Betty W. Levin

  Professor
  Department: Health and Nutrition Sciences
  Location: 4111 Ingersoll Hall
  Phone: 718-951-5000 x2744
  Fax: 718-951-4670

Email:

Dr. Levin has been at Brooklyn College (BC) since 1986 and in the Doctor of Public Health program (DPH) at the Graduate Center (GC) since 2007. She teaches undergraduate (21W), MPH (791.3/797.3) and doctoral courses (811)on the social background to health, as well as a foundational course (740) and bioethics course (773. She participated in the development of the DPH program at the GC, the MPH program and Children's Studies at BC and the Bioethics Interest Group of the AAA and was founding editor of the department "Public Health Matters" in the American Journal of Public Health. Current activities include: Planning Committee, CUNY School of Public Health; Executive Board of PHANYC (Public Health Association of New York City); and, Pediatric Ethics Committee of New York Presbyterian Hospital (CPMC). Born and raised in NYC, she is indebted to CUNY for her father's college education as well as her opportunity to work with students and colleagues at CUNY.

Education:
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - 1986 (SOCIOMEDICAL SCIENCES)

M.A., COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - 1977 (ANTHROPOLOGY)

B.A., BARNARD COLLEGE - 1969 (ANTHROPOLOGY)

Areas of Expertise:
Dr. Levin, a medical anthropologist with training in public health, is best known for research on ethical issues in Neonatal Intensive Care; she has also studied other ethical issues in Pediatrics, HIV/AIDS, palliative care, Public Health and "Urban Bioethics" (race, class and urbanicity). Active in national professional associations (AAA, ASBH & APHA), she has promoted transdisciplinary work in the social sciences, bioethics, medicine and public health. Current focus: public health education.

Books and Publications
Gordon, E.J. & Levin, B.W. (2008). Contextualizing ethical dilemmas: Ethnography for bioethics. In: Empirical Methods for Bioethics, L. Jacoby and L.J. Siminoff, eds. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Also published as Advances in Bioethics, Vol. 11, pp. 83-116. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2008

Nakashima, Masaaki (Tokyo Medical University) and Levin, Betty Wolder (Brooklyn College/SUNY) SHAPING END OF LIFE POLICY IN JAPAN IN THE SHADOW OF AMERICAN BIOETHICS. Abstracts (and oral presentation), 107th Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, November 19-23, San Francisco, California. (Books and Publications: Abstract) 2008

Browner, CH, Levin, BW. (Co-Editor -- Special Issue) The social production of health: Critical contributions from evolutionary, biological and cultural anthropology. Social Science and Medicine 2005; 61:745-879.

(Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005

Levin BW, Browner, CH. The social production of health: Critical contributions from evolutionary, biological and cultural anthropology. (Introduction) Social Science and Medicine 2005; 61:745-750.
(Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005

Levin BW, Fleischman AR. Public health and bioethics - Benefits of collaboration. American Journal of Public Health 2002; 92(2):165-167. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2002

Fleischman AR, Levin BW, Meekin SA. Bioethics in the urban context. Journal of Urban Health 2001; 78(1):2-6.

(Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2001

Siegler EL and Levin BW. Physician-older patient communication at the end of life. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 2000; 16(1):175-204.

(Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2000

Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
Moderator, Pandemics, Epidemics, and Public Health Ethics. Public Health Without Boarders. 136th Annual Meetings of the American Public Health Organization, October 25-29, San Diego, California. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008

Anthropologists, Kinship Work and Research: From Birth to Death (with Margaret Souza)
World on the Edge? Joint Meetings of the Society for Medical Anthropology and the Society for Applied Anthropology, Vancouver, CA, March 28 - April 2, 2006.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006

Biomedicine and Kinship at the Ends of Life: Changing Conceptions, Changing Practices. Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Jose, Nov. 15 - 19, 2006.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006

Health Care for People, Not Profit? (session chair). Annual Meeting, American Public Health Association, Boston, Nov. 4 - 8, 2006.
(Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006

Professional Leadership
1984 - present: Founding Member, Pediatrics Bioethics Committee, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2008

2006 - present Strategic Planning Committee, School of Public Health, City University of New York. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008

AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION -- Ethics Forum: Program Committee (1989, 1991-9, 2004-5, 2007); Medical Care, Program Co-Chair, Social Science and Public Health, (2007 & 2008). (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2008

PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY (PHANYC) -- Executive Board Member (1997-2003; 2006-9). Chair, Awards Committe; Member, Student and Program Committee, 2009
(Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2008

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOETHICS AND HUMANITIES -- Reviewer, Public Policy (2007). (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2007

AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION -- AIDS Caucus: Abstract Reviewer (2002; 2005-6); Program Chair (1992); Chair (1993); Governing Council: Member (1995-8). (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2006

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOETHICS AND HUMANITIES -- Membership Survey Committee Chair (2000-2002) Program Committee/Reviewer Chair, Race and Culture Sub-Committee (2001) Reviewer, Social Science (2005) Chair, Social Science Sub-Committee (2006). (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2006

PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY (PHANYC) -- Vice President (2000-2003) (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2003

1999 -- 2002 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH -- Founding Department Editor, Public Health Matters. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2002

Pedagogical Achievements
Developed a new course at the Graduate Center, Public Health 811, Social and Behavioral Dimensions of Public Health: Theory and Method, with Anahi Validrich. 2008