Robert Klitzman
Encyclopedia
Robert Klitzman is an American psychiatrist
and bioethicist.
He attended Princeton University
, where he studied with Clifford Geertz
. He then worked for Dr. Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
, who had received the Nobel Prize
for work on Kuru, a prion disease. Klitzman then conducted field research on Kuru in Papua New Guinea.
He attended Yale Medical School, and completed his medical internship and residency at Cornell Medical Center.
Klitzman is currently a professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University
. He co-founded and for five years co-directed the Columbia University Center for Bioethics, is the director of the Masters in Bioethics program, and the director of the Ethics and Policy Core of the HIV Center.
He has published six books and authored or co-authored over 70 journal articles and chapters on critical issues in bioethics including: genetics, stem cells, ethics of assisted reproductive technologies, neuroethics, HIV prevention, recreational drug use, research ethics, and doctor-patient relationship
s.
His research on the experiences of physicians when they become patients shed important light on ways of improving doctor-patient relationships.
He has been widely cited as an authority on ethical issues concerning genetic testing for Huntington's disease, breast cancer, genetic discrimination, medical privacy, epidemics of HIV and prion diseases such as Kuru, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(or "Mad Cow" disease), death and dying, stem cell research, and spirituality and medicine.
His books include When Doctors Become Patients, A Year-Long Night: Tales of a Medical Internship, In a House of Dreams and Glass: Becoming a Psychiatrist, Being Positive: The Lives of Men and Women With HIV, The Trembling Mountain: A Personal Account of Kuru, Cannibals, and Mad Cow Disease, and, with Ronald Bayer, Mortal Secrets: Truth and Lies in the Age of AIDS, which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. His book, Am I My Genes?: Confronting Fate and Other Genetic Journeys, is being published in 2012.
Klitzman has received fellowships from the Russell Sage Foundation
, the Commonwealth Fund
, the Aaron Diamond Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation
. He is a member of the Empire State Stem Cell Commission, HIV Prevention Trials Network
, and serves on the Department of Defense’s US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Research Ethics Advisory Panel.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and bioethicist.
He attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where he studied with Clifford Geertz
Clifford Geertz
Clifford James Geertz was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology, and who was considered "for three decades...the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States." He served until...
. He then worked for Dr. Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
Daniel Carleton Gajdusek was an American physician and medical researcher who was the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for work on kuru, the first human prion disease demonstrated to be infectious....
, who had received the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
for work on Kuru, a prion disease. Klitzman then conducted field research on Kuru in Papua New Guinea.
He attended Yale Medical School, and completed his medical internship and residency at Cornell Medical Center.
Klitzman is currently a professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He co-founded and for five years co-directed the Columbia University Center for Bioethics, is the director of the Masters in Bioethics program, and the director of the Ethics and Policy Core of the HIV Center.
He has published six books and authored or co-authored over 70 journal articles and chapters on critical issues in bioethics including: genetics, stem cells, ethics of assisted reproductive technologies, neuroethics, HIV prevention, recreational drug use, research ethics, and doctor-patient relationship
Doctor-patient relationship
The doctor-patient relationship is central to the practice of healthcare and is essential for the delivery of high-quality health care in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The doctor-patient relationship forms one of the foundations of contemporary medical ethics...
s.
His research on the experiences of physicians when they become patients shed important light on ways of improving doctor-patient relationships.
He has been widely cited as an authority on ethical issues concerning genetic testing for Huntington's disease, breast cancer, genetic discrimination, medical privacy, epidemics of HIV and prion diseases such as Kuru, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
(or "Mad Cow" disease), death and dying, stem cell research, and spirituality and medicine.
His books include When Doctors Become Patients, A Year-Long Night: Tales of a Medical Internship, In a House of Dreams and Glass: Becoming a Psychiatrist, Being Positive: The Lives of Men and Women With HIV, The Trembling Mountain: A Personal Account of Kuru, Cannibals, and Mad Cow Disease, and, with Ronald Bayer, Mortal Secrets: Truth and Lies in the Age of AIDS, which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. His book, Am I My Genes?: Confronting Fate and Other Genetic Journeys, is being published in 2012.
Klitzman has received fellowships from the Russell Sage Foundation
Russell Sage Foundation
The Russell Sage Foundation is the principal American foundation devoted exclusively to research in the social sciences. Founded in 1907 and headquartered in New York City, the foundation is a research center, a funding source for studies by scholars at other institutions, and a key member of the...
, the Commonwealth Fund
Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, especially for society's most vulnerable.-History:...
, the Aaron Diamond Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
. He is a member of the Empire State Stem Cell Commission, HIV Prevention Trials Network
HIV Prevention Trials Network
The HIV Prevention Trials Network is an international organization that develops and tests the safety and efficacy of primarily non-vaccine interventions designed to prevent the transmission of HIV....
, and serves on the Department of Defense’s US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Research Ethics Advisory Panel.
BOOKS
- When Doctors Become Patients
- A Year-Long Night: Tales of a Medical Internship
- In a House of Dreams and Glass: Becoming a Psychiatrist
- Being Positive: The Lives of Men and Women With HIV
- The Trembling Mountain: A Personal Account of Kuru, Cannibals, and Mad Cow Disease
- Mortal Secrets: Truth and Lies in the Age of AIDS (with Ronald Bayer)
- Coming in 2012: Am I My Genes? Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing