About

Jeremy Sugarman, MD, MPH, MA is the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine, a professor of medicine, and a professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University. He serves as the deputy director for medicine of the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins. He is an internationally recognized leader in bioethics with particular expertise in applying empirical methods and evidence-based standards for evaluating and analyzing bioethical issues. His contributions include work on the ethics of informed consent, umbilical cord blood banking, stem cell research, international HIV prevention research, global health, and research oversight. Dr. Sugarman has authored over 400 articles, reviews, and book chapters, and has edited or co-edited four books on bioethics topics. He has served on various advisory boards and committees, including the White House Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, and the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. His research interests encompass informed consent, stem cell research, global health, emerging technologies, research oversight, and clinical trial design. He has held academic positions at Duke University and is a faculty affiliate of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Dr. Sugarman is a member of several prestigious organizations, including the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Physicians, and the Hastings Center.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Medicine
• Psychology
• Law
• Biology
• Virology
• Immunology
• Engineering ethics
• Pathology
• Genetics
• Environmental ethics
• Public relations
• Epistemology
• Family medicine
• Biotechnology
• Engineering
• Intensive care medicine
• Cell biology
• Philosophy

Selected publications

• Ethical and Regulatory Considerations for Developing Gene Therapies Involving Genome Editing

  Human Gene Therapy · 2026-03-28

  article

  Developing gene therapies involving gene editing is a rapidly evolving field with large potential implications for improving health for both rare and common diseases. Ensuring that these technologies are developed safely, efficiently, and fairly is essential. To better understand the ethical considerations and regulatory requirements and challenges with gene therapies involving gene editing that may advance precision health. Through a multistakeholder workshop and subsequent engagements, multiple ethical and regulatory barriers to developing and implementing gene therapies involving gene editing were identified. Eight major themes emerged that warrant careful consideration, including (1) objectives (treatment, risk reduction, and enhancement) for the intervention; (2) competing interests of safety, equity, and desire for research efficiencies; (3) unique aspects of gene editing related to rare and ultrarare genetic conditions; (4) considerations in the pediatric population; (5) regulatory requirements and ethics oversight; (6) challenges with long-term follow-up and data sharing; and (7) communication. To promote the safe, efficient development of gene therapies involving gene editing that will reach their full potential, all stakeholders will have to undertake an unprecedented degree of collaboration. However, this will be essential to ensure that these interventions are effective, ethically sound, and patient-centered.

  PublisherDOI

• Correction: Ethics of HIV cure research: an unfinished agenda

  BMC Medical Ethics · 2026-02-19

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Correction: Ethics of HIV cure research: an unfinished agenda

  UNC Libraries · 2026-03-14

  articleOpen access

  Correction to: Ethics of HIV cure research: an unfinished agenda

  PublisherDOI

• Accurately Understanding the Potential Benefits of Decentralized Clinical Trials

  The American Journal of Bioethics · 2025-05-04 · 2 citations

  letter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Short-cycle therapy is short on ethics

  UNC Libraries · 2025-09-24

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Participant Perspectives in an HIV Treatment Interruption Study in San Francisco, United States

  AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses · 2025-11-04 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  HIV cure-related clinical research studies often include analytical treatment interruptions (ATIs), in which participants pause antiretroviral treatment (ART). During ATIs, researchers closely monitor laboratory values and adverse events. We assessed and compared the perspectives of two distinct groups of participants: HIV noncontrollers and controllers in a San Francisco-based ATI study focused on identifying biomarkers predicting HIV viral rebound. Data were collected from 2021 to 2024 over five study time points to assess motivations, understanding of the study, decisional regret, and partner protections. All participants (n = 16) endorsed the goal of helping advance HIV research as a motivator, about half were also driven by interest in their body's response to the ATI, and some indicated monetary compensation as a key motivator. Most participants (6 of 10 noncontrollers and 4 of 6 controllers) did not view personal health benefit as a primary study goal. All understood the option for an extended ATI if they had not met ART restart criteria after 28 days. At the study's onset, all sexually active participants (n = 14) were informed about the risk of transmission to sex partners and the need for partner protections during ATIs. Among noncontrollers, 2 of 5 reported using condoms, being abstinent or partner use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) during sexual activity. Among controllers, 3 of 5 reported sexual activity: one with a partner on PrEP, one with a partner on ART, and one using other protection methods. Decisional regret about study participation, measured on a scale of 0-100, was low among both noncontrollers (range 1.67-13.57), and controllers (range 8.33-10) during the ATI, and remained low following it (noncontroller M = 5.07, SD = 4.52; controller M = 10.00, SD = 11.31). Participants generally understood the study, highlighted the need for partner protection support during ATI, and reported low decisional regret.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• More evidence is needed to improve molecular HIV surveillance for cluster detection and response

  Communications Medicine · 2025-11-14

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Molecular HIV surveillance (MHS) is used in the U.S. to inform public health prevention and intervention activities aimed at helping end the HIV epidemic. Its application in this context is currently challenged by ethical, legal, and social concerns, with gaps in understanding how end users weigh these issues. We sought to identify the preferences of MHS end users for improving MHS. METHODS: End users completed 12 choice experiment tasks evaluating five attributes of MHS for cluster detection and response. We generated a choice model using conditional logit and report results as relative attribute importance scores, comparing them to attitudinal data from close-ended questions. Responses to open-ended questions provide additional context on areas for MHS improvement. RESULTS: We report findings from 55 of 90 potential end-users who felt capable and agreed to participate. End users include researchers (n = 28) and public health practitioners (n = 27); their preferences do not differ significantly (p = 0.174) so their responses are combined. The highest weight is placed on certainty of MHS benefit (38%), followed by depth of HIV sequence sampling (26%). Lower weight is given to reducing stigma (20%) and personalized inferences (10%) and communication (6%). End users highlight improving MHS through implementation support, community engagement, transparent communication, intervention assistance, risk minimization, and impact assessment; researchers stress the need for better data access. CONCLUSIONS: End users place the highest value on having more evidence of MHS benefits. Improving MHS requires attention to implementation support, community engagement, transparent communication, intervention assistance, risk mitigation, impact assessment, and data access.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Achieving Greater Transparency Regarding Molecular HIV Surveillance: A Proposal to Move Beyond the Status Quo

  Open Forum Infectious Diseases · 2025-06-18 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Molecular HIV surveillance is used to in effort to enhance HIV prevention efforts by identifying emerging clusters of rapid HIV transmission. In the United States, it relies upon data from antiretroviral resistance testing done in the context of clinical care. However, information about the public health uses of these data are not always disclosed to patients at the time of testing, which raises ethical concerns. Building upon accumulating data about this practice, a multidisciplinary group argues that there is a need to increase transparency of the practice through active disclosure.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Enhancing Research Ethics Capacity in Asia: Fogarty International Center Supported Initiatives in India, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Pakistan

  Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics · 2025-03-17

  articleOpen access

  Several Asian countries, including India, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Pakistan, face challenges aligning rapid healthcare and biomedical research growth with necessary ethics oversight. To help address this, the Fogarty International Center of the United States National Institutes of Health funded initiatives to enhance research ethics capacities in these countries. In India, the Yenepoya University's Master's in Research Ethics program was established in collaboration with Monash University. In Malaysia, the Master of Health Research Ethics (MOHRE) program, based at Universiti Malaya, was developed in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University. In Myanmar, a Diploma in Research Methodology and Research Ethics (DipRMRE) was introduced in cooperation with the University of Maryland Baltimore. In Pakistan, a Master of Bioethics (MBE) program was designed to address the country's unique ethical challenges in healthcare and research. Graduates from these programs have significantly contributed to health research and policy, enhancing research ethics infrastructure across these diverse Asian countries.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Envisioning a Multidisciplinary HBV Cure Research Agenda

  Current HIV/AIDS Reports · 2025-11-08

  reviewOpen access

  PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We examine the current understanding of the multidisciplinary aspects of hepatitis B cure research, such as socio-behavioral sciences, ethics, community engagement, and translational and implementation science. RECENT FINDINGS: The peer-reviewed literature on the multi-disciplinary aspects of HBV cure research is gradually expanding, although several areas still require attention. These deficiencies include: the acceptability of HBV treatment discontinuations, HBV-related stigma, the impact of co-infections (e.g., HIV), and the translation of discoveries to resource-limited settings. This review highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary framework that bridges socio-behavioral sciences, ethics, community engagement, and translational and implementation science to help ensure the development of an effective, acceptable, scalable and equitable HBV cure.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R21MH092253

  NIH · $448k · 2014

• NIH Grant R56AI100695

  NIH · $620k · 2016

• NIH Grant R01HL075538

  NIH · $2.9M · 2009

Frequent coauthors

• Ruth Faden

  Johns Hopkins University

  156 shared

• Kevin P. Weinfurt

  Duke University

  154 shared

• Jeffrey Kahn

  150 shared

• Benjamin S. Wilfond

  University of Washington

  116 shared

• Lisa Eckenwiler

  106 shared

• Christine Grady

  National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

  105 shared

• Dale E. Hammerschmidt

  University of Minnesota Medical Center

  104 shared

• Carol Levine

  United Hospital Fund

  104 shared

Awards & honors

• Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from New York Medical Coll…