About this Event
5pm Lecture in Vagelos Education Center (VEC) Room 401, followed by a 6pm reception in VEC lobby.
Brief description of talk:
As in celestial mechanics, the complexity of possible interactions between three bodies creates unsolvable problems. Viewed as a two-body problem, Ethics and Professionalism are relatively easy to align. Add Morals, and neat Newtonian solutions lose their precision. It’s popular to view ethics as standing alone, as in impressive entities like the Columbia Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, which sounds so final and definitive. But the three-body problem lurks in the shadows, and helps explain why so many issues framed as “ethical” can feel like attempts to nail jello to a wall. And why—fair warning to earnest students—you can’t study for your ethics final exam because you don’t know when you’ll take it.
Worse, you may be shocked by the grade you receive for the ethics final you didn’t know you took, in that moment in the ICU yesterday—that moment when your ethical sense told you to do this, your sense of professionalism obligated you to do that, and your morals said absolutely not. We can discuss real-world examples that illustrate the black-and-white beaches as well as the oceans of gray.
About the speaker:
Dr. Smith earned his MD at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio (Phi Beta Kappa), going on to a general surgery internship and residency and a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical Center/Strong Memorial Hospital (1977-1982). He completed his cardiothoracic surgery residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in 1984, immediately joining the faculty of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He was Director of Cardiopulmonary Transplantation at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center during 1986-1996 and was appointed Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 1996. He became a full professor of surgery in 1998. In 2010, Dr. Smith became Chair, Department of Surgery and served in that role until 2026.
Dr. Smith's clinical specialties include medical support for pre- and postoperative transplant recipients, use of bioartificial support devices, and alternative immunosuppressive strategies. His research interests focus on mitral valve repair, transmyocardial laser revascularization, long-term heart and lung transplantation outcomes, preoperative risk factors for stroke after CABG, and adaptation in cardiac transplantation. Dr. Smith was named Practitioner of the Year for 2004 by the Society of Practitioners at Columbia University Medical Center. He is co-Principal Investigator for the multicenter PARTNER aortic transcatheter valve trial.
About the Lectureship:
The annual Lisio Family Lecture was endowed by Drs. Arnold Lisio and Anne Moore to bring nationally renowned speakers to Columbia University Medical Center to address important ethical issues at the core of medical practice. The Lisio family’s vision is that this lectureship contribute to the ethical formation of medical students and the flourishing of the doctor-patient relationship.
An internist, Dr. Lisio came to Columbia in 1961, and led an active clinical practice until his retirement in 2015. Dr. Moore is a 1969 graduate of Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. She is a medical oncologist on the faculty of Weill Cornell Medicine.
Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.
More details about Columbia's Center for Clinical Medical Ethics can be found here: https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/departments-centers/columbia-center-clinical-medical-ethics
*Non CUID/NYP ID holders must bring proof of ID to enter the VEC building.
FYI our original event was postponed from Sep 22 to Oct 5. Thank you for your flexibility.
Event venue & nearby stays
Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center, Room 401, Columbia University, 104 Haven Avenue, New York, United States
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