Aasim I. Padela, MD, MSc, FACEP

Dr. Aasim I. Padela is Professor with Tenure of Emergency Medicine, Bioethics and the Medical Humanities at MCW. In addition to being Vice Chair of Research and Scholarship in the Department of Emergency Medicine, he holds a teaching and research appointments in the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities within the Institute for Health and Equity, at the Center for Advancing Population Science, and in the Cancer Center. Further, he serves within the medical school as a learning community navigator, and on the Council of Faith for the Clinical and Translational Science Institute and on the Community Engagement Advisory Council for the Office of Community Engagement. Dr. Padela is an internationally renowned clinician-researcher with scholarly foci at the intersections of healthcare, bioethics, and religion. In addition to maintaining an active clinical, research, and bioethics practice at MCW, he provides public health and bioethics consultation to international organizations, legislative bodies, and in court.

Dr. Padela holds an MD with Honors in Research from Weill Cornell Medical College, completed residency in Emergency Medicine with Research Distinction at the University of Rochester, and received an MSc in Healthcare Research from the University of Michigan.  He also completed a clinical medical ethics fellowship at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago and a research fellowship at the University of Michigan. Prior to that, he received a Bachelor of Science with Highest Distinction in Biomedical Engineering, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Arabic and Literature from the University of Rochester. His other notable training includes visiting fellowships at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and the International Institute for Islamic Thought, and participation in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, the John Templeton Foundation Faculty Scholar Program, and as scholar in the Health Equity Leadership Institute.”

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“Dr. Padela’s scholarship aims at improving health and healthcare through better accommodating religious values in healthcare delivery. Using Muslim Americans and Islam as a model, he studies how (i) religion impacts patient health behaviors and healthcare experiences, (ii) informs the professional identities and workplace experiences of clinicians, and (iii) furnishes bioethical guidance to patients, providers, policymakers, and religious leaders. This knowledge is subsequently mobilized towards educational and policy interventions. His research span behaviors related to cancer screening, organ donation, end-of-life care, and the intersection of religion and science, and have been funded by the John Templeton Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Health Research and Services Administration, Cancer Research UK, the Greenwall Foundation, and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

He has authored over 140 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, 3 books, and serves in an editorial capacity for the Encyclopedia of Islamic Bioethics, American Journal of Bioethics, BMC Medical Ethics, BETIM Journal of Medical Humanities, and TAFHIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World. His work and expert commentary has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, National Public Radio, BBC, and CNN.