Elizabeth Heitman, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Professor Schools Medical School Departments Psychiatry | Applied Clinical Research | Public Health Biography Elizabeth Heitman, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry’s Division of Ethics and the Program in Ethics in Science and Medicine. She holds secondary appointments in the Department of Applied Clinical Research in the School of Health Professions, and in the Department of Health Economics, Systems, and Policy in the O'Donnell School of Public Health. Her work focuses on cultural aspects of ethics in clinical medicine, biomedical science, and public health, particularly international standards of research ethics and education in the responsible conduct of research (RCR). Dr. Heitman teaches research ethics and RCR across the University, and is an ethics facilitator in the Medical School's Colleges Ethics program. She is director / multiple principal investigator (MPI) of Fogarty International Center-sponsored international research ethics education programs with Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru and Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, Mozambique. Dr. Heitman is a National Associate of the US National Research Council and has been chair or member of eight US National Academy of Sciences programs in research integrity education in the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In 2015-16, Dr. Heitman co-chaired the National Academies’ Committee on Gene Drive Research with Non-Human Organisms, and in 2023-2024 was a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Committee on the Use of Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research. In 2023 Dr. Heitman was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 2025 she was named a Fellow of the Hastings Center for Bioethics, the US's leading bioethics research institute. Also in 2025, she was elected to the University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, MD Academy of Health Science Education and the University of Texas Southwestern Academy of Teachers. Dr. Heitman serves as Co-Chair of the Ethics Committee of UT Southwestern's Clements University Hospital and is a member of the Parkland Hospital Institutional Ethics Committee. She is a member of UT Southwestern's IRB #3 and the University's Conflict of Interest Committee. Dr. Heitman came to UT Southwestern from Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, where she was a member of the Academy for Excellence in Teaching and served as a clinical ethics consultant and chair of the Ethics Committee for Vanderbilt University Hospital. She was previously on the faculty of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, Texas, and was clinical ethicist at Hermann Hospital and Lyndon Baines Johnson General Hospital. Dr. Heitman received her Ph.D. in Religious Studies in 1988 from Rice University’s joint program in biomedical ethics with the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center. In 1990, she was a Visiting Research Fellow in the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics at King's College, London. Education Undergraduate Rice University (1979), Romance Languages Graduate School Rice University (1988), Religious Studies Publications Featured Publications What does it mean to teach “RCR”: historical perspectives on topics for RCR instruction Heitman E Teaching Ethics 2024 24 1 Stakeholder Views on Engagement, Trust, Performance, and Risk Considerations About Use of Gene Drive Technology in Agricultural Pest Management. Goldsmith CL, Kang KE, Heitman E, Adelman ZN, Buchman LW, Kerns D, Liu X, Medina RF, Vedlitz A, Health Secur 2021 Dec Latin American healthcare systems in times of pandemic. Litewka SG, Heitman E, Dev World Bioeth 2020 Apr Conversation Cafes and Conceptual Framework Formation for Research Training and Mentoring of Underrepresented Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Obesity Health Disparities (OHD) PRIDE Program. Beech BM, Norris KC, Thorpe RJ, Heitman E, Bruce MA, Ethn Dis 2020 30 1 83-90 Assessing Trustworthiness in Research: A Pilot Study on CV Verification. Phillips T, Saunders RK, Cossman J, Heitman E, J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics 2019 Oct 14 4 353-364 Assessment of Parents'/Guardians' Initial Comprehension and 1-Day Recall of Elements of Informed Consent Within a Mozambican Study of Pediatric Bacteremia. Ossemane EB, Moon TD, Sacarlal J, Sevene E, Kenga D, Gong W, Heitman E J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics 2018 Apr 1556264618767780 America COMPETES at 5 years: An Analysis of Research-Intensive Universities' RCR Training Plans. Phillips T, Nestor F, Beach G, Heitman E Sci Eng Ethics 2017 Mar Precaution and governance of emerging technologies. Kaebnick GE, Heitman E, Collins JP, Delborne JA, Landis WG, Sawyer K, Taneyhill LA, Winickoff DE Science 2016 Nov 354 6313 710-711 Public trust in regulatory agencies and support for policies on agricultural gene drive Buchman LW, Goldsmith CL, Heitman E, Kang KE, Liu X Review of Policy Research 2024 A model program for RCR instruction for early-career faculty investigators with NIH K Awards Ravnik S, Heitman E Teaching Ethics 2024 24 1 Results 1-10 of 60 1 2 3 4 5 Next Last Books Featured Books The Optometrist's Guide to Clinical Ethics Bailey RN, Heitman E (Ed.) (2000). St. Louis, American Optometric Association The Ethical Dimensions of the Biological and Health Sciences, 2nd ed. Bulger RE, Heitman E, Reiser SJ (Ed.) (2002). New York, Cambridge University Press Race and Research: Perspective on Minority Participation in Health Studies, 2nd ed. Beech BM, Heitman E (2024). Washington, DC, American Public Health Association The Ethical Dimensions of the Biological Sciences Bulger RE, Heitman E, Reiser SJ (Ed.) (1993). New York, Cambridge University Press Honors & Awards The University of Texas System's Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., Academy of Health Science Education (2025) The UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers (2025) FellowAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC (2023) L. C. Dorsey Research Honor SocietyJackson Heart Study Graduate Training and Education Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center (2020) National Research Council, Washington, DC, National AssociateLifetime Appointment (2020) Thorpe Mentor AwardUniversity of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (2020) Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy Fellow (2018) Sigma Xi Scientific Honor SocietyVanderbilt University (2015) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Association for the Advancement of Science (2010) American Public Health Association (1996) American Society for Bioethics and the Humanities (1994) Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (1998) Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (2019)
