When Dr. Jones joined UTMB’s Institute for the Medical Humanities in 1979, she was one of the first literature scholars in the country to hold a faculty appointment in a medical school. Her background in comparative literature (English, American, French, German, and classics) also prepared her for interdisciplinary work—reading and teaching literature in conjunction with art and music, as well as with history and science. Literature and medicine was an exciting new focus for her work, and her research interests became narratives of illness, narrative ethics, and ethical issues in biomedical publication. A founding editor of the flagship journal of her new field in 1982, she served as editor-in-chief of Literature and Medicine (Johns Hopkins University Press) for more than a decade and remains a senior consulting editor of the journal. Dr. Jones has published widely in biomedical and humanities journals and has published two books: Images of Nurses in History, Art, and Literature (translated into Japanese) and, with Faith McLellan, Ethical Issues in Biomedical Publication. She has received many awards for her teaching and research over the years from groups such as the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Writers Association, the American Osler Society, and the University of Texas Board of Regents.
Affiliations
- Institute for Bioethics & Health Humanities
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health