While researching a sexually transmitted infection epidemic in rural North Carolina, Dr. Thomas encountered profound racial injustices. At the time, there was no established ethics language in public health to describe or condemn the injustices. Working with a network of highly placed public health professionals from across the United States, Dr. Thomas played an instrumental role in establishing the first public health code of ethics. He has since applied the principles of the Code to public health emergencies, public health education, and data science.

Honors and awards

Ethics advisor to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2005-2008)

American Public Health Association lifetime achievement award for ethics (October 2021)

Contributions to public health ethics

Advising European and Australian public health professionals on the creation of national codes of ethics.

Developed a Pandemic Ethics Dashboard

The Pandemic Ethics Dashboard helps policymakers quickly find accepted guidance on common ethical issues arising in a pandemic.

Identified the full breadth of data ethics issues in health information systems

Thomas JC, Reis A, Fleming V. Principled health information systems: Ethics beyond data security. MEASURE Evaluation, 2019.

Wambugu S, Thomas JC, Johnson D, Villella C. Digital data ethics in low- and middle-income countries: The road ahead. MEASURE Evaluation, 2019.

Contributed to establishing ethics principles in public health emergencies

Thomas JC, Desgupta N, Martinot A. Ethics in a pandemic: A survey of the state pandemic influenza plans. Am J Pubic Health 2007;97 Suppl 1:S26-31.

Thomas JC, MacDonald P, Wenink E. Ethical decision-making in a crisis: a case study ethics in public health emergencies. J Public Health Management and Practice 2009;15:E16-21.

Determined how countries are similar and different in how they approach ethics in public health emergencies

Lor A, Thomas JC, Barrrett D, Ortmann L, Herrera D. Cultural perspectives on key ethical issues in the context of pandemic influenza preparedness and response. Int J Health Policy Manag 2016; 5:653-62.

Contributed to guidelines for ethical disease control of pandemic influenza in North Carolina

North Carolina Institute of Medicine. Stockpiling Solutions: North Carolina’s Ethical Guidelines for an Influenza Pandemic. North Carolina Task Force on Ethics and Pandemic Influenza Planning. Durham, NC. April 2007.

Informed the Institute of Medicine on public health ethics, and the Association of Schools of Public Health on incorporating ethics into public health competencies

Thomas JC. The Future of Public Health Education: Ethics. In: Institute of Medicine. Who Will Keep The Public Healthy? Educating Public Health Professionals in the 21st Century. Washington, DC. National Academies Press, 2003.

Led the writing of the first American public health code of ethics in 2002 and contributed to the revision in 2019.

Thomas JC, Sage M, Dillenberg J, Guillory VJ. A code of ethics for public health. Am J Public Health 2002; 92:1057-9.

 

 

An African American neighborhood in rural North Carolina experiencing extreme income inequality and lack of access to health services.

 

Dr. Thomas working in Vietnam with public health practitioners from ten Asian countries to identify ethics in a pandemic.