Overview
Farr Curlin, MD, is Josiah Trent Professor of Medical Humanities in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, & History of Medicine and Co-Director of the Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative (TMC) at Duke University. Dr. Curlin has worked to bring attention to the intersection of medicine, ethics, and theology. In 2012 he helped to found both the University of Chicago’s Program on Medicine and Religion and the annual Conference on Medicine and Religion. Since 2015, through Duke Divinity School’s TMC Initiative, he and colleagues have brought graduate theological training to those with vocations to health care. Starting in 2023, Dr. Curlin also is working with colleagues across North America to develop the Hippocratic Society, an association of students and practitioners dedicated to fulfilling the profession to heal. He is co-author, with Chris Tollefsen, of The Way of Medicine: Ethics and the Healing Profession (Notre Dame University Press, 2021), as well as more than 150 articles and book chapters addressing the moral and spiritual dimensions of medical practice.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Scholarly Works
Reply to Comment on: The Role of the Physician in Caring for Patients Pursuing VSED: Challenging the Conventional Approach.
Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · July 2026 Full text Open Access Link to item CiteReply to: In Reference to: The Role of the Physician in Caring for Patients Pursuing VSED: Challenging the Conventional Approach.
Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · May 12, 2026 Full text Open Access Link to item Cite"Who am I to Say?" Why Clinical Ethics Consultants Should be Trained to Give Directive Counsel.
Journal article HEC Forum · February 1, 2026 Although clinical ethics consultation once involved the ethicist exercising practical reason to make moral judgments and recommendations, today clinical ethicists largely attempt to keep their “personal” moral judgments on the sidelines (Bell, 2022). Pract ... Full text Open Access Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Seminars on Faith and Science
Institutional SupportPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Foundation for Excellence in Education · 2019 - 2022Arete Initiative at the Kenan Institute for Ethics
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Foundation for Excellence in Education · 2019 - 2021Training Research-Literate Chaplains as Ambassadors for Spirituality and Health: Phase I
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Rush University Medical Center · 2015 - 2019View All Grants