Jacob M. Appel

{{short description|American author, bioethicist, physician, lawyer and social critic}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Jacob M. Appel

| image = JacobMAppelFFTB19.jpg

| caption = Appel in 2019

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|2|21}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Author
Psychiatrist
Bioethicist

| education = Brown University (BA, MA)
Columbia University (MA, MPhil, MD)
New York University (MFA)
Harvard University (JD)
Albany Medical Center (MS)
City University of New York, Queens (MFA)
Mount Sinai Medical Center (MPH)

| period = 1997–present

| genre = short story, essay, drama, novel, poem

| website = {{Official URL}}

}}

Jacob M. Appel (born February 21, 1973) is an American polymath, author, bioethicist, physician, lawyer, and social critic.Nagamatsu, Sequoia "A Few Words with the Ubiquitous Jacob M. Appel" Prince Mincer Journal http://primemincer.com/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721211155/http://primemincer.com/ |date=2015-07-21 }} confirmed 26 April 2013{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jacob-m-appel/cynic-extremis/|title=THE CYNIC IN EXTREMIS by Jacob M. Appel | Kirkus Reviews|via=www.kirkusreviews.com}} He is best known for his short stories, his work as a playwright, and his writing in the fields of reproductive ethics, organ donation, neuroethics, and euthanasia.

Appel's novel The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up won the Dundee International Book Prize in 2012.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-20088112 Dundee International Book Prize won by Jacob M Appel], BBC, 25 October 2012[http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/books/features/book-review-the-man-who-wouldn-t-stand-up-jacob-appel-1-2643009 Book review: The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up, Jacob Appel], The Scotsman, Lifestyle, 17 Nov 2012Jacob M Appel named as Dundee International Book Prize winner, The Courier, 9 January 2013 He is the director of Ethics Education in Psychiatry and a professor of psychiatry and medical education at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and he practices emergency psychiatry at the adjoining Mount Sinai Health System. Appel is the subject of the 2019 documentary film Jacob by director Jon Stahl.

Appel coined the term "whitecoat washing" to refer to nations using medical collaboration to distract from human rights abuses.Appel JM. Against Whitecoat Washing: The Need for Formal Human Rights Assessment in International Collaborations. Am J Bioeth. 2022 Oct;22(10):1-4.

Education

Brown University - Bachelor of Arts with double majors in English and American literature and in history (1995){{cite web |title=Mount Siani School of Medicine Psychiatry Residency Class of 2013 |url=http://icahn.mssm.edu/static_files/MSSM/Files/Departments/Psychiatry/Programs%20and%20Services/Psychiatry%20Residency/PsychiatryResidency_Classof2013.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227230903/http://icahn.mssm.edu/static_files/MSSM/Files/Departments/Psychiatry/Programs%20and%20Services/Psychiatry%20Residency/PsychiatryResidency_Classof2013.pdf |archive-date=February 27, 2015 |access-date=November 21, 2014}}
Brown University - Master of Arts{{Cite web |date=1999-03-29 |title=Jacob M. Appel |url=https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/jacob_m_appel |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Poets & Writers |language=en}}
Harvard Law School - Juris Doctor (2003) Arborphilia tackles social issues, The Detroit News, Oct 27, 2006{{Cite web |url=http://primemincer.com/ |title=Interview with Prime Mincer |access-date=2013-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721211155/http://primemincer.com/ |archive-date=2015-07-21 |url-status=dead }}Sweden Asks: Should Convicted Murderers Practice Medicine? Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics / Volume 19 / Issue 04 / October 2010, pp 559-562
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons - Doctor of Medicine (2009)Jacob Appel ’09: Doctor, Lawyer, Writer, Teacher, Tour Guide, Columbia Medicine, October 04, 2011, Available online at [http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/psjournal/features/jacob-appel%E2%80%9909-doctor-lawyer-writer-teacher-tour-guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211173324/http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/psjournal/features/jacob-appel%E2%80%9909-doctor-lawyer-writer-teacher-tour-guide|date=2013-12-11}}
Columbia University - Master of Arts, and Master of Philosophy
New York University - Master of Fine Arts
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Master of Public Health{{Cite web |title=Jacob M Appel - Psychiatry {{!}} Mount Sinai - New York |url=https://profiles.mountsinai.org/jacob-m-appel |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=Mount Sinai Health System |language=en}}
Albany Medical College - Master of Science in Bioethics

=Medical Training=

medical residency in clinical psychiatry - Mount Sinai School of Medicine"Harsh Treatment at Guantánamo" NYT April 21, 2013
medical fellowship in psychosomatic medicine - Mount Sinai School of Medicine{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/17/the-silent-rise-of-the-dna-nannies/ |title=APPEL: The silent rise of the DNA nannies |newspaper=The Washington Times}}

Academic bioethics

Appel began his career in academic bioethics at Brown University, where he taught until 2005. He now serves on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, where he is Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine Education. He is also the Director of Ethics Education in Psychiatry and Medical Director of the East Harlem Health Outreach Project's mental health clinic. He has also taught medical ethics at New York University,Republican-American, "Resurgence of pro-life sentiment," 1 Jul 2009Venus Theatre's 2009 Season, Washington Post 17 Dec 2008 Columbia University,Literary Notes,Greensboro News & Record 23 Oct 2005 and Albany Medical College. He is the author of a "Bioethics in Action" curriculum for The New York Times.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/learning/lesson-plans/bioethics-in-action-part-i-helping-students-explore-difficult-questions-in-health-care.html|title=Bioethics in Action, Part I: Helping Students Explore Difficult Questions in Health Care|first=Jacob M.|last=Appel|newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 10, 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/learning/lesson-plans/bioethics-in-action-part-ii-teaching-about-the-challenge-of-balancing-the-needs-of-patients.html|title=Bioethics in Action, Part II: Teaching About the Challenge of Balancing the Needs of Patients|first=Jacob M.|last=Appel|newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 11, 2018}} Appel was also previously a columnist for The Huffington Post and Opposing Views.

Appel has published on a range of topics in academic bioethics including advocating for the decriminalization of assisted suicide,Room for Debate: The Power of the ‘Culture War’ NYT April 10, 2012 raising the possibility that this might be made available to both the terminally ill and those with intractable, long-term mental illness,{{cite web|url=https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/why_deny_the_depressed_their_right_to_suicide/6583|title=BioEdge: WHY DENY THE DEPRESSED THEIR RIGHT TO SUICIDE?|website=BioEdge|access-date=2019-06-30|archive-date=2019-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630214238/https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/why_deny_the_depressed_their_right_to_suicide/6583|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thehastingscenter.org/publications-resources/hastings-center-report/|title=Hastings Center Report|date=September 17, 2015|website=The Hastings Center}} and the Groningen Protocol.Mike Hinkle, "Europe’s euthanasia enthusiasm is alarming," Edmonton Sun, April 26, 2013 He has written in favor of abortion rights and fertility treatment for same-sex couples, as well as against electronic medical records, which he sees as poorly secured against hacking.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/health/medical-services/07015000.topic|title=Chicago Tribune article|website=Chicago Tribune }} He has also argued in favor of the legalization of prostitution and polygamy between consenting adults.{{Cite web |url=http://bigthink.com/ideas/23049 |title=Legalize Prostitution, Polygamy, Bestiality and Incest | Jacob Appel | Big Think |access-date=2011-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926143605/http://bigthink.com/ideas/23049 |archive-date=2011-09-26 |url-status=dead }} He has raised concerns regarding the possibility that employers will require their employees to use pharmaceuticals for cognitive enhancement and has urged that death row inmates be eligible to receive kidney transplants.J M Appel When the boss turns pusher: a proposal for employee protections in the age of cosmetic neurology J Med Ethics 2008; 34: 616-618Appel, JM. "Wanted Dead or Alive? Kidney Transplantation in Inmates Awaiting Execution," The Journal of Clinical Ethics. Volume 16, Number 1. Spring 2005. {{PMID|15915846}} Appel has opposed the forcible feeding of hunger strikers, both in domestic prisons and at Guantanamo Bay.Appel, Jacob. Harsh Treatment at Guantánamo, The New York Times, April 21, 2013Appel, Jacob. "Rethinking Force-Feeding: Legal and Ethical Aspects of Physician Participation in the Termination of Hunger Strikes in American Prisons," Public Affairs Quarterly. Volume 26 • Number 4 October 2012

Writing

Appel has taught creative writing at the Gotham Writers' Workshop and New York University.[http://www.writingclasses.com/FacultyBios/facultyProfileByInstructor.php/TeacherID/33649] Faculty Profile: Jacob M. Appel, August 21, 2010 He served as writer-in-residence at Yeshiva College in 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.yu.edu/yeshiva-college/ug/writing/courses|title=Writing Minor | Yeshiva University|website=www.yu.edu}} As of 2023, he is Vice President and Treasurer of the National Book Critics Circle.

He has written that exposure to literature should be a medical school admissions requirement.[https://www.theatlantic.com/letters/archive/2018/08/letter-literature-should-be-a-medical-school-admissions-requirement/566756/ Letter: Literature Should Be a Medical School Admissions Requirement], The Atlantic, 5 August 2018

Personal life

Appel was born in the Bronx to Gerald B. Appel and Alice Appel and raised in Scarsdale, New YorkRosenblum, Constance. Boulevard of Dreams, New York University Press, 2009, P. 174 and Branford, Connecticut.Appel, JM. Phoning Home. University of South Carolina Press, 2015

Books

The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up (Cargo, 2012){{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-20088112 |title=Dundee International Book Prize won by Jacob M Appel - BBC News |work=BBC News |date=25 October 2012 |access-date=2016-05-29}}{{cite web|last=Runcie |first=Charlotte |url=http://www.list.co.uk/article/46333-jacob-m-appels-the-man-who-wouldnt-stand-up-wins-dundee-book-prize/ |title=Jacob M Appel's The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up wins Dundee Book Prize |publisher=The List |access-date=2016-05-29}}
The Biology of Luck (Elephant Rock, 2013)
Scouting for the Reaper (Black Lawrence, 2014)
Phoning Home (University of South Carolina Press, 2014)
Einstein's Beach House (Pressgang/Butler University, 2014)
The Magic Laundry (Snake Nation, 2015)
Miracles and Conundrums of the Secondary Planets (Black Lawrence, 2015)
Wedding Wipeout (Cozy Cat Press, 2013)
The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street (Howling Bird Press/Augsburg College, 2016)
Coulrophobia & Fata Morgana (Black Lawrence, 2016)
The Mask of Sanity (Permanent Press, 2017)
The Liars' Asylum (Black Lawrence Press, 2017)
Millard Salter's Last Day (Gallery Books, 2017)
The Amazing Mr. Morality (Vandalia Press/West Virginia University, 2018)
The Cynic in Extremis: Poems (Able Muse, 2018)
Amazing Things Are Happening Here (Black Lawrence, 2019)
Surrendering Appomattox (C&R, 2019)
Who Says You're Dead? (Algonquin, 2019)
Winter Honeymoon (Black Lawrence, 2020)
Shaving with Occam (Press Americana, 2022)

Plays

The Resurrection of Dismas and Gestas (2005)Motika, Libby. Bonitanicum Seedlings. Palisadian Post June 1, 2006
In the Floodplain (2005)
Arborophilia (2006)
The Three Belles of Eden (2006)Shade, Karen "Round the Bend Players offer funny, sometimes dark story," Tulsa World, August 24, 2006
Thirds (2007)Readling, Mike. "IRSC's Fine Arts Season promises mix of dance, drama, musical theater," Treasure Coast Palm August 28, 2009
The Mistress of Wholesome (2007)
The Replacement (2008)[http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/intentional_theatre/archive/2008/08/16/could-you-have-done-better.aspx Could you have done better?] August 16, 2008
Woodpecker (2008)
Causa Mortis (2009)Highlights of fall season, Detroit Free Press, August 23, 2009
Helen of Sparta (2009)Reinink, Amy, "Women claim a dramatic spot in Laurel," Business Gazette, August 27, 2009