Armand H. Antommaria, MD, PhD, FAAP, HEC-C

As a pediatrician hospitalist, I care for children and adolescents hospitalized for common problems such as asthma and pneumonia. I am also the director of Cincinnati Children’s Ethics Center and the Lee Ault Carter Chair of Pediatric Ethics.

I cannot remember a time that I did not want to be a doctor. I chose pediatrics because of children's resilience. Many children who require hospitalization have an acute illness from which they will fully recover. Children with a worsening chronic condition are also remarkably strong. In my practice as a hospitalist, I try to understand patients and their families' values and priorities and to make treatment recommendations that will help them achieve their goals.

My interest in ethics grew as I participated in my father's treatment for lung cancer when I was a college student. I saw what was important to him beyond his providers' technical competence and the difficult decisions he and my mother had to make.

Cincinnati Children's provides patients and their families access to clinical ethics consultation. This service helps them address situations about which they are uncertain, or about which people disagree what the right thing to do is. This service does not tell people what to do, but helps them identify and think through ethical issues.

My knowledge and experience in ethics have been recognized by my appointment to leadership roles, including associate editor for Pediatrics' Ethics Rounds and membership in the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Bioethics.

In my research, I’m trying to improve clinical ethics consultation services and address specific ethical issues. For example, if a treatment is in short supply, what is the ethical way to determine who should receive it?

In my spare time, I am an avid road and mountain biker. I try to complete at least one 100-mile bike ride each year.