Dominic Sisti

Dominic Sisti, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. He holds secondary appointments as Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Philosophy. He directs the Scattergood Program for Applied Ethics in Behavioral Health Care and oversees the ethics curriculum in the psychiatry residency program.

Dr. Sisti's research focuses on ethical and policy challenges in mental health care, particularly long-term psychiatric care for individuals with serious mental illness, clinical ethics issues in correctional settings, and ethical dimensions of psychedelic research and clinical application. His work spans the intersection of medical ethics, mental health policy, and clinical practice.

His publications reveal a strong emphasis on the ethical implications of emerging psychiatric treatments, especially psychedelics, with numerous articles examining informed consent processes, therapeutic frameworks, and policy considerations. His research also addresses systemic issues in mental healthcare infrastructure, including psychiatric bed shortages and long-term care systems.

Scientific Recognition

• Elected Fellow of the Hastings Center

Research Funding and Teaching

Dr. Sisti's research has been supported by the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, Greenwall Foundation, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, Leonard Davis Institute, and Dana Foundation. He teaches graduate courses on clinical ethics, ethics in behavioral healthcare, and social media, ehealth, & biomedical ethics.

Academic Background

• PhD in Philosophy from Michigan State University
• Master of Bioethics from University of Pennsylvania
• Bachelor's degree in Biology from Villanova University
• Edmund Pellegrino Fellow at the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University