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James L. Bernat, MD

Title(s)
Emeritus Professor of Neurology

Department(s)
Neurology

Education
Cornell University Medical College, MD 1973
University of Massachusetts, BA 1969

Programs
SYNERGY

Curriculum Vitae
Bernat_J_CV_2025-03-06.pdf

NIH Biosketch
Bernat_J_BIO_2025-03-06.pdf

Websites
http://www.dhmc.org/providers/dhmc_provider_475.html

Contact Information

Neurology Department
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
1 Rope Ferry Road
Hanover NH 03755

Phone: 802-649-1346
Email: bernat@dartmouth.edu


Professional Interests

Brain death and the definition of death.
Coma, vegetative states, and other disorder of consciousness.
Ethical and philosophical issues in neurology.

Grant Information

SYNERGY: Dartmouth Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Director: Research Ethics

Biography

James L. Bernat, M.D., formerly the Louis and Ruth Frank Professor of Neuroscience at Dartmouth Medical School, earned a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts (1965-69) and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College (1969-73). He trained in internal medicine and neurology at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (1973-77). Dr. Bernat has been a Dartmouth Medical School faculty member since 1976 and has held the rank of Professor of Medicine and Neurology since 1989. Dr. Bernat was the Director of the Program in Clinical Ethics at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Previously he served as Assistant Dean of Clinical Education at Dartmouth Medical School. He served for 28 years on the American Academy of Neurology Ethics, Law & and Humanities Committee, with 10 years as chairman. Dr. Bernat has been elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Omega Alpha, and fellowships in the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, and The Hastings Center. In 2011, he received the Presidential Award from the American Academy of Neurology for lifetime service to American neurology. In 2022, he received the Steven E. Hyman Award for Distinguished Service to the Field of Neuroethics from the International Neuroethics Society.

Dr. Bernat's scholarly interests are in ethical and philosophical issues in neurology. He has authored over 300 articles and chapters on topics in neurology and clinical ethics. He is the author of Ethical Issues in Neurology, 3rd ed. (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008), coeditor of Palliative Care in Neurology (Oxford University Press, 2004), coeditor of Ethical and Legal Issues in Neurology (Elsevier, 2013), and coeditor of Death Determination by Neurologic Criteria: Areas of Controversy and Consensus (Springer, 2022). He testified on the vegetative state before the United States Senate Health Committee and was a consultant on brain death to the Institute of Medicine, the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Pontifical Academy for Life. He chaired the US DHHS HRSA Division of Transplantation panel on determining death in organ donors, served on the World Health Organization international committee on standards for death determination, and cochaired the 2023 NIH Conference on Circulatory Death Determination.


Selected Publications

 

The Necessity of Brain Blood Flow Testing in Thoracoabdominal Normothermic Regional Perfusion.
Lazaridis C, Badenes R, Lizza JP, Carroll E, Fan T, Roth W, Rubin MA, Parker WF, Bernat JL
Transplantation. 2025 Jun 24; doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000005472. Epub 2025 Jun 24.
PMID: 40551304

Hypoxic ischemic spinal cord injury after cardiac arrest: just because we are not looking for it does not mean it is not there.
Lewis A, Manara A, Bernat JL
Can J Anaesth. 2025 May 20; doi: 10.1007/s12630-025-02938-y. Epub 2025 May 20.
PMID: 40394409

The Ethics of Heart Donation After the Circulatory Determination of Death: Gaps in Knowledge and Research Opportunities.
Dalle Ave AL, Rodriguez-Arias D, Fenton KN, Bernat JL, Sulmasy DP
Bioethics. 2025 Apr 25; doi: 10.1111/bioe.13421. Epub 2025 Apr 25.
PMID: 40276806

Emerging ethical issues in patients with disorders of consciousness: A clinical guide.
Bernat JL, Fins JJ
Handb Clin Neurol. 2025;207:217-236. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-443-13408-1.00001-4.
PMID: 39986723

The Declaration of Helsinki at Age 60: A Dynamic Document With Implications for Neurologists.
Shevell MI, Bernat JL
Neurology. 2025 Mar 25;104(6):e213454. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213454. Epub 2025 Feb 17.
PMID: 39961079

Adam Omelianchuk, Alexander Morgan Capron, Lainie Friedman Ross, Arthur R. Derse, James L. Bernat, and David Magnus reply.
Omelianchuk A, Capron AM, Ross LF, Derse AR, Bernat JL, Magnus D
Hastings Cent Rep. 2024 Sep;54(5):37-38. doi: 10.1002/hast.4920.
PMID: 39487773

The Unified Brain-Based Determination of Death Conceptually Justifies Death Determination in DCDD and NRP Protocols.
Bernat JL
Am J Bioeth. 2024 Jun;24(6):4-15. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2024.2337392. Epub 2024 Jun 3.
PMID: 38829591

Neither Ethical nor Prudent: Why Not to Choose Normothermic Regional Perfusion.
Omelianchuk A, Capron AM, Ross LF, Derse AR, Bernat JL, Magnus D
Hastings Cent Rep. 2024 Jul;54(4):14-23. doi: 10.1002/hast.1584. Epub 2024 May 20.
PMID: 38768312

Advancing the Scientific Basis for Determining Death in Controlled Organ Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death.
Murphy NB, Shemie SD, Capron A, Truog RD, Nakagawa T, Healey A, Gofton T, Bernat JL, Fenton K, Khush KK, Schwartz B, Wall SP
Transplantation. 2024 Nov 1;108(11):2197-2208. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000005002. Epub 2024 Apr 19.
PMID: 38637919

Research opportunities and ethical considerations for heart and lung xenotransplantation research: A report from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute workshop.
Khush KK, Bernat JL, Pierson RN 3rd, Silverman HJ, Parent B, Glazier AK, Adams AB, Fishman JA, Gusmano M, Hawthorne WJ, Homan ME, Hurst DJ, Latham S, Park CG, Maschke KJ, Mohiuddin MM, Montgomery RA, Odim J, Pentz RD, Reichart B, Savulescu J, Wolpe PR, Wong RP, Fenton KN
Am J Transplant. 2024 Jun;24(6):918-927. doi: 10.1016/j.ajt.2024.03.015. Epub 2024 Mar 19.
PMID: 38514013

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