Maxwell J. Smith, PhD
Assistant Professor and CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics & Health Emergencies
at Western University
I am a bioethicist, Assistant Professor, and CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Ethics & Health Emergencies in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.
I also serve as an Associate Director of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy and have 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.
My 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 my 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
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 Bioethicist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Consultant, Canadian Health Information Management Association
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
Special Advisor, Epidemic Ethics
Member, Editorial Board, Public Health Ethics
Associate Editor, Health Care Analysis
Editorial Advisory Board, Canadian Journal of Bioethics
Past Affiliations/Positions
Caroline Miles Visiting Scholar, Ethox Centre, University of Oxford (2023)
Member, Advisory Committee for the Annual Report of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health (2022-2023)
Consultant, Canadian Medical Association (2022-2023)
Member, World Health Organization Ethics and Monkeypox Working Group (2022)
Member, Public Health Agency of Canada Ad-Hoc Expert Group on the Use of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir to Treat COVID-19 in the Context of Limited Supply (2021-2022)
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)
Consultant, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) (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 Children’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Table (2021)
Member, Ontario COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force (2020-2021)
Member, World Health Organization Working Group on Ethics and Immunity Certificates (2020)
Member, World Health Organization Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered and Investigational Interventions (MEURI) Working Group (2020)
Member, World Health Organization Working Group on Ethics and Digital Proximity Tracking Technologies for COVID-19 Contact Tracing (2020)
Co-Chair, Ontario COVID-19 Bioethics Table (2020)
Consultant, Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) (2018-2021)
Visiting Researcher, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University (2014)
Visiting Researcher, Brocher Foundation (2013)
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