GALVESTON — Dr. Howard Brody, a distinguished professor of family practice, philosophy and ethics and humanities in the life sciences at Michigan State University, will join The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in May as director of its Institute for the Medical Humanities.
Brody will succeed Ronald A. Carson, Harris L. Kempner Distinguished Professor, who directed the institute from 1982 to 2005. He stepped down earlier this year to pursue scholarly interests.
Carson remains on the faculty of the institute and continues to collaborate with colleagues around the world.
Professor William Winslade is serving as interim director.
The Institute for the Medical Humanities was established in June 1973 to integrate humanities teaching and research into the education of future scientists and health care professionals at UTMB.
Dean of Medicine Valerie Parisi said Brody combines the compassion of a family medicine physician and the perspective of a bioethicist.
“I am delighted that Howard Brody has accepted our offer to join UTMB,” Parisi said. “Ron Carson shaped and invigorated one of the first medical humanities programs within an academic health center in the nation. Dr. Brody’s compassionate, forward-thinking approach to leadership will build on Ron’s legacy and take our medical humanities program to the next level.”
Brody received his medical degree from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in 1976 and his doctorate in philosophy from Michigan State in 1977.
After completing his residency in family practice at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, he returned to Michigan State, where he is university distinguished professor of family practice and philosophy at the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences. He served as director of the center from 1985 to 2000.
A prolific writer, Brody’s works include “The Healer’s Power, Stories of Sickness and Ethical Decisions in Medicine.” One recent book, “The Placebo Response: How You Can Release the Body’s Inner Pharmacy for Better Health,” a self-help guide written for a general audience rather than academics, was a collaborative project with his wife, Daralyn Brody.
Throughout his career, Howard Brody has been involved in studying medical ethics, placebo effects and end-of-life treatment issues.
He helped to organize the Medical Ethics Resource Network of Michigan and was president of its council from 1988 to 1990.
