James Hearn, JD, LLM, MA, MAT, MPH, DBE, DMin
Dr. James Hearn is an Assistant Bioethics Professor at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Joplin, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law in Los Angeles, California. He then obtained his Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from the University of San Diego School of Law in San Diego, California. Dr. Hearn earned a second LL.M. in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Negotiation Theory from the Straus Institute at the Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, California. Dr. Hearn received his Master of Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and his Diploma in Anglican Studies and Doctor of Ministry from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, where his doctoral work focused on pastoral bioethics. He has a second doctorate in Bioethics from Loyola University – Chicago. The focus of his doctoral work was on the creation of a system of triage protocols and ethical resource allocation guidelines to be employed in the case of viral pandemics. In addition, he has a Master’s in Public Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was able to continue his work in the ethics of pandemics.
Dr. Hearn has served as a mediator for the Federal District Court in Los Angeles and is licensed to practice in California and Missouri. At the Straus Institute, his work focused on the mediation of end-of-life disputes, and his research included spending a year mediating such disputes in the ICU of a local hospital. In 2020, he was ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Church in North America and, until leaving Los Angeles, served as an assisting priest at All Saints Cathedral in Long Beach, California. In February 2021, he was named the Canon to the Ordinary, making him the assistant to the Bishop of the Diocese of Western Anglicans. He also served as the Chancellor (legal advisor) to the Bishop and the Diocese. Dr. Hearn was also a partner in and served as general counsel to a real estate development and investment firm based in Century City, Los Angeles, which he joined in 2007 after 20 years in private legal practice.
Dr. Hearn has a variety of teaching experiences. He was a Lecturer in the Health Sciences Department at California State University, Northridge, for 16 years. He taught various courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including courses in death and dying, bioethics, and healthcare law. Dr. Hearn taught at the Bioethics Center at Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He taught courses in bioethics mediation, bioethics, the law, and bioethics and religion at Loyola. Additionally, Dr. Hearn taught in the Patient Advocacy Program offered through the UCLA Extension Program. Before leaving Los Angeles, he taught bioethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
Dr. Hearn has spoken in the United States, Canada, and Israel. He has published articles on various topics, including the ethics of pandemics, disaster ethics, social utility and bioethics, research ethics, the Hippocratic Oath, and medical school bioethics curriculum. His research interests include clinical ethics and the impact of the “hidden curriculum” on graduate medical bioethics training, research ethics (especially the studies conducted on the African continent), public health ethics, and the development of a discipline that could truly be called “pastoral” bioethics.
Dr. Hearn discloses he has no relevant financial relationships with any organization producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing healthcare goods or services consumed by or used on patients relative to the content of this presentation.
