Maxwell J. Smith, PhD
Associate Professor and CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics and Health Emergencies
maxwell.smith@uwo.ca
@maxwellsmith.bsky.social
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ORCID: 0000-0001-5230-0548
MaxwellSmith.ca
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
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:
- Infectious disease ethics, namely, how to think about and integrate ethics into public health emergency preparedness and response
- 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). Cause for Coercion: Cause for Concern? Monash Bioethics Review. doi: 10.1007/s40592-024-00187-1.
- Smith MJ. (2023). The Ethics of Firing Unvaccinated Employees. Journal of Medical Ethics, 50: 268-271.
- Smith MJ, Emanuel EJ. (2023). Learning from Five Bad Arguments Against Mandatory Vaccination. Vaccine, 41(21): 3301-3304.
- Smith BT, Warren C, Rosella L, Smith MJ. (2023). Bridging Ethics and Epidemiology: Modelling Ethical Standards of Health Equity. Social Science and Medicine – Population Health, 24: 101481.
- Smith MJ. (2022). Social Justice and Public Health. In Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Public Health (pgs. 333-346), ed. Venkatapuram S, Broadbent A. Routledge.
- World Health Organization. (2022). COVID-19 and Mandatory Vaccination: Ethical Considerations (May 2022 revised version). Geneva: World Health Organization.
- Emanuel EJ, Upshur REG, Smith MJ. (2022). What COVID has Taught the World about Ethics. 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). Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(21): 2049-2055.
- Smith MJ, Upshur REG. (2019). Pandemic Disease, Public Health, and Ethics. In Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics, ed. Mastroianni AC, Kahn JP, Kass NE. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Visit Google Scholar for a comprehensive list of publications.
Current Research Grants
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Smith MJ. Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics and Health Emergencies. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 2024-2030.
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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
At Western University:
- Associate Director, Rotman Institute of Philosophy
- Cross Appointment, Department of Philosophy
- Cross Appointment, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Cross Appointment, Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health
- 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
At other institutions:
- Assistant Professor (status), Division of Clinical Public Health & Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto
- Member, Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto
- Member, Institute for Pandemics, University of Toronto
- Honorary Associate Professor, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, the University of Sydney
Media Highlights
- TVO The Agenda. Does Ontario Still Need Mask and Vaccination Mandates? September 6, 2022.
- Globe and Mail. How Much Death, Illness and Disruption from COVID-19 Infections are We Willing to Live With? August 27, 2022.
- Nature. Did COVID Vaccine Mandates Work? What the Data Say. July 6, 2022.
- CBC The Sunday Magazine. The Rising Ethical Stakes of a Prolonged Pandemic. January 16, 2022.
Awards
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics and Health Emergencies (2024-2030)
- Western University Faculty Scholar (2025-2027)
- Western University Marilyn Robinson Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024)
- Western Research Chair in Public Health Ethics (2023-2024)
- Western University 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 and Governance of Infectious Disease Outbreaks Working Group
- Member, World Health Organization SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Testing Guideline Development Group
- Co-Chair, Public Health Agency of Canada Public Health Ethics Consultative Group
- Member, Public Health Agency of Canada Advisory Committee on Science
- Member, Ontario Public Health Emergencies Science Advisory Committee
- Consulting Ethicist, Health Ethics Alliance, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Member, Canadian Institutes of Health Research College of Reviewers
- Member, Editorial Board, Public Health Ethics
- Associate Editor, Health Care Analysis
