About
A pediatrician who writes about ethics.
John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist. For four decades he has worked at the intersection of clinical medicine and moral philosophy, writing about how families, doctors, and institutions decide what we owe each other when the stakes are highest. and is increasingly focused on artificial intelligence in medicine, its promises, its hazards, and the kinds of judgment it cannot replace. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. He delivered the TEDx talk Writing Our Last Chapter.
Education
Fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago, 1988.
M.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 1981. Class President; Awards for Best Student in Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry; Exchange Student, University of Benin, Nigeria.
B.A. Semiotics, Brown University, 1977.
Selected professional roles
Professor of Pediatrics (with tenure), University of Chicago, 2004–2009.
Chief, General Pediatrics, University of Chicago, 1998–2006.
Co-Director, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of Chicago, 1995–2006.
Associate Director, MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago, 1990–2009.
Honors and awards
Glasnapp Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Bioethics, 2019.
William Bartholome Award for Ethical Excellence, American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018.
Pellegrino Medal for Contributions in Healthcare Ethics, HEAL Conference, Samford University, 2012.
Member of Honor, Society of Ibero-American Neonatologists (SIBEN), 2009.
Nellie Westerman Prize for Research in Ethics, American Federation for Clinical Research, 1988.
Selected endowed lectures: Paul Contini Lecture (Harvard, 2018), L. J. Filer Endowed Lecture (Iowa, 2016), Thelma Shobe Endowed Lecture (UCSF, 2016), March of Dimes Endowed Lecture, Perinatal Bioethics (ASBH, 2009).
Editorial and society leadership
Associate Editor, Pediatrics, 2012–2020.
Associate Editor, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 2013–2020.
Associate Editor, American Journal of Bioethics, 2013–.
President, American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, 2002–2003.
President, American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 1998–1999.
Working Group on Ethics, Clinton Health Care Reform Task Force, 1993.
Organizational affiliations
Associate, The Hastings Center, 2001–.
National Advisory Board, NICHD Global Research Network, 2013–.
Co-Chair, PCORI Clinical Trials Advisory Board, 2014–2018.
Executive Committee, Section of Bioethics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010–2018.
Board of Trustees, Ross University Medical School, 2020–2022.
Subject expertise
- Bioethics
- Pediatrics
- Neonatal Intensive Care
- Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
- End-of-Life Decision Making
- Organ Donation
- Clinical Ethics Consultation
- Pediatric Research Ethics
- Genomic Testing in Pediatrics
- Religion and Medicine
- Health Policy
- Medical Education