Robert Allan Pearlman MD, MPH

Robert A. Pearlman, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Medicine, Health Services, and Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington. Dr. Pearlman joined NCEHC in 2000. His interests and expertise pertain to empirical research in clinical ethics, especially end-of-life care, and organizational ethics. Dr. Pearlman’s research has explored the role of quality of life in decision-making, the validity of life-sustaining treatment preferences, medical futility, advance care planning, and relief of patient suffering.

He is the author of two books and over 120 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He has mentored many junior faculty throughout the United States in the technique of combining empirical research methods and ethics. Dr. Pearlman attended Boston University School of Medicine and completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Emory University and the University of Washington. He received post-residency training as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, a Fellow in the Ethics and the Professions Program at Harvard University, and a Faculty Scholar in the Project on Death in America.