Maxwell J. Smith, PhD
Associate Professor and CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics & Health Emergencies
at Western University
Dr. Maxwell Smith is a bioethicist, Associate Professor, and CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics and Health Emergencies in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.
Professor Smith also serves as an Associate Director of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy and has appointments in the Department of Philosophy, Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion, and Institute for Earth and Space Exploration.
His research is primarily in the area of public health ethics, with a focus on infectious disease ethics and the ethical demands that health equity and social justice place on governments and institutions to protect and promote the public’s health. Check out his publications.
Other Current Affiliations/Positions
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
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
Member, Advisory Committee for the Annual Report of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
Consulting Bioethicist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Honorary Associate Professor, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, the University of Sydney (affiliation)
Associate 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
Scientific Steering Committee, Bridge Research Consortium
Member, Editorial Board, Public Health Ethics
Associate Editor, Health Care Analysis
Editorial Advisory Board, Canadian Journal of Bioethics
Past Affiliations/Positions
Special Advisor, Epidemic Ethics (2020-2024)
Caroline Miles Visiting Scholar, Ethox Centre, University of Oxford (2023)
Member, World Health Organization Ethics and Monkeypox Working Group (2022)
Member and Rapporteur, World Health Organization Ethics & COVID-19 Working Group / COVID-19 Ethics & Governance Working Group (2020-2023)
Member, World Health Organization ACT Accelerator Ethics & Governance Working Group (2020-2022)
Member, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Advisory Committee on Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (2019-2022)
Member, Ontario COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force (2020-2021)
Co-Chair, Ontario COVID-19 Bioethics Table (2020)
Visiting Researcher, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University (2014)
Visiting Researcher, Brocher Foundation (2013)
Consultant: Canadian Medical Association (CMA); World Health Organization (WHO); Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI); Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA); Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)/Canada's Drug Agency (CDA)
Education and Training
Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University
PhD, public health sciences (with collaborative specializations in bioethics, public health policy, and health services and policy research), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Certificate in Health Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
MSc, bioethics, Union Graduate College and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Honours BA, philosophy, University of Toronto