uwo.ca


ORCID:

Education

  • Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (McGill University)
  • PhD (University of Toronto)
  • MSc (Union Graduate College & the Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
  • BA (Hons.) (University of Toronto)
  • Certificate in Health Law (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University)

Graduate Program Supervision

  • Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, |
  • Health Information Sciences,
  • Philosophy, MA | PhD
  • Epidemiology and Biostatistics |

Research In Profile

Professor Smith’s programme of research is in the area of public health ethics—a sub-field of bioethics—which seeks to examine the ethical dimensions of public health policy and practice. His research in this domain involves the critical investigation of how ethical considerations, ethical issues, and ethical reasoning are, and ought to be, approached and addressed in public health policy, practice, and research. Within this programme, professor Smith’s research falls into the following areas:

  1. Infectious disease ethics, namely, how to think about and integrate ethics into public health emergency preparedness and response
  2. Health equity and social justice, namely, investigating the ethical dimensions of these ‘core values’ and how they ought to be operationalized in public health, health care, and health policy

In addition to these two areas that capture the principal foci of professor Smith’s programme of research, his research regularly investigates a number of other emerging issues in public health ethics and bioethics, including in the areas of organ donation, termination of pregnancy, health care decision-making, and artificial intelligence.

Featured Publications and Projects

  • Smith MJ. (2024). Monash Bioethics Review. doi: 10.1007/s40592-024-00187-1.
  • Smith MJ. (2023). Journal of Medical Ethics, 50: 268-271.
  • Smith MJ, Emanuel EJ. (2023). Vaccine, 41(21): 3301-3304.
  • Smith BT, Warren C, Rosella L, Smith MJ. (2023). Social Science and Medicine – Population Health, 24: 101481.
  • Smith MJ. (2022). Social Justice and Public Health. In (pgs. 333-346), ed. Venkatapuram S, Broadbent A. Routledge.
  • World Health Organization. (2022). (May 2022 revised version). Geneva: World Health Organization.
  • Emanuel EJ, Upshur REG, Smith MJ. (2022). New England Journal of Medicine, 387(17): 1542-1545.
  • Emanuel EJ, Persad G, Upshur R, Thomé B, Parker M, Glickman A, Zhang C, Boyle C, Smith MJ, Phillips JP. (2020). New England Journal of Medicine, 382(21): 2049-2055.
  • Smith MJ, Upshur REG. (2019). Pandemic Disease, Public Health, and Ethics. In , ed. Mastroianni AC, Kahn JP, Kass NE. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Visit for a comprehensive list of publications.

Current Research Grants

  • Smith MJ. Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics and Health Emergencies. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 2024-2030.

  • Lee K, Larson H, Pucci A, White S, Al-Rawi A, Graham J, Caulfield T, Patrick D, Flood C, Smith J, Smith MJ, Dubé E, Silva D, Plamondon K, Kohler J, Gislason M, Tworek H, Jardine C, Byma M, Chun W. Social Sciences and Humanities Consortium: Essential Societal Infrastructure to Support Canada's Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Pipeline. Canada Biomedical Research Fund. 2024-2028.

Graduate Student Opportunities

I am accepting master’s and doctoral students with an interest and background in bioethics. Of particular interest are students seeking to pursue research in public health ethics, infectious disease ethics, and the ethical dimensions of pursuing health equity and social justice in public health and health care.

Contact: maxwell.smith@uwo.ca

Additional Information

Academic Appointments and Research Affiliations

  • Cross Appointment - Department of Philosophy, 澳门六合彩开奖预测
  • Cross Appointment – Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, 澳门六合彩开奖预测
  • Cross Appointment – Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health, 澳门六合彩开奖预测
  • Assistant Professor (status) - Division of Clinical Public Health & Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto
  • Associate Director, Rotman Institute of Philosophy
  • Associate Director, Health Ethics, Law, & Policy (HELP) Lab
  • Faculty, Institute for Earth and Space Exploration
  • Member, Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion (CRHESI)
  • Faculty, Global Health Equity Hub
  • Faculty, Complex Adaptive Systems Lab

Media Highlights

  • TVO The Agenda. September 6, 2022.
  • Globe and Mail. August 27, 2022.
  • Nature. July 6, 2022.
  • CBC The Sunday Magazine. January 16, 2022.

Awards

  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics and Health Emergencies (2024-2030)
  • 澳门六合彩开奖预测 Marilyn Robinson Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024)
  • 澳门六合彩开奖预测 Research Chair in Public Health Ethics (2023-2024)
  • 澳门六合彩开奖预测 Faculty of Health Sciences Teaching Award of Excellence (2023)
  • Canadian Association of University Teachers and Harry Crowe Foundation Olivieri Lectureship on Medical Ethics (2021)

Professional Activities

  • Member, World Health Organization Ethics & Governance of Infectious Disease Outbreaks Working Group
  • Member, World Health Organization Expert Group on Ethical Considerations of Social Listening and Infodemic Management
  • Co-Chair, Public Health Agency of Canada Public Health Ethics Consultative Group
  • Member, Ontario Public Health Emergencies Science Advisory Committee
  • Consultant, World Health Organization
  • Consultant, Pan American Health Organization
  • Consulting Ethicist, Health Ethics Alliance, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
  • Special Advisor, Epidemic Ethics
  • Member, Editorial Board, Public Health Ethics
  • Associate Editor, Health Care Analysis
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Canadian Journal of Bioethics
  • Member, Canadian Institutes of Health Research College of Reviewers
  • Assistant Professor (status only), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
  • Member, Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto
  • Member, Institute for Pandemics, University of Toronto